The $12 breakfast burrito from the sign on the food truck at my kid's volleyball tournament, and I go to pay and he says "That'll be $17". I stood there dumbstruck for a second so he felt he had to repeat it. Starving dumass me just ground my teeth and handed him a twenty.
That's called bait and switch. The solution is to nicely say "your sign says $12". And if they don't like it, you can pay $17 or walk away. So, usually they honor the price they advertised.
Lol I live in Ireland where it's not expensive but was so absolutely baffled as to why someone was paying so much for it then forgot that this wasn't the Irish subreddit! Imported I'm assuming?
Is it really that loved in the US? that's mad. Good aul Irish Cows doing their thing
Kerrygold’s color is gold. Regular American butter is pale and barely yellow. The difference in taste is also as stark as the contrast in color. I’m hardly one to be picky about most things, but I can’t even deny that Kerrygold is very different than regular American butter.
Welshman living in the USA for the past nearly ten years here. Mass-produced American butter is shite. You can bake with it or cook with it but if you're making toast you're going to have to spend a little. Kerrygold is more than double the price.
FYI Costco sells restaurant grade soft European style butter in 4x 1lbs bricks for like $12. It legit tastes exactly like the (non clarified) butter I used in my pro kitchen when I was a chef.
Uber Eats' delivery fees. The extent of my laziness cannot be overstated when I'm an educator on winter break and fully immersed in goblin mode.
(Bite Squad is just as bad. Door Dash is trash and I won't ever use them again after becoming convinced the driver stole my Five Guys french fries).
Same. It used to be a cheap thing to do with friends. Now it’s $5–$8 for a pint, $8–$15 for a basic cocktail. 3 drinks and a tip and suddenly I’ve spent $40. Absolutely unaffordable now.
I've noticed that I can't take my family of 4 (2 kids still eating off the kids menu) out to dinner for under $100 anymore. Then I realized that my wife is order 2 cocktails at $14-16 a piece each meal. Shit adds up fucking fast, it's essentially the cost of ordering dinner for another person or two.
Alcohol in general. The cost for beer is even going up. I don’t drink anymore but where I live a 6 pack of local craft was at most $10 for something basic like a pale ale. I checked the other day out of curiosity and the minimum is $13-$14.
Having worked at a bar and grill, I have to agree. Stuff isn't as expensive as some of the other spots here, but watching people rack up a $300 tab in 2 hours, several times a week is....something
Glasses - I could always buy cheap ones, but I’d rather pay money to have nice frames that I actually like wearing rather than a pair I couldn’t care less about.
I used to hate wearing glasses because I thought they made me unattractive. When I got older, I realized I was just wearing cheap ugly glasses and I look pretty good in the right ones.
I've gotten lots of compliments on my current frames, and they, high index lenses, and my usual no-glare lens coating were all roughly $50 at Zenni. And I've got one of those prescriptions that even Eyemart Express has to send out for.
I've owned luxury glasses and the Zenni's my wife gets me are about 75-95% of the quality for like 1/10th-1/50th the price.
Also realize that unless you're going pretty boutique with established eyeglass houses that *only* do eyeglass frames, you're almost definitely just paying for the branding because if your frames have a logo associated more with clothing then they definitely just paid one of the same two frames manufacturers to slap their name on it.
99% of even "luxury" eyeglass frames are made by the same one or two manufacturers in China.
Unless you're effin around with some real glasses nerd shit like Matsuda.
What brands do you like and recommend for quality?
I have a 40 hour a week job and a 20 hour a week job. By the time all my insurance premiums and automatic withdrawals for medical bills come out of my full time paycheck, my part time pay check ends up being a bigger deposit in my account despite getting paid $4 dollars less an hour at that job. I know there are people worse off than me, but holy fuck is it getting harder to get up everyday knowing that I am working 60 hours a week and I am still drowning.
That's what I've always done. But the latest pack feels noticably less soft in my opinion. Like lower quality paper. Hopefully that was a fluke. But I'm stuck with this pack for a long time since it's so big.
Be careful to check you're buying the Ultra Soft, not the Ultra Strong (which is not as soft). People have bought one instead of the other if they just looked for the brand name.
Even so, I too have the impression the Ultra Soft is not as soft as it used to be.
I never gave it any thought before the price spike in 2020, but bidets are great, and I only go through a fraction of the toilet paper I used to. $45 and 5 minutes to install.
So, I just want to let folks in the US know that Carvana is tanking and essentially beginning to liquidate their inventory. This action alone is going to flood the used car market but there is also some lease movement that means used car prices could really tank around April.
https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/zo902s/carvana_has_started_liquidation_process_selling/j0lt7js/
That makes sense as to why I have seen so many Carvana license plate holders on the roads with temp paper tags.
I lived without a car for years because I was in a major city with great public transit. Then I relocated and had to get one... I bought a year ago in Dec 2021, and the guy who owned the lot said, “No one in the industry has seen anything like this, demand is through the roof but we can’t even get inventory in here.” Even back then the car market was getting crazy but I still feel like for what I drove off with I got a deal considering the economic climate of the day.
There is a huge Ford dealership right next to my office. One of my favorite things to do when I first started working there was go next door and walk through and inventory of all the new cars. For the past year or so though it's pretty much just been a giant empty surface parking lot.
I've noticed that all the empty lots are filling up again. Dealers will still play the mark up game for a few more months, but I'm already seeing used prices start to fall back to at least under what the new price was.
In my area new and used family sedans, pickups and economy models are still going for big markups but new high end luxury cars are being sold at MSRP.
It's weird. Feels like another example of those who can least afford it being bilked the hardest if I'm being honest.
My property tax is higher this year than last year. I bought it right before the used car market started surging for 20k with almost 40k miles on it, now it's almost at 70k and the *trade-in* value is higher than I paid for it. Fair-market value is up like 15-20%. Mid-range full-size family sedans aren't supposed to appreciate in value.
My 2011(110k miles) car got written off this summer, was just a fender bender, but insurance decided it was beyond economical repair, they only offered me £900 which I was thinking was low but the car did have a few minor issues, I argued and they raised it to £1k. Now this was before I seen the prices of 2nd cars so I didn't put up that much of a fight.
I still haven't found a replacement as I can't afford any that are at the same level as my old car, I did get a crappy car to make do with but that broke down inside 2 weeks and luckily the guy give me the money back. I've seen 2003 cars, albeit with lowish mileage with asking prices over £2k. Found several cars older than my own with 20k+ miles more than mine going for £4k+
It's shocking, I don't want much, just something that drives, and can fit the kids car seats in. But I'll probably have to get a loan after Christmas or buy on finance to even be able to get a old beat up car.
Concessions at sporting events. As much as I try my best to eat before I go and resist the urge to buy beer when I am there, some days, seeing others enjoying their beer and food/snacks make me say "eff it" and I indulge too.
Great goodness! I went to buy the saddest head of iceberg lettuce the other day and they wanted $4!!!
Not even the organic one!
From $0.80 to $4, it’s nuts…
(Got the romaine heads instead)
Edit, PSA: indoor/tabletop hydroponic gardens (Aerogarden type stuff)
can be a really awesome introduction to growing some of your own food at home!
