Originally posted by: rbloedow
Super-super long post
My mother and my step father make around 100k a year (both in the Air Force) - I live with them. They are paying $128k for their house (althought the value of it has gone up $178k). My father and stepmother make around 100k a year also (both are in the Air Force Reserves, both work as civilians in the military). Their house is worth 200k.
Honestly, I never really see a dime of any of that. Sure my family supported me when I was growing up (buying new clothes every year, food, etc), but I have never seen any of the things some of you guys have gotten. They did buy me my first car - a 400 dollar 1986 Corolla, but after a year of working for Papa John's, I sold it for 600 bucks and paid them back (after all, it was really "their" car. The only real thing I have goten from then was $2k from my mom/step-dad and $1k from my Dad/Step-mom for my graduation present (they said it was for college expenses - I have yet to touch it).
I've grown up in many places in my life, but always living on base. I've never been exposed to people who were weathier than I was, every was pretty much on the same level when I grew up - never really givin anything, elways having to wrk for what you get. Not until I was in the 10th grade was I exposed to the lives of civilians, and I have to say, most people don't understand how good they've got it.
Everything has been on my dime - my first car which cost me $3k (money I saved up from working at Papa John's), then my second car, and 1998 Nissan 200sx, which is finanaced under my mothers name (6.5k). I pay for my own insurance, maintenence for the car, double what my car payment is a month, food, clothes, furniture for my room, toilet paper, 1/4th of my college, books, etc, etc, etc. In essence, the only thing my parents have supplied me with for the past two years (just turned 19) is a place to live, and dinner every now and then. I have also saved up 5k from delivering pizzas for the past two years. I have a scholarship which pays for 75% of my tuition to any florida college, and I pay the rest of my fees.
On top of that, I do all of the landscaping at my parents house for free - and by landscaping I don't mean cutting the grass. I real reason I do it is because it's my hobby. I dug up our front yard, and laid new sod by myself. I have designed all or our flower beds, I'm the only person who takes care of the lawn also.
So, not only do I go to school full time, and work a full time job (which is mostly at night), I spend upwards of 15 hours a week just working on my yard, AND I'm still a lifer 😛 Do I consider my family wealthy, not really. But I do consider mymyself wealthy in self discipline.
