I feel I haven't powerleveled enough about my childhood, so here goes:
I grew up as an only child in a lower-upper-middle-class household. As I mentioned before, I got a GBA SP, GameCube, and DS all within like six months of each other as a five-year-old. But it's not like I just got handed games after that.
I've had an allowance since I was five, getting $[my then-current age + 2] until 13, when it was fixed at $20 until getting raised to $80 when I started college, plus $1 per chore. I always knew how much games cost, typically buying used games over new ones. I typically got like $100 worth of stuff on my birthday and $350 on Christmas (~$200 from parents + ~$150 from relatives). The Christmases that my parents spent the most on were 2008 and 2009, when they spent $300 on a 60GB Xbox 360 and PS3 respectively (had to use my relatives' money to buy games both times).
All-in-all, I got about 16-20 new games per year as a kid, 22-30 including handheld games. Growing up in a more solidly upper-middle-class neighborhood, I felt I had maybe slightly more games than average, but otherwise felt like the poor kid; everyone else had entire shelves full of DVDs, the latest Nerf guns, a portable DVD player, a TV in their room (plus a living room HDTV in 2008), an electric Razor scooter, a giant backyard with a possible pool, visited places other than relatives, etc. Plus, most of my classmates were getting $15-20 allowance plus $1+ per chore by the time we were nine. Most of my classmates got their first smartphone in the first half of sixth grade while I just got my first cellphone, and only got an off-brand 3G smartphone in late seventh grade.
When I talk to my friends at my state school, they seem to have been roughly as well-off as me, but they're mostly in the honors college so it could be biased. Whenever I read others' anecdotes, it's like everyone else either got >$500 worth of gifts per Christmas, every new game and console within a month of release, and 100+ toys, or $50 worth of gifts per Christmas, two games per year, and one action figure plus a board game.
So what did you get as kids? I have no idea whether I was well-off or just average.
I grew up as an only child in a lower-upper-middle-class household. As I mentioned before, I got a GBA SP, GameCube, and DS all within like six months of each other as a five-year-old. But it's not like I just got handed games after that.
I've had an allowance since I was five, getting $[my then-current age + 2] until 13, when it was fixed at $20 until getting raised to $80 when I started college, plus $1 per chore. I always knew how much games cost, typically buying used games over new ones. I typically got like $100 worth of stuff on my birthday and $350 on Christmas (~$200 from parents + ~$150 from relatives). The Christmases that my parents spent the most on were 2008 and 2009, when they spent $300 on a 60GB Xbox 360 and PS3 respectively (had to use my relatives' money to buy games both times).
All-in-all, I got about 16-20 new games per year as a kid, 22-30 including handheld games. Growing up in a more solidly upper-middle-class neighborhood, I felt I had maybe slightly more games than average, but otherwise felt like the poor kid; everyone else had entire shelves full of DVDs, the latest Nerf guns, a portable DVD player, a TV in their room (plus a living room HDTV in 2008), an electric Razor scooter, a giant backyard with a possible pool, visited places other than relatives, etc. Plus, most of my classmates were getting $15-20 allowance plus $1+ per chore by the time we were nine. Most of my classmates got their first smartphone in the first half of sixth grade while I just got my first cellphone, and only got an off-brand 3G smartphone in late seventh grade.
When I talk to my friends at my state school, they seem to have been roughly as well-off as me, but they're mostly in the honors college so it could be biased. Whenever I read others' anecdotes, it's like everyone else either got >$500 worth of gifts per Christmas, every new game and console within a month of release, and 100+ toys, or $50 worth of gifts per Christmas, two games per year, and one action figure plus a board game.
So what did you get as kids? I have no idea whether I was well-off or just average.
