Current prices continue to stress out Americans, even as inflation eases from four-decade highs. In fact, 67% of the country’s workers say the increasing cost of living is outpacing their salary growth, according to asurveyfrom last month.
From live entertainment to various foods, here are the most popular answers he has received.
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At this point? Food… Im no criminal, but its getting to the point where I often wonder “If I just walk out the store with a full grocery cart, is anyone really gonna stop me?“When food becomes too expensive, stealing it becomes a moral obligation. Making food so expensive that its unaffordable is the real immoral and criminal part of it.
Streaming services, we’re back at cable like again.Haven’t worn a pirates hat in many years but I can smell the salty air.
“I was just outside in a random place when I thought of the question,” the Redditor explained toBored Panda. Contrary to what you might think, he said he “wasn’t at a store or anything, the question just came to me in the middle of nowhere.”
How everything is now a subscription. Ok, I guess I don’t need it.
gestures broadly at everything
And understandably so. Fast food pricesjumpedabout 13% in 2022, according to Pricelisto, a website that tracks menu prices for US chains. That’s even more than the cost of groceries, which bounced roughly 12% last year.
Going out to eat. I just make all of my own food, now. I look up recipes of the dishes I used to get at my favorite restaurants, and I learn how to make them at home (except for sushi, I just don’t eat sushi anymore.) It’s definitely less expensive, although the cost of food is still higher than it should be. We’re definitely living in the Silent Depression, and it’s due to Corporate Greed.
Cost of living/housing. We may as well just all f**k off at this point
Indeed, Americansremainguarded about their personal finances, with the majority (55%) saying their financial situation is “only fair” or “poor” rather than “excellent” or “good” (45%). More also report that their financial situation is worsening (50%) than improving (37%).
Concerts! By the time all the extras and fees are applied they’re out of reach.
Air BnBAll of the add-on fees usually drive the cost higher than an actual hotel stay in the same area.
most fast food
fixing things, which i used to love doing.it’s often much cheaper to just buy another one.
Boxed cereal. A box of Cheerios for $7+?? Get the f**k out of here with that nonsense. I’ll buy the store brand for $2 that comes in a bag instead of a box, at least until that gets too expensive as well. I need to figure out something else to eat for breakfast that’s not boxed cereal.
Thrifting has become crazy expensive. All of the thrift stores I used to go to have increased prices. On top of that garage sales are crazy, My favorite is pulling up to garage sales and see the owners have just printed out random listing from ebay. “No Bob, I am not gonna pay $100 dollars for a microwave from 2010 because it sold for that on ebay 5 years ago”.
Rent is the big one- renting should be a decent deal for people who don’t need or want to own a home yet. It’s a fine deal as long as it’s reasonably priced. But if it’s eating 50% of your income, then it’s just a financial burden that prevents you from saving $ and takes away the hope of owning a home. I have no issue with renting housing conceptually, but the way it’s ended up, it just sucks for the most part. It’s gotten genuinely unethical.
Health insurance. We pay about $12,000 year in premiums, and also have an HSA that we contribute about $8,000 a year to. We have a deductible of like $10,000 that we have to hit for the insurance to pickup most of the costs. So in a bad year we are out at least $20,000 for medical insurance. We have 2 kids, and are pretty healthy, but seem to hit this every year now.
It’s wild how many of these answers are food related, that’s so scary to me. Past a certain point, what do people eat? Even instant noodles have gone way up
I honestly don’t know how to survive anymore. Everything is getting more and more expensive, yet no one is getting a raise. Something has to give.
Honestly.. living in general.
Children.The cost of living is so high, and the job market is so volatile, that I wish I didn’t have kids because the stress is insane.I lost my job yesterday cos I work in the games industry and it is genuinely bleak and terrifying.I love my kids but living in the UK is awful right now.
Eating out. Everything is f*****g $50 for two people AT A MINIMUM
Buying a new car. Even the c**p entry level models with no options will run you near $30K. Who the hell is buying a $70K Ford F150 ?
Uh, literally everything. The greedflation is out of control. People are too stupid and every market is completely insane. It makes me want to just check out of this garbage psychopathic society.
Amazon prime. It use to be the go to for everything. Free 2 day shipping and good quality products for cheap. Now it’s just s****y Chinese products with prime increasing their annual fees. Honestly, just not worth it anymore
Getting regular haircuts
movies in the theater
Concerts.I went to hundreds of concerts in my teens, 20’s, and early 30’s. The most I ever spent on a ticket, until recently, was $150 to go to Woodstock ‘99. I tried to get nosebleeds for Elton John’s farewell tour last year and it was $250 to get in the building.Live music is one of the greatest pleasures known to man and Ticketmaster/Live Nation ruined it. They own the distribution, management, venues, event planning, etc. Its a vertical integration monopoly.
