OPINION: I’ll tell you what happened

I read this comment recently: “Just one lifetime ago in the United States, our grandparents could buy a home, buy a car, have three to four children, take annual vacations and then retire … all on one middle-class salary. What happened?”

I’ll tell you one thing that happened - lifestyles were way different back then from what they are today.

The example given by the person asking “what happened?” fits my parents exactly. There were three children in our family, mom was a full-time homemaker, we took a vacation every summer and we lived quite comfortably on a middle-class income from our farming operation.

The fact of the matter is, we also lived quite modestly. Our home was an old two-story farm house that was cold in the winter, hot in the summer. The basement was like a cave where we kept our home-canned produce and wringer washing machine.

It was not until the summer before my senior year in high school that there was enough money saved to build a small, two-bedroom, ranch-style house. My folks had saved $10,000, and with one experienced carpenter, plus my dad, a neighborhood boy and my sisters and me, the old house was torn down and a new one built - while Mom cooked a big noon meal every day for all of us in a makeshift kitchen set up in a shed.

Every summer we took a one-week vacation, either out west visiting nearly every state over the years, or to one of the lakes in northern Iowa. When we went west, we rode in a non-air-conditioned car across Nebraska, rarely ate in restaurants; instead, bought groceries along the way. We stayed in motels without a swimming pool.

Dad bought a new car every few years, mid-range sedans, paid for in cash. My parents never had a credit card, never had a mortgage, never took out a loan. They only purchased things when they had saved the money for it.

Although my own generation as adults made a little more money, we also lived quite frugally. Living in Los Angeles from 1962 to 1968, my first job out of college as a social worker started at $400 a month! We lived in a shabby little apartment, drove an old Studebaker and for recreation and entertainment, explored southern California, spending money only on gas.

My own kids grew up on our farm during the 1980s farm crisis. It was hard times and money was scarce. Their childhood was very different compared to the lifestyle some provide their own children with today.

While middle-class Americans complain today about living from paycheck to paycheck because of high prices and high interest rates, I am struck by their standard of living - taking note of the size of the houses the middle-class purchases today, the large SUVs and pickups they drive and the vacations they take.

Hardly anyone settles for 2-bedroom, ranch-style houses anymore - even for a starter home. Cheap little cars like I always drove hardly exist.

Middle-class families expect to fly somewhere for vacations nowadays. Come spring break, it’s off to the beaches. And for most, everything is purchased with credit cards.

Families today spend tons of money for things the previous generation never even thought of. Club sports, expensive prom attire, elaborate photography and graduation parties are a few examples. Small fortunes are spent on hair and beauty products; larger fortunes on golf, fishing and hunting equipment, sports and concerts.

Buying clothes and accessories based on brand names seems to matter a lot, despite the exorbitant cost of paying for a name. It used to be a custom only for the very rich. Not anymore.

Much of what we buy could be deemed unnecessary. For example, Americans spend billions of dollars every year for Halloween candy, and it’s estimated they spent $27 billion celebrating this past Valentine’s Day. Middle-class families also spend a lot of money on food and alcohol while eating out in restaurants and frequenting fast-food establishments.

Unfortunately, a lot of what we spend our money on makes us fat.

The number of presents purchased for Christmas is astounding - which reminds me of a meme I saw over the holidays that read, “I’m wrapping my kids’ presents and thinking how excited Laura Ingalls was the Christmas she got an orange.”