I found it interesting travelling around Southeast Asia and Balkans and staying at some fairly nice AirBNBs and people’s homes that, the hot water heater was by default off and had to be turned on whenever you took a shower and generally hot water was only wired up to the shower, not the entire house.
Also, people tended to have their major appliances (stoves, ovens, washers, dryers etc.) wired to a switch and were also turned off when not in use.
I’m curious observations other people have made of, like, people who make roughly the same real income in absolute terms (eg, $30K USD a year) but who live in countries with very different GDP per capita, in theory, saving $1 USD should have the same absolute impact on their lives but because one is considered an upper-middle class person in a poorer country and the other a lower-middle class person in a richer country, the learned behaviors from their community are very different.
What are some other behaviours around things they do to save money that differ between these two groups?
All of those major appliances have to be turned on. I suppose a stove or oven often has a clock that runs continuously, but that’s all the savings I could see, and I see none for washers and driers.
My guess is: the water heaters for the shower were “on demand” - they heat the water as it flows.
So, turning them off might prevent scalding, if they were poorly regulated.
With the typical US (wasteful) tank heaters, if you had to turn them on each time you needed hot water, you would have to wait 20 minutes or more for the water to get hot.
FWIW, we have “time of day” variable electricity rates, and I turn off our water heaters durning peak times. We have never had a problem doing that.
To be clear, I don’t actually think these actions save people very much money and are largely holdovers from when electricity was significantly more expensive and people were significantly poorer but they’re still things people do because they believe it saves them money.
In the bit of Europe I know best, one thing that almost everyone used to do was to ask for payment in better currencies. In this context ‘better’ means almost any country than their own, especially Deutschmarks, followed by U$. Following their entry into the EU, once they got through the price adjustments, this effectively stopped since Euros are euros.
The saving came in having your cash tied into far more, less inflationary currencies than your own roller-coaster based money, which could be a massive proportion of your annual wages in some years. In class terms, it was probably easiest for small business owners, entrepreneurs etc who interacted with foreigners in tourist areas, rather than the especially well-off, who didn’t need it, or the especially poor, who were well out of the game.
AIUI, in Nigeria (and perhaps in other subSaharan countries) they don’t drive at night with their headlights on. Just the parking lights. This saves some minuscule amount of gas. Of course, this applies to all Nigerians, not just the upper middle class.
The second apartment I rented in Germany back in the late 1970s and early 1980s had this set-up. The first apartment had a big ol’ self-contained shower unit with a tank beneath it. One filled the tank with water, turned on the heating element, waited ten minutes, too a shower (quickly as the hot water was gone in five minutes).
Perhaps the switch was used to keep the major appliances isolated from damage due to electrical spikes or low current hazards. Thus saving the expense of not having to repair or replace them. That and peace of mind, can’t even calculate the savings on that.
When I lived in Switzerland in 1970-71 I rented an apartment in a brand new building (they were still finishing it as I moved in). As is normal there were separate bathroom and toilet. The latter had a wash stand that was cold water only.
I would suggest the lifestyle would be completely different. A second car is much more common in North America fo the same income - but then, North American public transport sucks unless you live downtown, like in Manhattan. Plus, they tend to be more frugal less hyerconsumer oriented. Another point along with currencies is that due to the behaviours of some governments, people trust banks less. (Recall a rare demonstration a few years ago by Chinese demanding a bank let them have their money.)
Trust me, it sucks in poorer countries as well, and largely consists of privately-run options with little-to-no legislative oversight and strong links to organized crime.
I was thinking more of living in large urban areas. AFAIK nice wide open lawns is a North American afectation and there is a lot more close-in urban areas, in places that grew before the automobile. Often no easy place for parking in the inner cities. Some Paris sidestreets I remember typically cars parked up on the only sidewalk, about a foot from the building so as to allow one open lane for driving.
I do remember the transport in rural areas of Egypt as being assorted private buses that were essentially white vans with the seats taken out and benches along both sides. Our guide company’s van was also white (good idea in strong sun) and I felt bad that all those women waiting along the highway looked really eager when they saw us coming, only to disappointed as we drove past.
I think you’re right about the different learned behaviors of the two classes. People in lower socioeconomic classes often can’t imagine scrimping for years to pursue putting their kids through college, growing retirement accounts, etc. Upper-middle class people have seen the benefits of such efforts.
Also, keep in mind that upper middle class people in poorer countries have a lower cost of living than poorer people in the U.S.