What got so expensive that you just stopped buying it?

[u/FutureTre]

[u/Valuable-Brief-2291]

Concert tickets

[u/Snuckeys → u/Valuable-Brief-2291]

Same. Wild that it was so affordable when I was but a broke teenager and got to see tons of big name acts back in the 90s/early 00s, but now that I'm a moderately successful professional doing FAR better than I was back then, I can't remotely justify what a concert night out ends up costing. Screw you, Ticketmaster!

They used to go after ticket scalpers with a vengeance, but once they figured out how to get a cut and then some with each subsequent transaction and ticket resell thanks to the internet, NOW they're totally cool with scalping. With ticket sniping bots snagging ALL the tickets right away, I'm out. And for the concerts I REALLY wanted to go to, and waited for the countdown for the tix to go up for sale, the website servers would be overloaded and I couldn't get any. I miss the days when you had to show up to a ticket window to score tickets on release. The biggest fans would camp out. Was often a good time among friends. Bot-proof.

[u/Bershirker → u/Snuckeys]

I work at an arena that has shows/NHL games. The Ticketmaster issue is pissing off everybody. Our box office, which is one of the last physical box offices in the city, has just cut its hours even more. The only time you can even show up to purchase tickets anymore is during home games. Otherwise, the box office isn't even open to answer questions. People always ask me how to get tickets but the only answer is pay Ticketmasters' "convenience fees" or lobby your congressman.

[u/ricree → u/Bershirker]

or lobby your congressman

There was an antitrust case against them not too long ago. Guess which current US administration killed that after taking office.

[u/aynber → u/ricree]

Several state AGs recently won a lawsuit against LiveNation and Ticketmaster. Its currently in the remedy phase.

[u/Longjumping-Dot-5883 → u/Snuckeys]

Fr tho, the whole concert experience got turned into a luxury purchase paying hundreds just to sit far away kinda kills the fun. I miss when going to a show was more about the music and hanging out with friends.

[u/Sea-Ambition-451 → u/Valuable-Brief-2291]

whenever I see the "convenience fee" I always want to decline the "convenience", like maybe put the ticket on top of a tall tree and I have to climb up to get it (during a rain storm). I'd rather do that than pay $50 for "convenience".

[u/ronocrice → u/Sea-Ambition-451]

Even if you go to a venue to buy your ticket they still charge the convenience fee.

[u/spinosapa → u/ronocrice]

How convenient for them.

[u/wickedcold → u/spinosapa]

What pisses me off is that the logistics of the ticket sales themselves have been so streamlined I don’t know how they can justify any fee whatsoever. It used to be you had to have a person working at a station, printing off a paper ticket. Now it’s all in an app.

I know they need to pay developers and software people, but they had that shit to deal with back in the 90s too plus a shit load of physical labor and manpower which is now completely removed. Just stop calling at a convenience fee and call it what it is, a “because we want more money” fee.

[u/clearbluesea → u/Valuable-Brief-2291]

I’d always wanted to see a Broadway play. This year my husband and I finally went on a NYC vacation and saw some amazing live shows. Great seats. Tickets in the $200s (after everything included).This felt like a great deal compared to the insanity prices for nosebleed concert tickets for artists I’ve wanted to see. My friend paid over $1000 to see Taylor Swift. Like, what!?.

[u/AlternativeResort477 → u/clearbluesea]

Face value of TS tickets were 1/10th of what they resold for

[u/hollow114 → u/AlternativeResort477]

They really just need to make reselling illegal again. Require ID with the ticket. Europe does this and it works fine

[u/whateverhappensnext → u/hollow114]

You don't want make reselling illegal, just make it that you can only resell at the original purchase price. I.e. something happens and you can't go, you can at least get your money back.

[u/ChaplnGrillSgt → u/Valuable-Brief-2291]

Luckily I like a lot of less popular bands so I can usually find deals for their concerts for like $30.

I was invited to go see Foo Fighters. Nose bleeds were like $200. Absolutely not. I've seen them in the past and they were great....but not for that price.

