I think a big difference between my childhood in the 50’s and my kids in 70-80’s was no one had a CC in the 50’s and in 70’s no one charged stuff like vacations. So most were living within their means. No one had expectations as a kid of taking a expensive trip. That’s something adults did when they retired. MM can afford nice trips and if it brings him enjoyment there’s no reason he shouldn’t do it. Things seemed to become skewed when everyone wanted things when young that their parents worked a lifetime to obtain. So many people just don’t understand that you cannot have everything you want.
Yup, though my experience was a tad different. I don't know how old my parents were when they got a credit card. But over the last few years (both my parents long gone, and they divorced when I was a teen), I learned a few things.
We didn't vacation. We didn't have money to vacation. We would, maybe once every few summers (probably did this 3 times total), drive to Erie, PA to "camp" in the parking lot across the street from the beach. It was sort of a campground? We borrowed an aunt's tent, the kids slept in the tent on the ground, parents slept in the car, ate PB&J, stayed 1 night.
When I was 7, we took an actual vacation. Drove from PA to NC to stay with an uncle. One hotel night on the way down, one on the way back.
So...here we are, long time from then. On FB, my niece and SIL were sharing pictures from her Junior Historians trip to Washington DC. Nice. You know? Things are different now. But then, my older sisters - 2 or 3 of them, talked about how awesome those trips were. So many good memories. What the WHAT??
You see, these sisters are 19, 18, and 15 years older than I am. When they were in JH, I was either not born or a baby. There was money for that? Because I tell you, when I was invited to join (it was half popularity, and half grades, guess where I fell?) I turned it down. Because I knew there was no way we could afford that (by then my dad was making $12k a year. You know, 1984-85 I think). Why join if you can't afford a trip?
But now man, you are right. Gotta go, even if you can't afford it.