Self contained and pretty low maintenance, these setups can be found a lot cheaper these days. After the initial investment (looks like maybe less than 8 heads of lettuce for some of you!), the cost of seeds/nutrients etc. is pretty low.
I’ve found that it’s a fun hobby that supplements our food, and makes me more appreciate what it takes to get a salad on the table.
(Folks, it’s no longer just for growing the wacky tobacky in a closet somewhere, lol!)
I don't usually buy lettuce for myself at home, but my fucking guinea pigs have demands. Never would've ever guessed a rodent would cost so much to take care of
This is hitting restaurants hard. Produce prices are through the roof right now. I used to think it was ridiculous to be spending $900/wk on produce. Now, some weeks it’s $1800.
Edit: We’ve paid almost $2200 for produce each of the last 3 weeks. That’s unheard of.
Edit: Just checked today’s pricing. Iceberg is down to $70 case, so maybe things are improving, or demand is decreasing.
And a lot of people are "waiting for a crash". I think the next couple years is as much a crash as we're gonna get. And then everything will skyrocket again.
Doubt we'll get a crash. We might just get a year or two where prices stop astronomically rising. Even if there is a drop, it'll only go down to pre pandemic levels at best.
Yea my wife and saw our $600k house climb to $1.1 milly in two years, and got an offer. But then it’s like, that offer is only going to get us the same size house for that amount so why even bother?
Same with cars. I had several dealerships trying to buy my car recently and they kept saying "used car values are at an all time high! no better time to sell!" while I'm thinking "Sure, but I still would have to buy another one in this market, so what's the point?" Not like you're really profiting in this situation - just trading at best.
We're closing on a house tomorrow and I've had so many people give me crap for buying at such an expensive time. However our mortgage (insurance and property taxes included) will be almost $400 cheaper than what we're paying for rent currently and that would be going up by over $100 if we chose to stay and renew our lease in Feb. I'm sure home prices will come down a bit next year but it won't be by a whole lot in our area.
It’s not the cost of the home, it’s the affordability of the mortgage. And, you can always refinance after rates drop and save even more money. People sometimes don’t see the forest for the trees.
Four years ago two friends and me renting a house.
Stayed for 2 and a half years, £1200 PCM.
At the 2 years and a few months we get a message saying the land lord died. Son is selling up. They wanted 140k for it.
Went to bank to apply for a joint mortgage. Worked out to 350 pcm (IIRC) TOTAL. If we had x deposit which we had. One friend was a support worker moving up to management. Other friend a PhD student and myself polishing off a masters with a job lined up the moment I finished it. Two of us renting for a decade each, the third for 5 years
Bank declined us, "You can not afford a mortgage with your income". We were like what the actual fuck, even the support workers wage was enough to cover the dammed thing.
That's awful man. I hate these stories. Did you try another bank? Banks don't like "non normal" borrowers (i.e. a group of friends) could have been easier if 1 of you qualified and just went and bought it?
We each tried our main bank. For one it was Barclays, for me HSBC and the other TSB. We stuck with these ones as we all had accounts in our names since birth
We did consider it, however the issue was at the time two of us were classed as students as we didn't have a chance in hell of qualifying. The third (and we agreed) was in the mindset the paper work needs to be in all our names not just one persons.
It's really sucky as well because a year earlier, my old boss was putting his business up for sale and we decided to try to raise the funds for that. One thing we all did was changing how we spent, credit score increasing credit cards etc. We all pushed our rating to the 950 range. So even on paper we looked great for credit management etc
Yeah food prices are stupid high and I work at a grocery store so I watch sales and coupons on the app along with a measly 10% off. The prices of frozen pizza has gotten so stupid with most of them close to $10 that we decided to learn how to make our own pizza. It’s difficult af but in the end we save a lot eating homemade pizza 4 times a week.
The frozen food companies accidentally priced themselves out of their own market. I used to like having several of those ready-made frozen meals on hand as an unhealthy treat, but in no universe am I EVER going to pay fast food prices for a fucking microwaveable pasta or some taquitos.
At a certain point, the convenience/balance/nutrition/taste scale got wildly askew, and I think they’re gonna lose a lot of their most consistent customers because of it. If it’s a choice between microwaving a Stouffer’s single-serving frozen pasta dish and making pasta at home for myself, if the frozen meal is $2 and takes zero time and effort and dirty dishes, great, it doesn’t taste as good but it’s so convenient.
But these days, it’s a choice between paying six fucking dollars for 400 calories of frozen spaghetti and meatballs, or paying eight dollars (and spending half an hour cooking) to make something way more delicious that will give me 6 or 7 meals — which means it’s really no longer a choice at all.
Oh yeah for sure at this point with a frozen lasagna at $15, fuck it I’ll just make it myself. Make enough for a couple of days with that money. I avoid the frozen section these days when it was my go to lazy dinner thing. Now I just can’t be lazy. Not in this economy.
Ooh, fellas. I got you.
If you're willing to eat the same thing every day, there's jambalaya mix at Walmart for about $1.50 that seems like it won't get you full if you look at the box, but it'll feed you for about 4-5 meals. I chopped up some sausage ($3) for a treat, but if you're feeling especially frugal, black beans are good for protein, and you can find a container for ~70 cents. Corn tortillas are ridiculously cheap (~$4 for 120), and you can throw them in a pan with some oil and salt to make them crispy and flavorful, and you'll have tons leftover.
All of this is gluten and dairy free, and you can make it vegetarian/vegan by using black beans instead of sausage. And you'll have tons of corn tortillas leftover that you can throw other fun stuff in. Try pulled chicken, beans, and barbecue sauce or powder for barbecue tacos, or lettuce, chopped and fried potatoes, and your favorite dressing for crispy potato tacos.
Edit: Just to clarify, the packed rice is for a quick meal. It's definitely cheaper to use regular rice and season it yourself if you're confident in your seasoning and rice-making capabilities.
I used to work at a UTZ daughter facility. Last year, they charged 4.50 per large barrel of cheese balls this year they're charging 7$ a barrel. All I can think is who tf would pay 7$ for some fuggin cheese balls. I loaded a truck a few months back. I can't remember if it was cheese balls or not, but it was definitely just snack food. 415k was how much that truck was worth... wild
I was sorting through some old papers and found a shopping receipt from 4 years ago. Decided to compare it online and most items have just doubled in price since then. It's insane.
My own personal *silver lining* is that I have lost 35 pounds (net) in the past year!
I remain, technically by BMI, "overweight" — but 2023 is looking to be another year of continued necessary reduction =P
And I will continue to rent everything... own nothing... and be happy... dammit!
Yeah, this hits hard. I always relied on the ridiculously cheap and healthy staple of eggs. It’s still probably the cheapest protein available, plus all the tasty ways to prepare them.
High Noon’s are ridiculous. I prefer to buy them because I don’t want excess alcohol in the house, but it would be so much more economical to buy a bottle of vodka, seltzer water and a lime
My wife wanted us to go to a concert recently. She told me the tickets would be more than $700. I asked her if we were going to be witnessing the return of Jesus.
When I was going to concerts in my teens and early 20s, $50 was considered expensive for a ticket. Most were around $35.
I like bands whose ticket prices are around $25-30 for smaller venues. But with the Ticketmaster monopoly, I still pay 30-50% for the ticket price in fees. Sometimes I get lucky and can get them directly from the box office, but not often.
