<prompt> Human: Let me just first start off with this. I am a 20 year old college student from NEW YORK CITY. I dont understand how my friends and their families manage to afford school, going out every weekend, parties, shopping sprees etc. My friends and I mostly come from lower class families. Most of my friends work not full time, but part time jobs that pay 10 an hour. Yet they still go out to restaurants every week, go to concerts, parties, get the newest electronics, afford school Not community college, regular university. For example my friend. Growing up her dad was a janitor, her mother was a crossing guard. Yet she always has gotten better gifts during christmas than me and the latest gadgets. Seriously, WHAT IS THE TRICK TO THIS? Is there something I dont know? I feel like im going to be poor for the rest of my life... :  <response>: The answer is that they cannot afford it. Dont get sucked into that trap. The worst thing you can do is start building up credit card debt. Once you start paying interest, its extremely difficult to get out of it because it keeps building on itself.Your friends parents are either extremely frugal in their own lives, or more likely they have no retirement savings and a lot of debt. 