25 Things That Were Considered Affordable 50 Years Ago But Are Now “Luxuries”

All across the world, the costs of living are soaring but incomes are not keeping up. Certain things we once used to view as basic necessities are becoming harder and harder to afford. To the point where many things seem to have evolved into luxuries that only the rich can lay claim to.

Recently, a Reddit thread discussing the many things that were “affordable 50 years ago that now only the rich can buy”, went viral and we’ve shared some of the most popular answers below.

#1 Groceries.

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#2 Very large families, as in having 4 or more kids

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#3 Automobiles. My first car cost me $3255. My current one cost me nearly $40,000

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#4 Well, more than 50 years ago, but lobster. In New England It used to be used by prisons to feed inmates. Plentiful, cheap, and kinda gross, so no one else was going to eat it.

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#5 Owning a dog!

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#6 Health care. Dental visits. Glasses.

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#7 Stay at home Mom with a family that has food security, social activities, and family vacations.

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#8 Healthcare that covers whatever you actually need done including surgery, imaging, childbirth, etc.

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#9 Privacy

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#10Reasonable living standards.

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Edit: apparently people aren’t able to put the original question and answer together. My point is that having reasonable living by today’s standards is something fewer people can afford compared to 50 years ago. The difference between living standards of wealthy and poor was far narrower than it is today. Sure, we didn’t have internet and fancy TVs and take away deliveries from our phones back then, but *nobody* had that, so that’s irrelevant. 50 years ago you didn’t have to be rich to own your home, to work reasonable hours, to have some leisure time. Now you simply cannot afford to even rent somewhere in some places unless you’re earning well above minimum wage.

#11 Tickets for events.

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#12 Disney has gotten crazy expensive. Going to sports or concerts.

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#13 Everything… f*****g everything.

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#14 Housing, education, most high quality food, vehicles etc etc.. you can still get those things but you will die in debt

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#15 Cod in Sweden. When I grew up, it was the staple fish, the base for most traditional fish dishes and you’d eat it several times a week. With a dwindling cod population in Swedish waters, it has now gotten so expensive that I can’t remember when I last had cod.

Image source: NanderK, Kent Wang / flickr

In 1980, according to Statistics Sweden, one kilogram of cod was 15 SEK (US$1.42 with today’s FX rate). In 2024 money, that would be $5.60.

But in the stores today, one kilogram of cod will cost you $29.70 (cheapest cod at Hemköp).

(Apparently Statistics Sweden stopped tracking the price of cod in 2012, which I guess is just proof of its loss of importance as a staple food in Sweden)