30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online

Let's admit right away that customs and fashion are definitely a two-way street. Throughout the centuries of human history, the rich and famous often came up with something that "mere mortals" then happily adopted. Even if following these trends turned out to be detrimental to the state of their wallet.

But there are many reverse examples - when the powers that be were inspired by the aesthetics and hobbies of ordinary people. And I must say, far from always has this inspiration led to something good. Often the opposite happens. And so, in this viral thread on the AskReddit community, netizens recall cases when moneyed people adopted the hobbies of the poor, thus nearly ruining it for them.

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30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Quiet out of the way country cabins sitting by lakes.

Now they are over priced Airbnbs.

amyaurora , Nimer Bushnaq Report

Final score:

140points

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30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Being able to afford a house. And even crazier it was usually on only one income.

RadRhubarb00 , RDNE Stock project Report

Final score:

138points

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30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Food banks. My local food bank put out a news article basically saying that rich people need to stop using the food bank as a “life hack” to lower their grocery bills.

ConfidantlyCorrect , Ismael Paramo Report

Final score:

126points

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Perhaps the classic example in this situation is sports. More precisely, professional sports. From a truly popular hobby accessible to almost everyone, in a little over a century, sport has turned into a multi-billion dollar business, becoming, in fact, a kind of offshoot of show business. Do you want a good example? Please - according to the results of 2022, as IMDb states, global gross box office takings reached $25.9 billion.

At the same time, during the same period, the NFL alone reported a total revenue of approximately $18.6 billion. And that's just one league in one single sport! Of course, you'll be happy to throw the ball with friends or kids in the park for the weekend, but then in the evening you will still sit in front of the TV and turn on the next NFL game. But, you see, it will still be essentially different sports.

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Thrifting

LilMsScareAll , cottonbro studio Report

Final score:

124points

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30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Ebay.

It used to be so useful to get all kinds of cheap or unique things. Then more and more big commercial sellers joined the club and eventually ebay itself forgot about what and who made their platform a success in the first place.

onesmilematters , Mike Knell Report

Final score:

103points

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30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online It’s interesting reading all of the responses here. Really the underlying issue is, you guessed it - the Internet.

Lots of the things here used to be cheap because the market for them was inefficient… e.g. they were things only known by people in certain communities (certain cuts of meat, thrift stores, certain travel destinations, etc.)

Basically the internet enabled the masses to “discover” all of these things and drive demand, and thus the price, up for all of them.

oSuJeff97 , Vlada Karpovich Report

Final score:

89points

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"The commercialization of sports began in the second half of the 20th century in Europe and North America, mainly with the development of television, but the main work was, of course, the internet," says Michael Spivakovsky, a sports journalist and YouTube blogger from Ukraine, to whom Bored Panda reached out for a comment. "It sounds unbelievable, but when advertising appeared on the jerseys of some soccer teams in Europe in the '70s, it was seriously dubbed a 'disgrace' to the sport. Today, advertising space is even sold on the inside of jerseys."

“On the other hand, the gap between ordinary people and professional athletes has now become absolutely incredible. If half a century ago you supported a local team as 'the next door guys', today there is a clear gradation: there are amateur sports, semi-professional, like student sports, and on the top of it there are professional leagues, and it's a completely different level of fitness and financial power."

"Some people like it - after all, what, in fact, is the difference between the Super Bowl and, say, the next Marvel blockbuster? Is it the plot denouement - in sports, unlike cinema, it can be unpredictable. Many are upset that the sport has lost its roots, has lost spiritual connection with the common people it all came from. But a trend is a trend - and no one can reverse it," Michael summarizes.

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Going to the farmers market

M-Squared804 , Clem Onojeghuo Report

Final score:

83points

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30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Many ethnic foods in the US. The really tasty stuff might be dirt-cheap and off the beaten path until the yuppies and hipsters get wind of it, then it’s found in every strip mall at an inferior quality for $30 a plate.

Atheist_Alex_C , Spencer Davis Report

Final score:

82points

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30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Concerts and festivals

Material-Operation33 , Wendy Wei Report

Final score:

77points

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In fact, we are seeing a spiral movement. First, some trend or hobby appears among ordinary people. Then it becomes popular, gaining more and more followers. Then big money comes, the trend gets gradually commercialized - and social media only accelerates this process at times more. Business then replaces singles, and soon this social phenomenon becomes another commercial industry. Only to eventually give way to something new in human minds and hearts...

#10

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Burning Man, Collectable Card Games, Retro Video Games, GOING TO CONCERTS...like seriously, just pick a hobby. Once the re-sellers get into it, prices go through the roof, and nobody can afford to do anything.

divine_shadow , Hawaii Savvy Report

Final score:

75points

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#11

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Buying a “fixer upper” home and spending weekends working on it. I was really looking forward to that.

cloudstrife1191 , Laurie Shaw Report

Final score:

72points

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#12

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Van life and tiny house living

Cooper_brain , RDNE Stock project Report

Final score:

71points

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After all, such is our life, and it has rarely happened that ordinary people, having stood in the way of the colossal business machine, have succeeded in this confrontation. So each of us actually has two paths. The first is to accept it all and try to enjoy even the commercialized version of our hobby. The second - to oppose somehow, and who knows - if we're lucky, then publish a book about the story of our success, earn a lot of money and become famous... damn, it seems that there is only one path after all. Okay, if you know other ways, please let us know in the comments below!

#13

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Pickup trucks. They used to be much cheaper.

NCBadAsp , Kendall Hoopes Report

Final score:

70points

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#14

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Living in warehouses in the industrial, rundown side of town.