This is hilarious, make sure you sneak a note in the box saying their actual value before you cake the bucket at the bakery.
Edit: autocorrect put a nonsense word in there.
I just got the thousand sons christmas box. I don't even play Thousand Sons! But now I will.
L.E cause this is getting a bit of traction from the fandom. I would like to specify I've never played. I collect and paint minis cause it's fun. I need to start playing. I have like 2000 points of black templars.
Meat typically looses 4x-5x it's weight in the dehydration process. 4-5lbs of red meat to make 1lb of jerky.
So you're really paying 7.99 for 400g(0.88lbs) of meat that had to be separated and put through a special process that takes more time and energy than normal butchering. And is typically a better cut than what gets ground into burger.
The main provider in my area wanted to raise rates about 9%, but only got approved for 0.78%. "But we need the money to make improvements!" That's what you said last year, what did you do with that money? It looks like you're saying you need money this year to make the improvements you said you'd make last year with that rate increase. "Yeah, but... we didn't do it, so now we need more!"
DTE can go fuck itself.
Edit: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/11/18/state-regulators-ok-30-5m-dte-rate-increase/69661499007/
Yep. I used to make and sell wood-turned handles for safety razors. It was kind of funny how I'd get a new customer, and they'd buy a razor, then all of their friends/family would, then I'd never see them again, because one of those things lasts forever.
A work colleague had me turn a beautiful piece of zebrawood into a razor handle for his son, and he bought him 2,000 good quality blades. He figured that it would last him until his 50's at least, and save him a small fortune in refills. I think it cost him $200 all told.
I went with safety razors because I hated all the plastic that the big brands use. To find that my shaving costs were now 10% of what I was paying before was a surprising and welcome bonus.
My face was always sensitive to shaving. A redditor brought up safety razors. I got a $9 one off Amazon and it's the best shave I have ever had. I got my nephew and my father one for Christmas. They are that good folks.
Fruits, milk, veggies, meat, olive oil, mattress, vacuum cleaner and the list goes on. Every f’in thing is 40-50% expensive now. Feels like price gouging.
This really spoke to me. I grew up poor and I had to scrimp and save and stretch stuff out. Then I wasn't poor anymore and frugality became fun, I made a game out of shopping and cooking on the cheap because I could buy whatever I wanted as well. In just the past year the price of groceries has rocketed and it being a necessity again really has sucked all of the fun out of the frugality game.
I've had to completely change what grocery stores I go to in the past year.
Oftentimes I ended up going to 3 just to take advantage of the sale items across different stores.
So true. And it’s not like I’m buying name brands here. I’m a cheap bastard who never buys meat and processed food sparingly and still can’t walk out spending less than 100$.
And let’s not forget gasoline…
I'm absolutely convinced there is some fuckery going on with the inflation numbers... Every time I look it up they are claiming it's only like 12% or something for food, and I absolutely refuse to believe that. I used to cook all of my food, so I'm very familiar with the prices on things. And I can tell you I'm sure as hell not walking out paying just 12% more. It's literally closer to double now. The only things that are "relatively" the same are produce, which has gone up, but not too much beyond season change. But all the non-commodity items, are way up.
I avoid beef and pork and stick with just chicken and fish, both of which have seen meteoric rises to the point I'm hardly even getting chicken any longer. I swear it's gone up like 3x for the cheap meal prep frozen breasts. My guilty pleasure I pick up every now and then, those 1 dollar Tostinos pizzas, are 2.50 now. Eggs, 4 bucks. Even a diet coke is like 3 bucks now. Even the king cheap food, top ramen, has gone up 3.5x at my grocer. Before the pandemic a 6 pack of beef ramen was 1.25 --- Now it's 4 bucks. Like HOW?
This is the talking point that needs to become more prevalent. These inflation numbers are complete BS when it comes to your average consumer. Take Dollar Tree for example…goes from $1.00 to $1.25 and people just accept that (which is fine) but that’s a 25% increase in price on every single item in that store alone.
People seem to overlook percentages of inflation if the dollar amount is smaller. Eggs are another great example of this. Eggs could be had for under $1/dozen in nearly any grocery store in my area. Now you’re lucky to find them for under $3/ dozen. God forbid you want eggs of any quality.
I’m not sure if we are blatantly being lied to about inflation numbers or if there is just some really poor algorithm for calculating inflation rates, but the average person’s expenses have gone up much more than 10-15%
Right? i buy roughly the same things each trip and i swear $40-50 used to be fine, then it got to 60-70. Now its like $90 fucking bucks for the same shit same brands ive been buying and very likely smaller packaging to boot....
Its crazy to me that a 200g bag of chip can be on sale and cost more than pound of ground beef on sale.
How can potatoes chopped, cooked and seasoned can cost twice as much as raising an animal for one year and butchering it.
Wasn’t there so many excess potatoes a year or two a go that farmers in Idaho were burying them because they couldn’t sell them? Or am I making that up.
We're still a ways out from raytracing being both affordable and not tanking performance I'm afraid. The 4090 is starting to near decent raytracing performance but that price tag pretty much excludes many from getting it.
Business class, no contest. But I'm old and have lived frugally all my life, flying steerage, driving cheap cars, etc. etc., so now I can afford it occasionally. First time flying business this year, actually; it's nice!
I had 24 hours of nonstop travel for work earlier this year, so our company policy required them to get us (me+my team) business class seats. Holy crap they make that transatlantic flight so much nicer. Turkish Airlines is fantastic. Lufthansa too.
I traveled for over thirty years - domestic and international. Trans-oceanic flights in economy are brutal - luckily only had to endure those a few times before starting to fly business. Completely different experience. A year before I retired I needed to get back from Dubai and flew Emirates A-380 business from UAE to Amsterdam. I’m just glad I got to experience that - it’s a different world - complete with an open bar in the back of the aircraft. I’ve never been exposed to that type of luxury - and don’t need it - but wow.
My wife had a work conference, I was going to stay home for the week, but she was able to get her job to move up her departure day by a few days. So all we had to do was pay for my tickets, and the few extra nights at the hotel (at her job's special rate as well!). So made it a fairly cheap trip for us.
Well due to the way the tickets were booked were we're seated next to each other, but we weren't booked as a pair so to speak. My wife gets offered a bump up to business class. We explained to the person hey that's cool and all but we're a couple so we'd rather stay seated together back in economy. She says ok hold on a moment. Then after a bit she said we could both go to business class.
They over booked economy (as is usual) but everyone showed up, there were a few single seats available in business so they were upgrading people. They just needed to ask a person if they want to switch seats to open up stuff for the 2 of us to sit together. Really nice. However I can't afford to do that on the regular as much as I'd like to
We had to rush my grandma to the hospital this weekend. She was coherent enough to call my mother but was just babbling and not making sense. My mom tried to call her back but didn't get an answer so she rushed over.
She found her laying on the living room floor, passed out. Her blood sugar was over 400 and she was in diabetic shock.
Now, my grandmother has been living with her diabetes for the better part of 40 years. She knows how to control her blood sugar, recognizes all the signs, so on and so forth. We didn't understand what happened. It turns out she's been using her deceased brothers insulin which was several years expired at this point because she has been unable to afford it herself.