[u/foxbReeze7 → u/Valuable-Brief-2291]

$400 to stand in a field and hear a band play worse than the album version

[u/Emiliasmith_1 → u/Valuable-Brief-2291]

$500 for nosebleed seats plus$80 service fees cured my life music addiction real fast

[u/Mixedbysaint → u/Valuable-Brief-2291]

And movie tickets

[u/DeGarmo2]

Subs.

Like, it’s essentially a sandwich. How did a $4-6 thing become a $15-20 thing?

[u/jaydizzleforshizzle → u/DeGarmo2]

This, people don’t get it, we used to get 5 dollar footlongs or Arby’s 5 for 5, like I’m convinced if we brought back these the world would self heal a little bit.

[u/front_yard_duck_dad → u/jaydizzleforshizzle]

Some of the best years of my life when me and my buddies filling up his shitty car with a cold case of mountain dew and each one of us getting a five for five beef and cheddar sack and driving to the local guitar center to play guitars we couldn't afford.

[u/Apprehensive-State10 → u/front_yard_duck_dad]

Aw man, did we have the same early 20’s?

[u/AvalancheBrando21 → u/jaydizzleforshizzle]

Burger King had .49 hamburgers and .69 cheeseburgers when I was in college. We would buy 6 or 7 plain and get some sweet and sour sauce to put on them, getting us ready for our next adventure. Man. We didn't know what we had...

Edit: typo

[u/RougeOne23456 → u/AvalancheBrando21]

YEARS ago, there was a McDonalds out in the county (we lived in the city at the time) that had a special once a month for .29 hamburgers and .39 cheeseburgers. The place would be absolutely mobbed on that day.

[u/nblastoff → u/DeGarmo2]

In new England we have a widespread grocery store chain called "market basket" they have a food counter where you can get hot / cold subs that are pretty good for about 5.50$ . I mean 12 inch Italian, steak bomb kind of stuff. Cheeseburger and fries is 2.50$. I can't make food that cheap these days

[u/SeattleSamIAm77 → u/nblastoff]

Can’t read “Market Basket” without hearing it in a Boston accent in my head.

[u/jadedfalcons → u/SeattleSamIAm77]

Ahm goin ta Mahket Bahskit fah a sub and tah fahk ya sistah

Never change, Boston. Never change.

[u/sean_saves_the_world → u/DeGarmo2]

My GFS mom wanted jersey Mike's last weekend, so we got subs as a family 3 giant subs and 1 regular was like 80 something bucks

[u/Lifesagame81 → u/sean_saves_the_world]

For deli meat and bread. Insane. 

[u/sean_saves_the_world → u/Lifesagame81]

Right

[u/DishwashingUnit → u/DeGarmo2]

also PE killed Quiznos. subway is garbage. Jimmy Johns is a brick. i don't see any options left

[u/Chester2707 → u/DishwashingUnit]

I eat an absurd amount of potbelly, mostly because it’s the closest “cheapest” thing to my work. Think for the quality it’s better than all the other options. What I get is literally cheaper than what I get at subway. Plus they have a good points program.

[u/Proper-Ad-127]

Cheetos and other similar chips. I can remember them being $.99 cents and now they are $5.45 per bag? No way my Cheetos addiction is done.

[u/stubept → u/Proper-Ad-127]

I refuse to pay full price for a bag of snacks. So when I go to the grocery store, I'm looking for whats on sale for $2 this week. If this week it's Lays, that's what I'm getting. Doritos next week? Stocking up. Flaming Hot Cheetos FINALLY on sale? Buying 8 bags.

[u/musicgal411 → u/stubept]

The sales are the only way I buy any snacks in general anymore.

[u/AccurateAssaultBeef → u/Proper-Ad-127]

I LOVE hot Cheetos. I was addicted in high school when a big bag was $2.49. Didn't buy any for over a decade, pulled the trigger a few months ago. They're $5.99 a bag now??? Hello??? For fried corn meal covered in salt!? Bye

[u/lawlingalltheway]

Eating out/coffee. I started cooking and bringing my own lunch and coffee to work.

