Economics and Social Structure

As a kid, money was always a topic of discussion. My family would dream about what we would do if we won the lottery; where we would move to,  what types of cars we would buy etcetera. My parents have always been fairly frugal with their money and only bought the necessities, which taught me that I don’t always need new clothes or luxury items to get by. I have always been grateful that they taught me the value of money at a young age because I learned to see past material things. What someone wears or how the inside of their house looks has never been the first thing I saw about a person because I know what it’s like to wear the old hand-me-downs and sit on furniture with cat hair embedded in it (which I think makes a house look better than any high end sofa ever could). 
My family's economic status worried me as a kid. There were many times where I couldn't go to a birthday party because we couldn't afford a present. I used to ask my mom why Santa brought my cousins more gifts than he brought us— weren't we just as good this year? I know because of this, my parents always tried their best to find a way to let me do the activities I wanted, even if it meant picking up a few more hours at work. The social status of anyone else would never make me look at someone different, mainly because I would never care enough to observe what their status was. I think that social structure is something that is based so heavily on judgement and bias that taking note of someone else’s situation is not worth the effort. 
The money my family had growing up didn’t give me any special advantages. I still went to public school, rode the bus, wore my sister’s hand-me-downs, and, when I was finally old enough to drive, drove an older, used car. These experiences have humbled me and helped me to understand that I didn’t need any fancy school or car to make me a better person, and at the end of the day, that is all that really matters.
My dad always told me that you can buy new designer clothes, fancy cars, luxury items, anything, but you can’t buy a good character, that is something that is learned. To him, being a good person would get you much farther in life than money could.