The neighborhood where i grew up, was a subdivision of homes built in the mid to late 1950s.

Post war, they were mostly ranchers with three bedrooms, one bathroom, one livingroom, a kitchen, and a dining room.  Likely, when the couples set up housekeeping, they had to be real careful managing on one income; since birth control was about unheard of back then, some of those families had three, or more, children - one bathroom, yikes :/  That all said, the parents did the right things: delaying material gratification, saving money for unexpected things, keeping their homes and yards in good condition.

As a child and early teen, i had been inside a number of these homes a time or two.  Being sensative to clean, or not clean - probably most kids, ate - it's just something that has always come to the forefront.   Most, like 90%, of the wives were housewives - maybe they worked part-time at murphy's or bowmans during the christmas season.  For the most part, these ladies were taken care of by their husbands.  And in turn, the ladies kept the house VERY tidy, and clutter free.  Mrs. Roger's kitchen, it was typically smallish, but her limited counterspace contained a toaster and a coffeepot, that's it; all white glove clean.  So, Mr. Roger's came home to neat, clean and peaceful.  Yeah, ever notice how the three correlate?

Over the years, evidently, the careful, clean living paid off.  Ya wonder why the greatest generation men - some of whom never finished high school - managed to get, and keep, sustainable jobs...back then, getting fired for calling off, slacking off, too much was a disgrace.  These men had regular jobs; this wasn't fancy pants pharms, where the doctors and lawyers lived.  Btw, back then, lawyers did not advertise on every third billboard.

Back then, a vacation was a few days at the beach, or the mountains; nothing fancy, nor borrowed.  Loans were mainly for getting a house or a (reliable) car.  Most families only had one - for dad to get back and forth to work.  For a mortgage, it was fixed rate, 20% down; for a new car, the loan was a four-year.  The way things were, it was like, you about had to save; most people didn't have health insurance, so if you broke a leg, that was all out of pocket.  My grandfather said, that it was customary for a man, with atleast some means, to overpay a medical bill, because there were people who couldn't.  

This is basically where the boomers came from.  Their parents worked together, and over time, managed to live debt free, and have things like life insurance and savings.  Assets passed on to the boomers, who somewhat in turn, inherited similar commonsense principles.  Younger people don't like us much.  There's resentment...well, wonder why :/  Yet, it's like every third younger person seems to have ink, by the armfuls.  Tats aren't cheap, and neither is running off to casino-land every third weekend.