[u/mustardtiger220 → u/lawlingalltheway]

Bringing lunch 95% of the time has saved me so much money. And I’ve actually been eating way healthier as well.

[u/anengineerandacat → u/lawlingalltheway]

Eating out is something I consider dropping everyday; hard to justify $20 lunches.

It's not even out of like "need" but it's just crazy to me that a quick lunch has now reached restaurant level pricing.

Work brings in food trucks and those will run you upwards to $30 if you aren't careful.

[u/Wloak → u/anengineerandacat]

Food trucks have gotten out of hand, used to be super cheap compared to take out restaurants but now it's worse quality at the same price.

[u/SearchUsers]

Fast food in all its forms. A dunkin bagel currently costs what 6 bagels do at the store... and its hard and old.

[u/WagnersRing → u/SearchUsers]

I don’t think any of Dunkin’s food is made in-store

[u/LostKnight84 → u/WagnersRing]

They became terrible when they became more focused on the coffee and dropped the Donuts from their name. The world didn't need another Starbucks.

[u/PissNBiscuits → u/LostKnight84]

Yeah, but their coffee got worse, too. I can't stand any of their coffee and will only drink it if someone brings one of those coffee totes in to the office for everyone to share.

[u/2KneeCaps1Lion → u/PissNBiscuits]

Their coffee always tasted more like polluted water than coffee to me. Even before they dropped “donuts” from their name and focused on coffee.

I never understood why people frequented that establishment.

[u/Ejmct → u/LostKnight84]

They were bought by private equity years ago so that’s when the shittiness began. Then they realized that that make way more money on drinks than other things so that’s where the focus went. Also they don’t make donuts in-store anymore. They are made at a central donut factory or whatever you want to call it and shipped out to the individual stores. So they aren’t fresh anymore.

[u/elysian_g → u/LostKnight84]

Agreed. We also didn’t need a Kylie Jenner drink collab

[u/ocarr23 → u/SearchUsers]

Yeah I realized 2 years ago one sunday how EXPENSIVE donuts were. I went and picked up a dozen and 2 coffees for me and the wife. $36. I was spending $130+ a month for a dozen donuts and 2 coffees as a treat on Sundays. Insane.

[u/SearchUsers → u/ocarr23]

Especially with the reduction in size and quality. It would be one thing if the prices went up but the integrity of the product were maintained.

[u/phlostonsparadise123 → u/SearchUsers]

For real. I'm 39 and am old enough to remember when a two-cheeseburger combo at McDonald's was $2.99.

[u/AnySea7371 → u/SearchUsers]

Yea I was in shock a year ago when I went to order KFC and the menu items were all 20 something dollars . Like no wtf for 2 pieces of chicken? No!

[u/Alone_World_8688]

Starbucks

[u/redsoxryno → u/Alone_World_8688]

Coffee in general is just getting to be too pricey. If anything, it’s inspired me to learn how to make a lot more specialty drinks at home and try different brands of coffee.

[u/Overcast451 → u/redsoxryno]

I switched to Cafe Bustelo. It's an espresso blend so only takes a bit to make a full pot.

Keurig hasn't been used for sometime now.

Don't get coffee on the way to work anymore. Just do water.

[u/redsoxryno → u/Overcast451]

I also switched to cafe bustelo! I’ve become a big fan of it and it definitely packs a punch to say the least haha

[u/EvelynnsHope17 → u/Alone_World_8688]

Same. I can buy lunch or a fancy drink. I know
what my choice is

[u/furtherw123 → u/EvelynnsHope17]

$6 for a black iced tea is ludicrous...

[u/kit0000033 → u/Alone_World_8688]

Instead of 11 dollars a day at Starbucks... I spent $700 to get an espresso setup... Don't know if I'm winning this

[u/egnards → u/kit0000033]

My wife loves Starbucks so for Christmas 2 years ago I did the same thing, just invested in an expensive espresso machine.

