Indeed. I don't know about outside the U.S., but I do notice it an awful lot here. Not so much in Alaska, but back in Connecticut. At my school basically everyone had their own car (and most were new), and everyone seemed to have the latest cell phone, video game console or camera. Big change up in my area of Alaska. You are lucky to have a car of your own, and most cars tend to be cars like mine (older 1980's/1990's used economy cars).