Though more expensive is not always better quality. So then you would have to figure out the cost /quality ratio per brand. And you can still get unlucky and get an issue with it sooner then anticipated..

My kids called me on that about 10 years ago. “Mom buy better quality, it will look better and last longer....you’re not poor anymore. My mother told me that When I was about 4 she made us porridge (oatmeal) for breakfast and lunch and at supper time she asked us what we wanted and we all said porridge and laughed and laughed. She said that she went into the kitchen and cried as that was the only thing there was to make. I can’t imagine the stress she lived with.

I just started reading the Discworld novels and I wish I would have started sooner!

I weight the pros and cons and the price vs. longevity of an item. I know most people don't do that. My hubby asked why a keep buying cheap cookie sheets for baking. The expensive ones look nicer, but they get scratched easily and I have to replace them multiple times a year. The cheap ones last about as long, for a fraction of the cost. However, I stopped buying cheap shoes. I keep a cheap pair of sneakers for working in the garden, but I buy Merrill's for every day use. They cost over $100, but they last for years and they don't make my feet hurt when I'm standing all day.

You need to be able to make an accurate analysis of the cost/lifespan of the stuff because in rare cases it is better to buy the cheap stuff. But people favor it blindly most of the time, even if it's not good.

Not to mention that the wealthy also inherit property. I know parents (not even that rich, just middle-class) who let their 20yo son live alone in a 100sq.m. flat that they inherited in an expensive European city.

It's not only Sweden, most of Europe is that way. We bought a small apartment two years ago that we could not afford now, since the prices keep going up. We were lucky my dad offered to take out the loan on his name, cause he got a better offer. I have friends who have been looking to buy for years and everything is too expensive. And if there is anything cheaper, it's in abysmal condition.

You do without, only buy what you absolutely need, and keep on slugging. I spend a semester in university living in my car. Even when I got student housing, I had no money. My student loans barely covered books and rent and it made me furious when I’d see overprivileged people getting loans, blowing that money on ski trips and then whining at the “small” amounts their parents gave them.

Sometimes you have to get stuff second hand. Sometimes you have to slowly upgrade over a period of time. My oven broke (can't be fixed - too old), but I couldn't just spend $500 on a new one (I could get one for $300, but they don't last). What could I do? I need an oven to cook! I did some research and bought a kind of pricey toaster/convection oven for $100. The plan was to use that till the end of the year, while I saved up to buy an actual oven. I got lucky, though. That toaster oven turned out to be more useful than my old oven. I never replaced it.

I recently read , that people are better off getting a trade, rather than the huge debt from a higher education, for some that may be a good option !!!

You cannot assume that everyone has the ability to borrow money (the very point people have made here is that poor people generally don't get loans at favourable rates - IF at all) that they don't have prior obligations eg sick family member or don't have health issues themselves - there are so many things that can stop these things happening. I do wish people would stop assuming that if they managed something it means that everyone can - it's bollocks.