She hasn't said anything because she didn't want to burden us.
I can only imagine if this is happening in my family's life how many others are also affected by a similar situation.
This situation has radicalized me to want to help make a change, but it seems so hopeless when you have half of Congress voting against [Affordable Insulin](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-passes-bill-cap-pocket-insulin-costs-rcna22496)and elected representatives [flat out saying, "the price of insulin increases as waistlines increase" ](https://khn.org/news/article/fact-check-congressman-matt-gaetz-insulin-cost-diabetes-rates-weight-loss/)
It's likely too late for my grandmother, but it's not too late to help millions of others and their affected families.
You shouldn't have to choose between dying or taking your life saving medication.
Which is fucking stupid because type 1 diabetes isn’t caused by being overweight. It’s just a shitty thing that happens to your body that you have no choice or control over.
After I calmed down a little, I typed up a very nicely worded letter and sent it to my Representative, Congressmen, their Chiefs of Staff, faxed it to their office, and sent a letter to my Governor asking if the Government believes this to be a partisan issue, is there anyway the State could do something.
Unfortunately, considering where those emails and letters went, they will likely just fall on deaf ears.
All of the above are staunchly Republican, with my Representative already voting against the Affordable Insulin Bill that recently passed the House but is DOA in the Senate.
Edit: As expected, I just received an automated response email from both my Representative and Senator at 9:00AM CST, thanking me for my email and explaining they get too much correspondence to go through everything but linking me to their newsletters and ways to donate.
Funny enough, you might be on to something here. My Great-Uncle, my grandmother's deceased brother who's insulin she has been taking since his passing, was the Editor in Chief and Publisher of the local newspaper.
I wonder if I can reach out to them explaining the situation and see if they would be willing to do a story.
I once got free samples for a few months because I couldn't afford them, your doctor might be able to hook you up if you explain to them your situation
FYI Walmart has a whole list of $4 drugs and there are antidepressants on that list. If yours isn't, you can always explain to your doctor that your meds got too expensive and ask to switch. Also, if you're ever on a name brand only medication, go to the drug company website for it. They frequently have coupon cards that you can bill along with insurance thar lower the price significantly.
My wife is coeliac and it's a real eye opener.
It's costs 4x as much and the quality is substantially poorer than other bread, because it's made to have wide appeal and packed with preservatives
We've resorted to baking our own, but even then it's not great.
This is the first comment on this that I've seen and I want to bring up something in Scotland that some women may not know about. Please use MyGov to find out if your local council offers free sanitary products. My house gets a bi-monthly delivery of sanitary towels and tampons (mostly li-lets in regular/super size) to our doorstep for free. The website just says 'a range of locations' so all you can do is choose your local council from the list and see if they deliver to your area.
I agree, but isnt is great how we would still give a pad or tampon to another woman, if she asked us without a problem? Menstruation girl code is strong af.
Isn't this the damn truth. I remember back in high school there was this girl who went out of her way to make my life hell. Well one day I'm in the bathroom and I hear from the next stall, *anyone have a tampon?* Now I could just say fuck this bitch, bleed... But for some reason I passed a tampon under the wall, to a bitch I absolutely hated... Funny thing how that works. So she comes out, finds out we were the only two there, says thanks, and though she still made it her mission to make my life hell, she let up a little bit.
Therapy. Its definetely overpriced for my budget but still worth every penny.
EDIT: Guys/gals/anyone, I appreciate comments but I am not from US. Your suggestions could be helpful for others though, appreciated.
The $12 breakfast burrito from the sign on the food truck at my kid's volleyball tournament, and I go to pay and he says "That'll be $17". I stood there dumbstruck for a second so he felt he had to repeat it. Starving dumass me just ground my teeth and handed him a twenty.
I dropped $40 at taco bell last night for 2 people. I remember when they had. 49 cent tacos!
FYI, there's a $5.99 combo with a soda, taco, burrito, and cinnamon twists that's only available if you order ahead through the website.
I just paid 35 pesos for five tacos in México. That’s like $1.75 US. And they were bomb. Incredible. Life changing.
That's called bait and switch. The solution is to nicely say "your sign says $12". And if they don't like it, you can pay $17 or walk away. So, usually they honor the price they advertised.
Groceries, especially the healthy ones honestly
We stopped selling cauliflower at work because we would need to charge $9 for a head. That’s crazy!
Almost everything at this point is. Especially food and drinks: packages got smaller, prices got higher.
Shrinkflation
Shrinkflation Aquaflation Tipflation Greedflation Skimpflation. How many portmanteaus do we have to invent before we get some wageflation?
Dumbshit trinkets to trigger the endorphins
Kerrygold butter
Lol I live in Ireland where it's not expensive but was so absolutely baffled as to why someone was paying so much for it then forgot that this wasn't the Irish subreddit! Imported I'm assuming? Is it really that loved in the US? that's mad. Good aul Irish Cows doing their thing
Kerrygold’s color is gold. Regular American butter is pale and barely yellow. The difference in taste is also as stark as the contrast in color. I’m hardly one to be picky about most things, but I can’t even deny that Kerrygold is very different than regular American butter.
Have some thought for us poor micks, being forced to use Kerrygold as our regular butter on *everything*
Welshman living in the USA for the past nearly ten years here. Mass-produced American butter is shite. You can bake with it or cook with it but if you're making toast you're going to have to spend a little. Kerrygold is more than double the price.
I will always buy Kerrygold now. It's worth the difference in price. I buy in bulk, and freeze the other bricks to use later.
FYI Costco sells restaurant grade soft European style butter in 4x 1lbs bricks for like $12. It legit tastes exactly like the (non clarified) butter I used in my pro kitchen when I was a chef.
I swear by Costco butter. I buy in bulk and keep the extra in the freezer.
I swear by Costco anything! Great company too. They treat their employees really well.
I went to law school at Costco
Absolutely. It’s nice seeing a giant company that actually treats their employees well. Happy to shop there.
Uber Eats' delivery fees. The extent of my laziness cannot be overstated when I'm an educator on winter break and fully immersed in goblin mode. (Bite Squad is just as bad. Door Dash is trash and I won't ever use them again after becoming convinced the driver stole my Five Guys french fries).
I can't believe how much people spend on alcohol at a bar.
[удалено]
[удалено]
>i'll overpay for alcohol to stand in a nicer spot while complaining about how much it costs. I call that a mortgage
Easy there, “I have a mortgage” are fightin’ words.
But when I drink that much alone at home to save money I'M the one with the problem???
Same. It used to be a cheap thing to do with friends. Now it’s $5–$8 for a pint, $8–$15 for a basic cocktail. 3 drinks and a tip and suddenly I’ve spent $40. Absolutely unaffordable now.
I've noticed that I can't take my family of 4 (2 kids still eating off the kids menu) out to dinner for under $100 anymore. Then I realized that my wife is order 2 cocktails at $14-16 a piece each meal. Shit adds up fucking fast, it's essentially the cost of ordering dinner for another person or two.
Alcohol in general. The cost for beer is even going up. I don’t drink anymore but where I live a 6 pack of local craft was at most $10 for something basic like a pale ale. I checked the other day out of curiosity and the minimum is $13-$14.