SpecialpOps , One Kindesign Report

Final score:

67points

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#15

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Carhartt. Blue collar workers needed the durability, then celebrities wore “fashionably” and drove up the price

pepperdice , Stanimir Filipov Report

Final score:

67points

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#16

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Lobster was originally food feed to prisoners

Oldswagmaster , David Todd McCarty Report

Final score:

64points

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#17

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Eating salmon. Fish used to be poor man's food. Now you pay absurd amounts for the tiniest piece.

claymir , Valeria Boltneva Report

Final score:

64points

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#18

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Proper local pubs, affected by expanding cities ( Manchester in my case). Ruined by greedy breweries trying to attract upmarket clientele, or selling out for demolition and the building of apartments that locals cannot afford…

Appropriate-Bad-9379 , ELEVATE Report

Final score:

56points

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#19

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Fajitas. I remember being able to get skirt steak really cheap and sometimes for free.

diegojones4 , alleksana Report

Final score:

51points

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#20

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Camping.

Many private campgrounds require you to tell them the age of your RV. If it's older they'll refuse your reservation.

OkPenis-ist28 , Patrick Hendry Report

Final score:

47points

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#21

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Blue-collar residential neighborhoods in the city

ApplicationMassive71 , Breno Assis Report

Final score:

44points

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#22

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Florida beaches. It used to be a cheap thing to do with the family. Mom and pop hotels and local diners. Now it is $300/hotels with $5 coffee. Parking is expensive and there is little beach access. Kinda sucks to see it happen.

Caspers_Shadow , MartialArtsNomad.com Report

Final score:

42points

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#23

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Unrestricted land

Everything gets an HOA now, and they try to force you into their jurisdiction.

My family fought an HOA targeting my grandmother's house. She had lived there for 10 years before the HOA was even an idea, or the new area with big houses was cleared for construction before that.

We ended up having Rock in her houses, skirting, and rock in under her deck due to not having the money to fight an HOA she never signed on to.

If an HOA comes out where I live (which might happen in the next 15 years), I will fight them tooth and nail for spite alone.

LionOf89 , Digital Buggu Report

Final score:

41points

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#34

Nature.

Oneofmanymasks Report

Final score:

11points

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#35

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online Brisket burnt ends. BBQ joints used to toss them or give them away for free.

Burto72 , Gloria Cabada-Leman Report

Final score:

10points

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What do you think ?

StitchIsCuteAndFluffy 1 year ago

Hawaii also. Rich people bought gigantic fancy homes while the rent for the natives who originally lived there is climbing higher and higher, and they can barely afford to live in houses

Der Kommissar 1 year ago (edited)

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Wintermute 1 year ago

Remarkable how many people are defending the way things suck nowadays.

8points

Petra Schaap 1 year ago

maybe because some of these posts are talking out of their poopholes. Dont tell me "concerts" are too expensive. Ofcourse if you're dirtpoor you cant afford, but you couldnt 20 years ago either. I paid 25 euro for a fantastic concert 2 weeks ago.

-1point

Hey! 1 year ago

For me, it's all due to inflation. Don't blame the rich or the Boomers.

Maurissa Hunter 1 year ago

Who voted for the dissolution of safety nets and unfettered capitalism in the 80s?!

2points

Mia Black 1 year ago

This list made me tired. Nothing here is stuff that poor people once could afford. Always at least lower middle class

7points

sofacushionfort 1 year ago

There was this poster https://www.lot-art.com/auction-lots/Jerry-Mesmer-Poverty-Sucks-Man-Poster/1327-jerry_mesmer-17.4.21-rogallery which I myself first saw in a neighboring dorm room of a business major in 1978. Years ago, the whole point of being rich was to do only rich things. They didn’t attend sports events with the great unwashed (before skyboxes), they didn’t cook for themselves (before over-engineered kitchen gadgets), they didn’t want to be near you or me, nor, more significantly, want you or me to know anything about them. In 1978, rich people aspired to be a superior species. Today they require us to be of the same species, but of the subsection that exists to worship them.

6points

bElLa sTairZz 1 year ago

and because the rich love pretending to be the poor (being able to buy new clothes that look worn, started with the rich trickled down, farm style homes beign trending, ect)

Becky Samuel 1 year ago

Yep, the usual pointing fingers and blaming everyone else. Beach holidays got expensive because everyone thinks they're entitled to crowd onto one of the most valuable and endangered habitats in the world for their vacation. Fish got expensive because people refuse to eat the cheaper fish like sprats or sardines (they're too smeeeelllllyyyy) and so the stores stop stocking them, and because the oceans are overfished. Quit whining about meat being expensive - meat is already produced way too cheaply at a vast cost to the animals' welfare and also to the environment. The runoff from manure is poisoning almost all waterways. The relative expense of things changes over time - now a tv costs virtually nothing, you can pick up a cheap mobile phone for a few tens of bucks, etc.

Kevin J. Henning 1 year ago

Old cars used to be cheap to buy and fix up either as a hobby or daily drivers. At some point many of them became "collectable" and the prices went up accordingly.

1point

Casey Payne 1 year ago

This is just a list of petty grievances gathered from cranky people suffering from nostalgia. Nostalgia: a debilitating malignant yearning that dampens your present, darkens your future as you glorify the past. "Back in my day, everybody was polite, respectful, intelligent, smelled nice and had the ability to fly."

Kat Lyle 1 year ago

Pork belly and oxtail have long been my favourite meats and they were cheap AF. Now they are allegedly haute cuisine with the price to match.

0points

Cat Houston 1 year ago

Meh, it's everybody procreating. Too many people competing for homes, jobs, educations, driving prices up. Please quit breeding.

D-m Keilman 1 year ago

Add chicken wings to the list. Used to be 19¢/lb. Now it's more expensive than legs.

30 Things Poor People Could Afford To Do And Have, Until The Rich Folks Ruined It, As Shared Online

Games

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Oleg Tarasenko

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