The price tag does not record what someone gave up to afford the object.

A price is the same number for everybody, and it is the last thing that is equal about a purchase. Behind the identical figure sit different sacrifices: for one person a rounding error, for another three months of going without something else. Nothing about the object records what it cost the person who bought it.

Be careful with the conclusions you draw from what people own. What looks extravagant may have been saved for over a year, and what looks modest may have been effortless. If someone spends on you, the size of the gesture is not the receipt, and thanking the effort is closer to the truth.