It's a long story, Madness. This part of my family is very much aspiring middle-class. Which means status symbols are everything and the flat must look "nice". And nice means pseudo-Persian carpets in every room (pseudo, because they cannot afford a real one), plush curtains, figurines and knick knacks everywhere, paintings on the walls. And of course, a rug in the bathroom. Because, you know, it's not a proper house if you do not have a rug in the bathroom. And I don't have one, so I once got it as a gift.
And then, there are other status symbols, a new car every three years, a summer house outside the city - and debts. Because they really cannot afford all this with their salaries.
Gosh, how I hate all this stuff. Limiting contact with this kind of people is really the only way to keep sane, but sometimes, with family, it's impossible.