My parents believe in education, and felt that it was their duty to put each of their children through college, but at that point, the obligation ended. So they put three children through college.
I don’t know how much of stretch it was for them. I know I was only eligible for a little financial aid, and most of that was loans.
They built their own house (or had it built), but it was a stretch, I think, financially. We always seemed to drive second hand cars. We did manage to get some overseas travel in, but only when my father’s job took him there.
I recently was shown their assets as they begin to plan for inheritances and such. I was shocked. They only had about half the amount I thought they would have. So I guess when they called themselves middle class, that was about right. I thought they were upper middle class, but I was wrong. They had to work hard—harder than they needed to, I think, because I don’t think they were terribly wise with investments.