This is something people don't realize. Growing up, having basic appliances at home was considered a luxury. I never owned a single fancy branded product. Clothes were handed down from siblings and extended family. We would go eat at the equivalent of McDonald's for a family treat. Someone buying a new imported car would cause a hubbub all over town. My dad had a respectable white-collar office job and we were solidly middle class America. Everyone has a ridiculous idea in their head of how the average single income family lived a few decades ago.