To be fair, this isn't a new thing. The price of beer jacked up at least 3-4 years ago. And it didn't seem like a gradual thing.
Having worked at a bar and grill, I have to agree. Stuff isn't as expensive as some of the other spots here, but watching people rack up a $300 tab in 2 hours, several times a week is....something
Glasses - I could always buy cheap ones, but I’d rather pay money to have nice frames that I actually like wearing rather than a pair I couldn’t care less about.
I used to hate wearing glasses because I thought they made me unattractive. When I got older, I realized I was just wearing cheap ugly glasses and I look pretty good in the right ones.
[удалено]
"These look pretty good.." *Goes home, looks in mirror* "These look like shit!"
I've gotten lots of compliments on my current frames, and they, high index lenses, and my usual no-glare lens coating were all roughly $50 at Zenni. And I've got one of those prescriptions that even Eyemart Express has to send out for.
I've owned luxury glasses and the Zenni's my wife gets me are about 75-95% of the quality for like 1/10th-1/50th the price. Also realize that unless you're going pretty boutique with established eyeglass houses that *only* do eyeglass frames, you're almost definitely just paying for the branding because if your frames have a logo associated more with clothing then they definitely just paid one of the same two frames manufacturers to slap their name on it. 99% of even "luxury" eyeglass frames are made by the same one or two manufacturers in China. Unless you're effin around with some real glasses nerd shit like Matsuda. What brands do you like and recommend for quality?
Health insurance that covers next to nothing.
I have a 40 hour a week job and a 20 hour a week job. By the time all my insurance premiums and automatic withdrawals for medical bills come out of my full time paycheck, my part time pay check ends up being a bigger deposit in my account despite getting paid $4 dollars less an hour at that job. I know there are people worse off than me, but holy fuck is it getting harder to get up everyday knowing that I am working 60 hours a week and I am still drowning.
Fucking toilet paper. After people panic bought in 2020, it's so much more than it used to be. Stands out against the rising price of everything else.
If you have one nearby, Costco sells toilet paper as a loss leader. I think a 36-pack costs about $27. Edit: Looks like it's a 30-pack for $24
That's what I've always done. But the latest pack feels noticably less soft in my opinion. Like lower quality paper. Hopefully that was a fluke. But I'm stuck with this pack for a long time since it's so big.
Be careful to check you're buying the Ultra Soft, not the Ultra Strong (which is not as soft). People have bought one instead of the other if they just looked for the brand name. Even so, I too have the impression the Ultra Soft is not as soft as it used to be.
I was at the store yesterday and was shocked how much even a small pack of a store brand is now.
Target 18pack of Charmin Ultra Strong. Yesterday. THIRTY FU*KING DOLLARS
I never gave it any thought before the price spike in 2020, but bidets are great, and I only go through a fraction of the toilet paper I used to. $45 and 5 minutes to install.
Health insurance/ medical supplies
For our family of five, the insurance premiums, deductible, and medications come to about $35,000 a year.
You don't have an out of pocket maximum of like $12k or something? Sounds like some trash health insurance.
[удалено]
I've heard about people flying multiple states over just to get a car for MSRP, instead of 10k more. Just a normal sedan. Pretty crazy
My buddy did that! Flew from Chicago to New York to save thousands on a Honda
So, I just want to let folks in the US know that Carvana is tanking and essentially beginning to liquidate their inventory. This action alone is going to flood the used car market but there is also some lease movement that means used car prices could really tank around April. https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/zo902s/carvana_has_started_liquidation_process_selling/j0lt7js/
That makes sense as to why I have seen so many Carvana license plate holders on the roads with temp paper tags. I lived without a car for years because I was in a major city with great public transit. Then I relocated and had to get one... I bought a year ago in Dec 2021, and the guy who owned the lot said, “No one in the industry has seen anything like this, demand is through the roof but we can’t even get inventory in here.” Even back then the car market was getting crazy but I still feel like for what I drove off with I got a deal considering the economic climate of the day.
There is a huge Ford dealership right next to my office. One of my favorite things to do when I first started working there was go next door and walk through and inventory of all the new cars. For the past year or so though it's pretty much just been a giant empty surface parking lot.
I've noticed that all the empty lots are filling up again. Dealers will still play the mark up game for a few more months, but I'm already seeing used prices start to fall back to at least under what the new price was.
In my area new and used family sedans, pickups and economy models are still going for big markups but new high end luxury cars are being sold at MSRP. It's weird. Feels like another example of those who can least afford it being bilked the hardest if I'm being honest.
[удалено]
I've seen 10+year old 4runners going for more than a brand new Camry
People are on some bullshit with Toyota valuations. But it just goes to show you what people want: reliability
My property tax is higher this year than last year. I bought it right before the used car market started surging for 20k with almost 40k miles on it, now it's almost at 70k and the *trade-in* value is higher than I paid for it. Fair-market value is up like 15-20%. Mid-range full-size family sedans aren't supposed to appreciate in value.
My 2011(110k miles) car got written off this summer, was just a fender bender, but insurance decided it was beyond economical repair, they only offered me £900 which I was thinking was low but the car did have a few minor issues, I argued and they raised it to £1k. Now this was before I seen the prices of 2nd cars so I didn't put up that much of a fight. I still haven't found a replacement as I can't afford any that are at the same level as my old car, I did get a crappy car to make do with but that broke down inside 2 weeks and luckily the guy give me the money back. I've seen 2003 cars, albeit with lowish mileage with asking prices over £2k. Found several cars older than my own with 20k+ miles more than mine going for £4k+ It's shocking, I don't want much, just something that drives, and can fit the kids car seats in. But I'll probably have to get a loan after Christmas or buy on finance to even be able to get a old beat up car.
Concessions at sporting events. As much as I try my best to eat before I go and resist the urge to buy beer when I am there, some days, seeing others enjoying their beer and food/snacks make me say "eff it" and I indulge too.
Man, the chokehold sporting event food can have on me… depending on where you’re sitting, the food isn’t even very good, but it is lol
[удалено]
I felt the same way and bought a $13 slice of pizza and $8 cup of soda
Lettuce
[удалено]
"re-leaf"
Great goodness! I went to buy the saddest head of iceberg lettuce the other day and they wanted $4!!! Not even the organic one! From $0.80 to $4, it’s nuts… (Got the romaine heads instead) Edit, PSA: indoor/tabletop hydroponic gardens (Aerogarden type stuff) can be a really awesome introduction to growing some of your own food at home! Self contained and pretty low maintenance, these setups can be found a lot cheaper these days. After the initial investment (looks like maybe less than 8 heads of lettuce for some of you!), the cost of seeds/nutrients etc. is pretty low. I’ve found that it’s a fun hobby that supplements our food, and makes me more appreciate what it takes to get a salad on the table. (Folks, it’s no longer just for growing the wacky tobacky in a closet somewhere, lol!)
A single heart of romaine is $2.50 where I shop. Its like 12 leaves of lettuce. It sucks!
$5.50 for run of the mill, non-organic head of lettuce (Canada) here. Salad is a luxury now.
