I grew up extremely poor. As I got older, I worked hard, saved a significant amount of money, built a good career, and eventually became financially independent. I lived with my mom until I was 29… not because I couldn’t afford to move out, but because I was able to save money while also helping her at home. I’ve been independent and responsible from a very young age because I had to be, and now, at 30, I’m fortunate to have a very comfortable life that I worked hard to build. Despite that, I have close friends who make small, snide comments about me, my lifestyle, and especially my upbringing. Things like: “You dress like you shop at Ross.” “You have an older iPhone.” “You’re on your poor shit.” “You don’t know anything.” “Mom make you a sandwich?” Obviously, some of these comments are tied to the fact that I grew up poor and lived with my mom for a long time. I’ve usually said nothing and just let them slide, but lately they’ve started to bother me more and more. From my perspective, I’m actually in a very strong financial position. I make more money than some of these friends, have more savings, have zero debt, and live a very comfortable life. I’ve never felt the need to flaunt any of that, so I don’t understand why they continue to make comments that portray me as some broke or dependent person. And this isn’t necessarily a recent thing. Looking back, I think I’ve probably been in a better financial position than some of them for a long time; I just don’t advertise it or make my finances part of my personality. I’m not ashamed of where I came from at all. If anything, I’m proud of how far I’ve come. But I’m starting to realize that I don’t want to keep silently accepting comments that make my upbringing or the sacrifices I made into a punchline. How can I stand up for myself and set a boundary without coming across as overly sensitive or turning it into a competition about who has more money? submitted by /u/ExpensiveKangaroo
Originally posted by u/ExpensiveKangaroo on r/AskMen