I remember growing up in the early aughts, thinking the student who had McDonald’s catered in class for his birthday every year must have had some serious money. So when I came across redditor u/momma1RN asking the r/Millennials subreddit to share what they believed were signs that someone was wealthy growing up, I was very curious to see what their definitions of “rich” were as a kid. Here are some things that signaled to them that someone definitely had money.
1. “A two-story house.”
2. “People who bought soda in 12 packs of cans instead of two liters, especially if it was the name brand.”
“Bonus points for having an extra stock of 12 packs in the basement, so when you run out, you can go downstairs and get another.”
3. “Ninety-six-count Crayola crayons, the one with the sharpener on the back of the box.”
4. “Going on an annual family vacation during Spring Break and/or Christmas season.”
“There were always the kids who came back from vacation and got their hair done with the colored string and beads. It sort of looked like a friendship bracelet in their hair, lol. That or the many different tags on their winter coats from ski resorts.”
5. “If the kids owned Sega Genesis AND Super Nintendo.”
6. “A stay-at-home parent. I was always jealous but also felt bad for my friends who didn’t get to experience the lawlessness of being a latchkey kid.”
7. “Those mini electric trucks for kids.”
8. “Infinite Gelly Roll pens.”
9. “Ice from the fridge door was high fucking society for me.”
11. “My friends who had their own phone number and phone in their room.”
12. “Having the Disney Channel. Growing up, we had basic cable, and that was it (we lived in a valley, so there were no good broadcast signals). A few times a year, they’d do a free week of Disney to entice you to subscribe, but we never had the money and spent that week glued to the TV and the VCR tape recording EVERYTHING that came on so we could re-watch later. Of course, I had that one friend whose family had ALL the channels all the time. Man, they were living it up.”
13. “A trampoline.”
14. “Two staircases going to the same floor. One was usually a ‘grand’ staircase near the front door, and the other was a narrow staircase leading to the kitchen. A couple of friends had these, and it blew my mind.”
15. “Braces.”
17. “Kid Cuisine. I grew up on Banquet frozen dinners. Only rich kids had Kid Cuisine.”
18. “A living room closed off by French doors that was only used for when your parents had company over.”
“So many wealthy kids had those rooms. They always felt stale and creepy, and nobody ever even walked into them, let alone used them.”
19. “Central air. I grew up using space heaters and ceiling fans, then eventually window AC units. I didn’t have central air until I was in my college dorm.”
20. “For me, it was when a family had a fully stacked pantry and fridge, and on top of it, they’d say something like, ‘Sorry we haven’t been grocery shopping.’ Like dude, my kitchen never had half that amount of food.”
21. “Those giant satellite dishes in the backyard that got 1000-plus channels.”
22. “Second vacation homes — ‘cottages’ in Canada where I live.”
“‘Cottage traffic’ on a Friday afternoon from spring until early September. Meanwhile, I was sitting there as a kid in my dumpy, low-income apartment, thinking how nice it would be to ‘go to the lake’ like a lot of other families.”
If you grew up in the ’80s–early ’00s, comment below what you thought was a sign of wealth when you were younger. You can also fill out this form if you prefer to remain anonymous.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