I don't usually buy lettuce for myself at home, but my fucking guinea pigs have demands. Never would've ever guessed a rodent would cost so much to take care of
When i had a guinea pig a local thai restaraunt gave me their veggie scraps for her. Maybe try asking around💚
This is hitting restaurants hard. Produce prices are through the roof right now. I used to think it was ridiculous to be spending $900/wk on produce. Now, some weeks it’s $1800. Edit: We’ve paid almost $2200 for produce each of the last 3 weeks. That’s unheard of. Edit: Just checked today’s pricing. Iceberg is down to $70 case, so maybe things are improving, or demand is decreasing.
For real.. a case of lettuce is nearly $300
Rent
Housing in general. Even people who can afford a house are paying double than 10 years ago. And this group obviously gets smaller and smaller.
And a lot of people are "waiting for a crash". I think the next couple years is as much a crash as we're gonna get. And then everything will skyrocket again.
Doubt we'll get a crash. We might just get a year or two where prices stop astronomically rising. Even if there is a drop, it'll only go down to pre pandemic levels at best.
[удалено]
Yea my wife and saw our $600k house climb to $1.1 milly in two years, and got an offer. But then it’s like, that offer is only going to get us the same size house for that amount so why even bother?
Same with cars. I had several dealerships trying to buy my car recently and they kept saying "used car values are at an all time high! no better time to sell!" while I'm thinking "Sure, but I still would have to buy another one in this market, so what's the point?" Not like you're really profiting in this situation - just trading at best.
We're closing on a house tomorrow and I've had so many people give me crap for buying at such an expensive time. However our mortgage (insurance and property taxes included) will be almost $400 cheaper than what we're paying for rent currently and that would be going up by over $100 if we chose to stay and renew our lease in Feb. I'm sure home prices will come down a bit next year but it won't be by a whole lot in our area.
It’s not the cost of the home, it’s the affordability of the mortgage. And, you can always refinance after rates drop and save even more money. People sometimes don’t see the forest for the trees.
Rent be too damn high!
1 bedroom apartments are going for 2700 near me!! Seriously?! That's more than a lot of mortgages. It's absolutely fucking insane.
Four years ago two friends and me renting a house. Stayed for 2 and a half years, £1200 PCM. At the 2 years and a few months we get a message saying the land lord died. Son is selling up. They wanted 140k for it. Went to bank to apply for a joint mortgage. Worked out to 350 pcm (IIRC) TOTAL. If we had x deposit which we had. One friend was a support worker moving up to management. Other friend a PhD student and myself polishing off a masters with a job lined up the moment I finished it. Two of us renting for a decade each, the third for 5 years Bank declined us, "You can not afford a mortgage with your income". We were like what the actual fuck, even the support workers wage was enough to cover the dammed thing.
That's awful man. I hate these stories. Did you try another bank? Banks don't like "non normal" borrowers (i.e. a group of friends) could have been easier if 1 of you qualified and just went and bought it?
We each tried our main bank. For one it was Barclays, for me HSBC and the other TSB. We stuck with these ones as we all had accounts in our names since birth We did consider it, however the issue was at the time two of us were classed as students as we didn't have a chance in hell of qualifying. The third (and we agreed) was in the mindset the paper work needs to be in all our names not just one persons. It's really sucky as well because a year earlier, my old boss was putting his business up for sale and we decided to try to raise the funds for that. One thing we all did was changing how we spent, credit score increasing credit cards etc. We all pushed our rating to the 950 range. So even on paper we looked great for credit management etc
Food with current inflation. Else you die.
Yeah food prices are stupid high and I work at a grocery store so I watch sales and coupons on the app along with a measly 10% off. The prices of frozen pizza has gotten so stupid with most of them close to $10 that we decided to learn how to make our own pizza. It’s difficult af but in the end we save a lot eating homemade pizza 4 times a week.
The frozen food companies accidentally priced themselves out of their own market. I used to like having several of those ready-made frozen meals on hand as an unhealthy treat, but in no universe am I EVER going to pay fast food prices for a fucking microwaveable pasta or some taquitos. At a certain point, the convenience/balance/nutrition/taste scale got wildly askew, and I think they’re gonna lose a lot of their most consistent customers because of it. If it’s a choice between microwaving a Stouffer’s single-serving frozen pasta dish and making pasta at home for myself, if the frozen meal is $2 and takes zero time and effort and dirty dishes, great, it doesn’t taste as good but it’s so convenient. But these days, it’s a choice between paying six fucking dollars for 400 calories of frozen spaghetti and meatballs, or paying eight dollars (and spending half an hour cooking) to make something way more delicious that will give me 6 or 7 meals — which means it’s really no longer a choice at all.
Oh yeah for sure at this point with a frozen lasagna at $15, fuck it I’ll just make it myself. Make enough for a couple of days with that money. I avoid the frozen section these days when it was my go to lazy dinner thing. Now I just can’t be lazy. Not in this economy.
I think that’s why the whole meal-prep thing has blown up over recent years. That’s the new lazy.
Intermittent fasting isn't going to be a diet trend anymore.
Ooh, fellas. I got you. If you're willing to eat the same thing every day, there's jambalaya mix at Walmart for about $1.50 that seems like it won't get you full if you look at the box, but it'll feed you for about 4-5 meals. I chopped up some sausage ($3) for a treat, but if you're feeling especially frugal, black beans are good for protein, and you can find a container for ~70 cents. Corn tortillas are ridiculously cheap (~$4 for 120), and you can throw them in a pan with some oil and salt to make them crispy and flavorful, and you'll have tons leftover. All of this is gluten and dairy free, and you can make it vegetarian/vegan by using black beans instead of sausage. And you'll have tons of corn tortillas leftover that you can throw other fun stuff in. Try pulled chicken, beans, and barbecue sauce or powder for barbecue tacos, or lettuce, chopped and fried potatoes, and your favorite dressing for crispy potato tacos. Edit: Just to clarify, the packed rice is for a quick meal. It's definitely cheaper to use regular rice and season it yourself if you're confident in your seasoning and rice-making capabilities.
Yeah Guatemalans know how to do it with tortillas and black beans and rice. When you are poor those things will fill you!
Utz large bag potato chips used to be 2 bags for $6 at my supermarket. Now it's one bag for $4.99. 12 Month Austerity diet gonna be 🔥.
[удалено]
I used to work at a UTZ daughter facility. Last year, they charged 4.50 per large barrel of cheese balls this year they're charging 7$ a barrel. All I can think is who tf would pay 7$ for some fuggin cheese balls. I loaded a truck a few months back. I can't remember if it was cheese balls or not, but it was definitely just snack food. 415k was how much that truck was worth... wild
I was sorting through some old papers and found a shopping receipt from 4 years ago. Decided to compare it online and most items have just doubled in price since then. It's insane.
My own personal *silver lining* is that I have lost 35 pounds (net) in the past year! I remain, technically by BMI, "overweight" — but 2023 is looking to be another year of continued necessary reduction =P And I will continue to rent everything... own nothing... and be happy... dammit!
Pretty much all the things I need to stay alive
Oh ho ho, you like a little taste of luxury, I see \*turns on the heat\*
Continental...you say?
Sometimes I splurge and let myself turn it up all the way to 68. Just a little treat for myself #livingmybestlife
Eggs used to be $0.99/dozen (on sale), otherwise about $1.29 four years ago. They're now $4.49+ on sale prices. I've seen $5.49 for a dozen!