Streaming services as a whole like Netflix, Disney, hulu, even my Spotify went up in price and it’s frankly tiring with these services. definitely dropping my Netflix and Hulu though for a vpn so i can finally sail the seas and use Plex for my media.
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Ordering delivery.. used to be same price as ordering in person with a small fee and tip per item.Now most places have signed with a “service”, so they no longer do it themselves and now your have to go thru Door Dash or Uber Eats.. etc which add on additional fee’s, increased prices from menu price and larger tips expected for what in most cases amounts to worst service then back when restaurant or pizza joint did their own delivery.
Printer ink
Controversial take, college. The return on investment, at least for me, just never seemed worth it even when I tried it 12 years ago. The time, the debt, the long-term impact (you have this degree forever for this specific thing), all of that seems like more baggage than NOT having any of it. The thing I went to school for? I got a job before finishing my courses, hated the industry, then dropped it all entirely, got a cubicle job, and run a business on the side for extra cash.The things I’m interested in - creative pursuits, mostly - just seem like terrible majors, and the things that ARE worth it don’t even help you anymore. I see all these people with degrees, long resumes, and they apply for 100 jobs and get no replies. My brother is like this, he is way more qualified than me in every regard and he struggles to find and keep work - meanwhile I have held down a really solid desk job for a good while and enjoy the lifestyle I have.If I have to go back and learn anything it’s gonna be a trade.
Footlong sweet onion teriyaki from Subway and normal drink was 14 dollars at Subway yesterday in Miami. I’m done with them forever.
Pizza. $18-22 average for a large cheese is insanity. Pizza is incredibly cheap to make. And $2-3 per topping for a small sprinkling. Making pizza dough is the easiest thing at home, tons of great recipes online for sauces, cheese, oven.
Junk food. $6 a bag for Oreos? Passsss$5 for 7 ounces of chips? That’s NOT EVEN A WHOLE POTATO!It’s time to break up the 10 megacorps that control 95% of what we eat what lines our store shelves.
Brisket used to be really cheap because it has lots of sinew and connective tissue. Takes a long time cooking to break down and make tender.Now bbq has taken off brisket has shot up in price
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Living
most all chain restaraunts..way better to go to locally owned places
Eating out. Super expensive and tip culture is out of control.
Airbnb. It’s now just as expensive as a hotel with several more downsides. You usually have to complete a list of chores before you leave and when you arrive someone walks through the property with you and goes through a list of rules so restrictive it shouldn’t be on the platform in the first place.Staying in a hotel is so much more care free and depending on the type of trip, much more convenient.
Owning a home
Vacations
Disney trip
food delivery
Steak as a weekly family meal. Pork is the new Steak.
It breaks my heart to say this as a Brit but going out to bars and pubs.I’m 35 with kids so don’t go out as much these days but I went out in Manchester last week and each beer was costing me £6+It’s no surprise pubs are closing and people are drinking more at home.At this rate we’re going to end up like the Scandinavian country’s who drink at home till midnight and then hit the clubs when they’re already pissed and don’t need to buy more than 1 or 2 drinks.
Going to live sporting events
Chicken wings at the grocery store, at least near me. By weight they’re more expensive than bone-in thighs, drumsticks, or quarters but less of the total weight is meat than the other cuts. Unless you really specifically need wings than another cut, I don’t know why in the world anyone would buy them. They used to be dirt cheap and discarded as scrap.
Going out drinking
Travel. Hotels before Covid were bad but they weren’t awful. Now it’s $300 a night to go to some basic Courtyards in Canada. It’s cheaper to sleep in your car now.I actually miss travel during Covid when hotels were under $100 for really nice rooms, even if you couldn’t get the whole package like pools, gyms, and restituants.
Soft drinks
Starbucks. Ridiculous nowadays especially in Canada. I bought an espresso machine and learned how to make their drinks (I prefer my versions more too!) and never looked back.
Doritos.$6.99 USD WTF?
Cable Television
Cars, for many people.Although that question is relative because there are always people with more money than others.
Beef jerky
Skiing
BowlingI’m looking at you Bowlero
Doordash
An iced latte. 7 dollars? A double ipa isn’t that much.
Relationships
Very specific, but drumsticks. Early 2000’s you could get a name brand pair for $7ish, now many brands are $19
Going to get your nails done
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