[chipsrafferty]

It sounds like you grew up lower middle class.

Poverty is never "do I buy a washing machine or buy something else" it's "can I afford to go to the laundromat this month".

[fatnoah]

This is the correct answer. I remember the weekly ritual of scrounging change for the laundromat and going with handwashing things if we came up short. When my dad got a new job with a decent pay increase, getting a washer and dryer felt like we'd finally made it.