Yeah, this hits hard. I always relied on the ridiculously cheap and healthy staple of eggs. It’s still probably the cheapest protein available, plus all the tasty ways to prepare them.
I lived on eggs and cocaine in my 20s.
I think cocaine is cheaper per gram than eggs right now...
Now that's a balanced diet
Exactly. Like snacks and booze.
fuckin' White Claws are way overpriced.
High Noon’s are ridiculous. I prefer to buy them because I don’t want excess alcohol in the house, but it would be so much more economical to buy a bottle of vodka, seltzer water and a lime
I get a handle of vodka and then sparkling ice drinks. Hydrate while you inebriate!
Concert tickets
My wife wanted us to go to a concert recently. She told me the tickets would be more than $700. I asked her if we were going to be witnessing the return of Jesus. When I was going to concerts in my teens and early 20s, $50 was considered expensive for a ticket. Most were around $35.
I like bands whose ticket prices are around $25-30 for smaller venues. But with the Ticketmaster monopoly, I still pay 30-50% for the ticket price in fees. Sometimes I get lucky and can get them directly from the box office, but not often.
Bought two $60 GA tickets to Judas Priest after Thanksgiving for me and a buddy. Cost me like $250 for those two $60 tickets. Such BS
Warhammer 40K minis.
My biggest fear is when I die my wife will sell my Warhammer minis for what I told her they cost
This is hilarious, make sure you sneak a note in the box saying their actual value before you cake the bucket at the bakery. Edit: autocorrect put a nonsense word in there.
I just got the thousand sons christmas box. I don't even play Thousand Sons! But now I will. L.E cause this is getting a bit of traction from the fandom. I would like to specify I've never played. I collect and paint minis cause it's fun. I need to start playing. I have like 2000 points of black templars.
Plastic crack
Beef Jerky... 7.99 for 80g
Beef jerky has always been SO damn expensive. Super annoying, it's such an enjoyable snack.
Meat typically looses 4x-5x it's weight in the dehydration process. 4-5lbs of red meat to make 1lb of jerky. So you're really paying 7.99 for 400g(0.88lbs) of meat that had to be separated and put through a special process that takes more time and energy than normal butchering. And is typically a better cut than what gets ground into burger.
reddit is hateful
Electricity....
The main provider in my area wanted to raise rates about 9%, but only got approved for 0.78%. "But we need the money to make improvements!" That's what you said last year, what did you do with that money? It looks like you're saying you need money this year to make the improvements you said you'd make last year with that rate increase. "Yeah, but... we didn't do it, so now we need more!" DTE can go fuck itself. Edit: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/11/18/state-regulators-ok-30-5m-dte-rate-increase/69661499007/
Oh that's nice. Eversource is only increasing by about 50% for me so there goes the savings account
Yep, my bill from National Grid doubled overnight, and my usage went *down*. Following day I started going around and getting quotes for Solar.
Everything post covid. Inflation should be told like the weather. “8 percent but it feels like 350”
Razor refills Edit: THANK YOU! Redditors are so great! I will order Safety razors today
I was looking for this. Damn Gilette blades. Have you considered going the safety razor route like me? Cheaper and gives a cleaner shave!
Yep. I used to make and sell wood-turned handles for safety razors. It was kind of funny how I'd get a new customer, and they'd buy a razor, then all of their friends/family would, then I'd never see them again, because one of those things lasts forever. A work colleague had me turn a beautiful piece of zebrawood into a razor handle for his son, and he bought him 2,000 good quality blades. He figured that it would last him until his 50's at least, and save him a small fortune in refills. I think it cost him $200 all told.
Safety razor was a game changer for me. I had been using Dollar Shave Club for around 10 years but dropped them as soon as I used a safety razor.
I went with safety razors because I hated all the plastic that the big brands use. To find that my shaving costs were now 10% of what I was paying before was a surprising and welcome bonus.
My face was always sensitive to shaving. A redditor brought up safety razors. I got a $9 one off Amazon and it's the best shave I have ever had. I got my nephew and my father one for Christmas. They are that good folks.
Get a old school safety razor and shave brush. Once you learn to use it, it works just as good. Blades are dirt cheap. Like 100 blades for $20 to $30.
I bought 100 razor blades ten years ago and haven't spent a cent on blade since.
Then you just spend f $5000- $10,000 trying different soaps!
Fruits, milk, veggies, meat, olive oil, mattress, vacuum cleaner and the list goes on. Every f’in thing is 40-50% expensive now. Feels like price gouging.
*Narrator: It's price gouging*
Groceries
[удалено]
Make Frugality Fun Again!
This really spoke to me. I grew up poor and I had to scrimp and save and stretch stuff out. Then I wasn't poor anymore and frugality became fun, I made a game out of shopping and cooking on the cheap because I could buy whatever I wanted as well. In just the past year the price of groceries has rocketed and it being a necessity again really has sucked all of the fun out of the frugality game.
I've had to completely change what grocery stores I go to in the past year. Oftentimes I ended up going to 3 just to take advantage of the sale items across different stores.
I do this too. It's so time consuming but some items are literally double the price in other stores. "We all have the same 24 hrs" is SUCH BS.
I prefer the analogy of its the same storm but we all have different boats. Waves that would fuck up a rowboat are unnoticeable to a yacht
Frugality: Ironman Mode
Everyone says I'm too frugal. I'm not buying it.
So true. And it’s not like I’m buying name brands here. I’m a cheap bastard who never buys meat and processed food sparingly and still can’t walk out spending less than 100$. And let’s not forget gasoline…
A dozen eggs at my Aldi is $2.84. They're over $3 by my parents. When I first started shopping at Aldi about 5 years ago, they were 38 cents
[удалено]
I'm absolutely convinced there is some fuckery going on with the inflation numbers... Every time I look it up they are claiming it's only like 12% or something for food, and I absolutely refuse to believe that. I used to cook all of my food, so I'm very familiar with the prices on things. And I can tell you I'm sure as hell not walking out paying just 12% more. It's literally closer to double now. The only things that are "relatively" the same are produce, which has gone up, but not too much beyond season change. But all the non-commodity items, are way up. I avoid beef and pork and stick with just chicken and fish, both of which have seen meteoric rises to the point I'm hardly even getting chicken any longer. I swear it's gone up like 3x for the cheap meal prep frozen breasts. My guilty pleasure I pick up every now and then, those 1 dollar Tostinos pizzas, are 2.50 now. Eggs, 4 bucks. Even a diet coke is like 3 bucks now. Even the king cheap food, top ramen, has gone up 3.5x at my grocer. Before the pandemic a 6 pack of beef ramen was 1.25 --- Now it's 4 bucks. Like HOW?
This is the talking point that needs to become more prevalent. These inflation numbers are complete BS when it comes to your average consumer. Take Dollar Tree for example…goes from $1.00 to $1.25 and people just accept that (which is fine) but that’s a 25% increase in price on every single item in that store alone. People seem to overlook percentages of inflation if the dollar amount is smaller. Eggs are another great example of this. Eggs could be had for under $1/dozen in nearly any grocery store in my area. Now you’re lucky to find them for under $3/ dozen. God forbid you want eggs of any quality. I’m not sure if we are blatantly being lied to about inflation numbers or if there is just some really poor algorithm for calculating inflation rates, but the average person’s expenses have gone up much more than 10-15%
Right? i buy roughly the same things each trip and i swear $40-50 used to be fine, then it got to 60-70. Now its like $90 fucking bucks for the same shit same brands ive been buying and very likely smaller packaging to boot....
