[Serious] How did you grow up? Upper, middle, or lower class? And what positive/negative impacts has that had on your life?

When I was born my parents were 19 and my moms 16 year old sister already had a 6 month old son. Neither of them received much help from their parents financially. My dad continued to go to school and work full time jobs, while my mom also went to school and worked some. They were receiving government assistance and we lived in various sketchy duplexes and apartment complexes. I remember in elementary school always being so jealous of kids who got to live in houses. I at least had my own room in apartments (as far as I recall), but most of my friends parents were much older and financially stable. I was also occasionally bullied for having such young parents and got into fights because people would call my mom a whore, but I digress from the financial aspects. I was definitely considered lower class for my region, but it definitely could have been worse. It never actually bothered me that we seemed to have less money, but there were many things I noticed that other families did differently. Most kids I knew went on vacation at least once a year, but more often 2-4 times a year. My family would drive maybe 4-7 miles away and visit an amusement park or Sea World, but never any out of state vacations. I've never even had a passport. Also, my birthday gifts were noticeably different from my friends'. They would get CD players or really cool toys from their parents, but mine were always more thoughtful. My favorite gift was when I turned 6 and my dad made me a mix CD and bought me a portable CD player. I would also get books, mostly from half-price bookstores. Now, fast-forward a few years to late middle school and I transferred schools to the district my mom taught in. It was a wealthy area in my mind. Nearly everyone was upper-middle class. That was when I really began to see differences in kids who were born with money and kids who were not. Overall most kids were disrespectful (in my opinion). They were under the impression that they did not need to respect other students or adults, especially including the janitorial staff at the school. It was like these 8th graders thought the world revolved around them and the staff was just there to entertain them. By this time in my life my parents had gotten off government assistance and worked very hard to save money while simultaneously paying off debt and trying to take care of me. It was around this time I also received some awesome gifts, like iPods or bikes. We also moved into a house along the way, and my life had changed considerably and become much more comfortable. At this time I would say my parents had made it into the lower-middle class and it was nice. As I entered high school I started gaining more responsibilities (including babysitting my then 3 year old sister in exchange for a phone with unlimited texting). I didn't have chores I got paid for, I was simply expected to help out around the house. I did dishes, vacuumed, and simply cleaned up after myself. I got a job when I was 15, and have had at least one job at all times since then. Outside of basic necessities, if I wanted something it was my job to pay for it. Even as my dad and mom both received raises I was still never handed anything simply because I wanted it. They had worked hard to move from welfare to respectable wealth through their lives and expected me to do the same. I have always seemed to understand the value of the dollar much better than my friends. I feel like my younger sister who is now 8 won't get it the way I did. I expect she will still have to work and my dad doesn't spoil her rotten, but she does obviously have much more than I did at her age. I really appreciate the way my parents raised me. They divorced when I was in high school, but everything was remotely civil so beyond the typical baggage of divorced kids, nothing was especially scarring. I have always really admired my dad. He managed to graduate from a university as an engineer and basically climb up the ladder. I'm currently a freshman in college and he is helping me with tuition so long as I keep my grades up and maintain a job. Something I really struggle with understanding is those kids who are my age and a year or two older that do not have jobs. The concept of "college is my job" seems ridiculous to me. I personally feel that going to college is a privilege, not a job. Where I am from, graduating from high school and going to college is a given. I was raised believing college was merely an option. I definitely think that having been born lower on the economic ladder, I was able to grow and really come to appreciate the value of a dollar and hard work; however, the fact that I grew up and my parents earned considerably more money set me up for success that a lot of lower class individuals aren't able to financially achieve and for that I am incredibly thankful. I am a little tired and am sure that I rambled quite a bit, so I apologize for that.

TL;DR poor parents worked hard to not be poor, then got into upper-middle class and I learned how to work for what I want.

/r/AskReddit Thread