didn’t play WoW classic and I’m using the boost tomorrow. I keep reading about how people like me are screwed because a lot of players will have hundreds of thousands of gold to spend and brick the economy.
how bad is this going to impact people like me? I will not have lots of gold to spend come BC launch…
you are gonna have to sweat it
… or just buy gold like everyone else
Just play on a lower population server and you should be fine.
Not that bad, them having money also means it easier for you to sell things for more. And realistically unless you want buy a boost, or GDKP items, you really just need enough gold for your mount, and consumables if you choose to use them
Honestly tier 4 is the easiest content of tbc which gives you plenty of time to catch up. The biggest gold difference is you may not be able to go a specific profession you like and craft said busted gear right away but isn’t game breaking by any means.
You will be fine, TBC throws gold at you compared to Classic. Just run your instances, do your quests and stay away from the AH till you are 70. Then sell like a mad man.
Before you know it, you will be doing just fine.
gold will be easier to be earned with tbc. So you are just behind in the 2 weeks before TBC.
I played from day 1 with Classic… played to 52 then quit. I then came back and got to 60 and did some raids, and made a few alts. I don’t have more than 400 gold. You should be fine.
Having little Gold only effects you if you want to buy things on the AH instead of farming yourself. Everything you need in game can be acquired by just playing. Gold is just a short cut.
I came back to Classic about 2 months ago and had 25 gold to my name. I’m on a high pop server too and it doesn’t worry me one bit. I have a guild to raid with so I don’t rely on GDKPs for gear and as mentioned above, making gold in TBC is pretty easy.
It really isn’t a big deal unless you are expecting to get into a hard core raiding guild. Simply put, you won’t be up to their standard for quite a while starting from absolute scratch like you are.
If that does not matter to you (there are plenty of us that don’t particularly care to raid, raid, raid so don’t worry), and you are just wanting to have a good time, you will be fine. It is easy enough to get what you need leveling and you will want to go back and catch your tradeskills up but if you are in no hurry, it will be just fine.
Not many people went into TBC originally with a ton of gold. We managed to do everything just fine. You won’t have your epic flyer right out of the gate like those people, but that’s not a big deal. As long as you have your basic flying, you’ll be fine. If you want to have more gold, try not to quest, and just grind out level in dungeons. Then at 70 go back and do all the quests for extra gold vs exp.
It’s going to suck in some ways, and be fine in others. If you’re looking to buy literally anything on the AH then you’re SOL. If you’re looking to buy gems or enchants then you’re SOL. If you’re looking to buy consumables then you’re SOL. If you’re looking to bid in gDKP runs then you’re SOL.
On the other hand, it makes SELLING very profitable for you. Selling ore, herbs, cloth, motes and reputation items will net you a frankly ridiculous profit. Also, TBC rains gold on you from quests and vendor trash, so affording your mounts / flight should be easy.
If you go into it with a “selling” mindset and not a “buying” one, you’ll be fine. A few months into the expansion and you’ll have tons of gold too.
Get Herbing and Skinning as your professions, sell what you gather to the one’s loaded with gold so they can max their professions
Quest, level and do instances till you are 70. Guess what, the guys with gold have the same rep grinds you do, all their gold gives them is access to fast flying sooner. That can be an advantage for a few of the rep grinds hunting mobs and with gathering. That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun and progress as well.
Pro tip tho, starting tomorrow make sure you are selling things you really don’t need for like 24.99 gold 
nice, lots of informative replies so far, thanks.
I definitely plan on raiding when I find a guild so it does sound a bit bleak for PvE mains like me that want to do the end game, but it’s fine, I have plenty of free time to farm stuff, and it sounds like flying isn’t hard to get either, so that’s cool.
would it be a decent idea to roll on a low pop server and farm a bunch of stuff until transfers come out since there won’t be much competition? but then I want to be getting into dungeons and heroics without waiting for hours…
food for thought.
I mean, you shouldn’t believe everything you read. This isn’t retail. The majority of players don’t have hundreds of thousands of gold. The forums and reddit is where people come to exaggerate everything. You could always choose a lower pop server where that is not the case. The most of the gold buying goes down on the high pop pvp servers and some of the pve servers. The RP server doesn’t have that problem though.
What server you play on will dictate your experience… don’t play on skeram
Focus on 1 character
start Building Meaning relationships in game to secure a raid spot somewhere.
AVOID BUYING ANYTHING IN AH (buy bags from someone you make friends with)
SELL EVERYTHING YOU FIND EVEN YOUR MOTHER on the AH
Do this and you will survive and eventually thrive.
See you in outlands.
Come to server Benediction.
Lots of people have given you good tips. 
There are so many others in your situation that I’m sure you’ll be fine. This is exactly the best type of time for “new” people to get into the game.
Now with that being said, I would recommend that you decide on a server pop that you like (this is different for every person - some love lower pop some love high pop. I prefer medium), look at the servers, and even login as a level one and forums/discord and check out the current environments of your potential servers. Each server has a slightly different feel to it. Don’t worry too much but if you can pick a server that seems to work for you best then that’s a good start.