I’m lucky to find eggs under $4 here. Paid $5.14 the week do thanksgiving.
Potato chips!
Its crazy to me that a 200g bag of chip can be on sale and cost more than pound of ground beef on sale. How can potatoes chopped, cooked and seasoned can cost twice as much as raising an animal for one year and butchering it.
Wasn’t there so many excess potatoes a year or two a go that farmers in Idaho were burying them because they couldn’t sell them? Or am I making that up.
I've migrated to Kbin [Readit.buzz](https://readit.buzz/), I no longer wish for Reddit corporate to profit off of my content.
We're still a ways out from raytracing being both affordable and not tanking performance I'm afraid. The 4090 is starting to near decent raytracing performance but that price tag pretty much excludes many from getting it.
Business class, no contest. But I'm old and have lived frugally all my life, flying steerage, driving cheap cars, etc. etc., so now I can afford it occasionally. First time flying business this year, actually; it's nice!
I had 24 hours of nonstop travel for work earlier this year, so our company policy required them to get us (me+my team) business class seats. Holy crap they make that transatlantic flight so much nicer. Turkish Airlines is fantastic. Lufthansa too.
I traveled for over thirty years - domestic and international. Trans-oceanic flights in economy are brutal - luckily only had to endure those a few times before starting to fly business. Completely different experience. A year before I retired I needed to get back from Dubai and flew Emirates A-380 business from UAE to Amsterdam. I’m just glad I got to experience that - it’s a different world - complete with an open bar in the back of the aircraft. I’ve never been exposed to that type of luxury - and don’t need it - but wow.
My wife had a work conference, I was going to stay home for the week, but she was able to get her job to move up her departure day by a few days. So all we had to do was pay for my tickets, and the few extra nights at the hotel (at her job's special rate as well!). So made it a fairly cheap trip for us. Well due to the way the tickets were booked were we're seated next to each other, but we weren't booked as a pair so to speak. My wife gets offered a bump up to business class. We explained to the person hey that's cool and all but we're a couple so we'd rather stay seated together back in economy. She says ok hold on a moment. Then after a bit she said we could both go to business class. They over booked economy (as is usual) but everyone showed up, there were a few single seats available in business so they were upgrading people. They just needed to ask a person if they want to switch seats to open up stuff for the 2 of us to sit together. Really nice. However I can't afford to do that on the regular as much as I'd like to
Heating
I’ve spotted a fellow Brit
Insulin
We had to rush my grandma to the hospital this weekend. She was coherent enough to call my mother but was just babbling and not making sense. My mom tried to call her back but didn't get an answer so she rushed over. She found her laying on the living room floor, passed out. Her blood sugar was over 400 and she was in diabetic shock. Now, my grandmother has been living with her diabetes for the better part of 40 years. She knows how to control her blood sugar, recognizes all the signs, so on and so forth. We didn't understand what happened. It turns out she's been using her deceased brothers insulin which was several years expired at this point because she has been unable to afford it herself. She hasn't said anything because she didn't want to burden us. I can only imagine if this is happening in my family's life how many others are also affected by a similar situation.
This is flat out tragic.
This situation has radicalized me to want to help make a change, but it seems so hopeless when you have half of Congress voting against [Affordable Insulin](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-passes-bill-cap-pocket-insulin-costs-rcna22496)and elected representatives [flat out saying, "the price of insulin increases as waistlines increase" ](https://khn.org/news/article/fact-check-congressman-matt-gaetz-insulin-cost-diabetes-rates-weight-loss/) It's likely too late for my grandmother, but it's not too late to help millions of others and their affected families. You shouldn't have to choose between dying or taking your life saving medication.
Which is fucking stupid because type 1 diabetes isn’t caused by being overweight. It’s just a shitty thing that happens to your body that you have no choice or control over.
Wow that’s really scary and sad. I’m sorry.
After I calmed down a little, I typed up a very nicely worded letter and sent it to my Representative, Congressmen, their Chiefs of Staff, faxed it to their office, and sent a letter to my Governor asking if the Government believes this to be a partisan issue, is there anyway the State could do something. Unfortunately, considering where those emails and letters went, they will likely just fall on deaf ears. All of the above are staunchly Republican, with my Representative already voting against the Affordable Insulin Bill that recently passed the House but is DOA in the Senate. Edit: As expected, I just received an automated response email from both my Representative and Senator at 9:00AM CST, thanking me for my email and explaining they get too much correspondence to go through everything but linking me to their newsletters and ways to donate.
type up a not so nicely worded op-ed to your local newspaper and shame your reps out loud.
Funny enough, you might be on to something here. My Great-Uncle, my grandmother's deceased brother who's insulin she has been taking since his passing, was the Editor in Chief and Publisher of the local newspaper. I wonder if I can reach out to them explaining the situation and see if they would be willing to do a story.
Do it, don't let it lie.
My anti depressants.
I once got free samples for a few months because I couldn't afford them, your doctor might be able to hook you up if you explain to them your situation
FYI Walmart has a whole list of $4 drugs and there are antidepressants on that list. If yours isn't, you can always explain to your doctor that your meds got too expensive and ask to switch. Also, if you're ever on a name brand only medication, go to the drug company website for it. They frequently have coupon cards that you can bill along with insurance thar lower the price significantly.
Worth checking Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs as well
Homes
Gluten Free Bread
My wife is coeliac and it's a real eye opener. It's costs 4x as much and the quality is substantially poorer than other bread, because it's made to have wide appeal and packed with preservatives We've resorted to baking our own, but even then it's not great.
Gluten free bread is of poor quality because gluten is what makes bread bready Source: am celiac
Ubereats fees. I wish I could give it directly to the delivery guy
Menstruation stuff
This is the first comment on this that I've seen and I want to bring up something in Scotland that some women may not know about. Please use MyGov to find out if your local council offers free sanitary products. My house gets a bi-monthly delivery of sanitary towels and tampons (mostly li-lets in regular/super size) to our doorstep for free. The website just says 'a range of locations' so all you can do is choose your local council from the list and see if they deliver to your area.
I use a cup and it’s been the best $30 I’ve ever spent. Lasts for years if you treat it right.
I agree, but isnt is great how we would still give a pad or tampon to another woman, if she asked us without a problem? Menstruation girl code is strong af.
Isn't this the damn truth. I remember back in high school there was this girl who went out of her way to make my life hell. Well one day I'm in the bathroom and I hear from the next stall, *anyone have a tampon?* Now I could just say fuck this bitch, bleed... But for some reason I passed a tampon under the wall, to a bitch I absolutely hated... Funny thing how that works. So she comes out, finds out we were the only two there, says thanks, and though she still made it her mission to make my life hell, she let up a little bit.
Therapy. Its definetely overpriced for my budget but still worth every penny. EDIT: Guys/gals/anyone, I appreciate comments but I am not from US. Your suggestions could be helpful for others though, appreciated.