Things That Made You Feel Rich When You Were Young

When you were growing up, being “rich” didn’t necessarily mean having a huge house, a fancy car or a family holiday abroad every year.

Sometimes, it was something much smaller.

It was the little luxuries that made you feel as though you were doing alright. Things that might seem completely ordinary now, but back then could make you feel like you’d hit the jackpot.

For many of us growing up in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, money was something you noticed. You knew which families had more of it, which shops were expensive and which treats were reserved for special occasions. That made the small luxuries feel even more important.

Having a TV in Your Bedroom

If you had your own television, you were doing very well.

For plenty of children, there was one TV in the house and everyone watched it together. Getting a portable television for your bedroom felt incredibly grown-up.

It didn’t matter that the picture might have been terrible and the aerial needed moving every few seconds. It was your television.

You could watch what you wanted without someone else changing channels.

A Telephone in Your Bedroom

A phone in your bedroom was another level of luxury.

Not a mobile. Not a smartphone. An actual telephone connected to the wall.

If your parents had allowed you to have one, you could chat to your friends without everyone else in the house hearing both sides of the conversation.

And if it was one of those phones with a ridiculously long curly cable, you could drag it halfway down the stairs and convince yourself you had complete privacy.

Having a Video Recorder

A VHS recorder wasn’t just an appliance. It was a status symbol.

They were expensive, complicated and capable of causing arguments when someone accidentally recorded over the programme Dad had carefully set the timer for.

If your family had one, you could record films and television programmes and watch them whenever you wanted.

Being able to say, “I’ve got it on video,” felt surprisingly impressive.

A Full Box of Cereal

There’s something about having several different cereals in the cupboard that felt luxurious.

Not one box that everyone had to eat until it was gone.

Several.

Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Weetabix, Frosties, Coco Pops and maybe something slightly more adventurous.

The ultimate sign of wealth was being allowed to choose what you wanted rather than being told, “We’re finishing the opened box first.”

Brand-Name Biscuits

There was a definite hierarchy when it came to biscuits.

There were everyday biscuits, and then there were the biscuits that appeared when visitors were coming round.

If the biscuit tin contained something like Fox’s Party Rings, Jaffa Cakes, Chocolate Hobnobs or Penguin biscuits, life suddenly felt rather good.

And if you were allowed to open the “good biscuits” without a visitor being present, you knew you’d made it.

Going to the Cinema

Going to the cinema wasn’t something you casually did because you were bored.

It was an event.

There were tickets, sweets, a drink and probably a discussion about how much everything cost.

Getting a massive box of popcorn or a huge drink felt incredibly indulgent.

And if you were allowed to choose your own sweets from the cinema kiosk, you were living the dream.

Having a Swimming Pool

You didn’t even need to own the swimming pool.

If you knew someone who had one, that was enough.

A swimming pool in someone’s garden seemed impossibly glamorous. Even an inflatable one could generate serious excitement.

The idea that someone could simply walk outside and go swimming whenever they wanted seemed like something from a completely different world.

A Holiday Abroad

For many families, going abroad wasn’t an annual expectation.

If you were heading to Spain, France, Greece or somewhere else overseas, it was a big deal.

There were passports, foreign money, packing, airport excitement and probably someone buying far too many things from the duty-free shop.

You came back with photographs, souvenirs and stories that lasted for months.

Having a Car With Electric Windows

Electric windows seemed like something from the future.

You pressed a button and the window went down.

No winding handle.

It was genuinely impressive.

If your family’s car had electric windows, you probably spent far too much time opening and closing them simply because you could.

Getting Pocket Money in Coins

There was something wonderfully satisfying about having actual money in your pocket.

A few coins could feel like a fortune.

You’d carefully work out what you could buy with your money, whether that was sweets, a magazine, a drink or something from the local shop.

And there was always the temptation to spend everything immediately.

Being Allowed to Go to the Shop on Your Own

Freedom was another form of wealth.

Being trusted to walk to the local shop on your own, money clutched tightly in your hand, made you feel incredibly grown-up.

You weren’t necessarily buying anything exciting.

But you were trusted.

And that felt important.

Having Your Own Hi-Fi

A proper hi-fi system in your bedroom was a big deal.

Maybe it had a cassette deck, a radio and eventually a CD player.

You’d spend ages making mixtapes, recording songs from the radio and carefully arranging your records, cassettes or CDs.

Your bedroom became your own little world, with a soundtrack to go with it.

Getting a New Pair of Trainers

New trainers could make you feel like a completely different person.

Especially if they were a brand everyone wanted.

You’d keep them looking immaculate for as long as possible, avoiding puddles, mud and anything else that might ruin them.

For a while, simply walking around in them could make you feel like you had more money than you actually did.

Having a Computer at Home

A home computer was serious business.

Whether it was a ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad, Atari or one of the early PCs, having one at home could feel incredibly futuristic.

Of course, getting it to do what you wanted was another matter.

You might have spent longer loading a game than actually playing it, but that was part of the experience.

Being Allowed to Order a Takeaway

Takeaways weren’t necessarily an everyday option.

So when someone announced that you were having a Chinese, Indian, fish and chips or pizza, it felt like a proper treat.

You’d gather around the table and negotiate what everyone was having.

And there was always someone asking, “Are you going to eat that?”

Having a Big Bag of Sweets

A huge bag of sweets was instant happiness.

You might have spent ages choosing them from the sweet shop, carefully calculating how far your money would stretch.

Then came the important decision: eat them all immediately or make them last.

Most of us know how that one usually ended.

A Bedroom With a Double Bed

If you were a teenager and had a double bed, you had reached another level.

It wasn’t necessarily because you needed the extra space.

It just looked grown-up.

A double bed, a proper stereo, posters on the wall and maybe a television in the corner could make your bedroom feel like your own little flat.

Getting a New Game

A brand-new computer or console game was an event.

You didn’t download it in seconds.

You went to a shop and bought it.

There was a box. There was a manual. There might have been a cassette, floppy disk or cartridge inside.

You’d been waiting for it, you’d spent your money on it and now you were going to play it.

The anticipation was half the fun.

Having a Full Tank of Petrol

This one might be more of an adult version of feeling rich.

There was something strangely satisfying about filling the car up completely.

No calculating whether you could afford another £10 of fuel.

Just fill it up.

These days, given the price of petrol, a completely full tank might feel like a considerably bigger luxury than it ever did when we were young.

The Real Luxury Was Having Something Other People Didn’t

Looking back, many of the things that made us feel rich weren’t particularly expensive.

They were special because they weren’t guaranteed.

A bedroom television, a takeaway, a new pair of trainers, a holiday abroad or a big bag of sweets could feel like a major event because you didn’t have them all the time.

Perhaps that’s why those memories have stuck.

We didn’t necessarily have more money back then. We just seemed to get much more excitement from spending it.

And maybe that’s the real luxury we had when we were young.