Do not let the most comfortable budget silently become the standard for everyone.

Group plans drift toward whoever can afford the most, and the drift is silent because nobody wants to be the one who says it. The restaurant gets chosen, the trip gets upgraded, the gift amount gets set, and the people for whom it is a stretch simply become unavailable. Nobody was excluded on purpose, which is precisely why it keeps happening.

Set the default at what the least comfortable person can manage rather than the most. Offer a real cheaper option, not a token one. Ask privately rather than in the group chat, where saying no costs far more than it should.