I went thru much the same thing. My brother and I had to buy our own cars, pay for our own insurance (no riding the parents policy) and had to pay our own way through college. I'm not saying we were "poor"... But we ate a lot of spaghetti.


As me and my brother moved out, things really fell into place with the folks. All of Dad's hard work payed off and they were upwardly mobile... and fast. My sister was honestly pissed she didn't have a Mercedes convertible in the driveway on her 16th birthday. Her college... Paid for. Off campus apartment... Paid for. Food and entertainment... Paid for. During her early college years, my sister managed to go through 7 cars. Yes 7, in a year and a half. Buy a car, she'd wreck it, parents would buy another. The 8th car they handed her the keys and actually said "you wreck it you're not getting another". Miraculously that car lasted the remainder of her college years. After graduating college she promptly got married and is now a stay at home mom. She has never worked a day in her life to date.


But I'm not bitter. I think it's sad actually.