In my neighborhood, few people took flying vacations. It was either camping or a Motel 6 type accommodation for most of us. My dad taught school but worked summers and some evenings to earn extra money. It turns out we were better off than most, and my parents were just frugal, but I never thought of ourselves as either rich or poor. We just occasionally drank powdered milk and cooked or creamed wheat, and cut corners in other ways, but my parents simply didn't talk in those terms. They talked in terms of saving, planning, and whether something was a good value, rather than explicitly saying whether or not we could afford something. At least, that's my recollection. I was proud of the $5 garage sale bike I fixed up (with dad's help) and rode on a 5-day trek with my dad. It never occurred to me that my parents might buy me a new, expensive road bike, so I wasn't upset that they didn't.