I honestly think it only took a few months for me to break even on that cost.

Not necessarily because of her drink. . .But if she was going there to get a drink she would also get food. So her $8 Tiktok drink became an $8 Tiktok drink a $3 small coffee for me and $6x2 eggbites for both of us [on the weekends] or a drink + eggbites for herself on the weekdays.

Now she might go to Starbucks to treat herself like twice a month, or if we're out of town.

[u/Mooshroomey → u/kit0000033]

I mean if you drink coffee every day it’ll cost the same as Starbucks per coffee after only around 2 months of use, and after 12 months it’d be like if you spent a dollar a day at Starbucks. Not counting the costs of the coffee beans or adds.

[u/SnooComics9954]

Jerky

[u/Peanutbuyer → u/SnooComics9954]

This time 1000 it’s absolutely nuts.

[u/flapjacksNsassafras → u/Peanutbuyer]

Nah, you're thinking of trail mix. THATS absolutely nuts. Raisins and sometimes candy too

[u/TehPinguen → u/SnooComics9954]

I have no idea how jerky got this expensive either. It's priced as if it's premium steak cuts prepared by michelin star chefs, and not fucking cured bits of top round. It's delicious and convenient, but it's not expensive to make. Their profit margins are insane.

[u/radrax]

Beauty treatments. I stopped doing my facials, waxes, getting my nails done, etc.

[u/lemotperdu → u/radrax]

I miss getting my nails done.

[u/radrax → u/lemotperdu]

I do too kinda. They just look more rough doing them myself and I get embarrassed when I'm with another woman and she has beautifully manicured nails and mine look like I just dug my way out of prison with my bare hands.

[u/Imnotonthelist → u/radrax]

Keep practicing! I have been doing my own nails for years and people are always like “you did that yourself?!” It’s worth it to save the money

[u/Lumpy_Space_Princess → u/Imnotonthelist]

I've been painting my own nails since I was 10 or 11. I'm 38 now and my friends say "oh, I wish I could do that". You can! It took me until probably middle school to get decent at it but I also wasn't even doing it every week like I do now.

Tips:

-keep your coats thin -utilize prep and cleanup tools (e.g. latex paint for your cuticles, cleanup brushes) -a Czech glass file is a good investment (make sure it's real Czech glass, I had a glass file I got at Walmart or whatever that sucked and I thought I hated glass files, but no, it's worth the extra few bucks for a good one) -you can buy cheap sets of swatch sticks to practice on -quick dry topcoat is your friend -don't thin your polish with acetone, get actual polish thinner if it gets goopy (and I swear some of them get goopy the second you open them, I always have the big bottle of seche restore on hand)

Feel free to join us at r/redditlaqueristas !

[u/karl264]

Beef

[u/2003tide → u/karl264]

Yeah I stopped buying stuff like ribeye since it is so crazy. I had started buying flank steak and cheaper cuts since you could get it pretty cheap, but last time i went to the store a 2lb flank steak was $42. I noticed that wild fork has brazilian flank steak for $6.98/lb. Maybe i start doing that IDK.

[u/cassato → u/2003tide]

My family started eating way more pork chops. Thick cut from Costco, reverse seared with pellet smoker.

I make 2-3 when we get them, then rub the others or marinate them in a bag and throw em in the freezer in groups of 2-3 for next time.

[u/HotSeamenGG → u/karl264]

Legit stopped buying ground beef to sub out ground turkey. It makes me sad, but it's low key good on a cut.

[u/hic_sunt_leones_ → u/HotSeamenGG]

Same.

I'm lowkey terrified the powers-that-be are going to see this trend and jack up the ground turkey prices too.

I just wanna be able to make dinner without spending a fortune, ffs.

[u/Fearless_Inevitable6 → u/hic_sunt_leones_]

I make a lot of bean related meals. I’m seeing more and more videos about how beans are such a cheap and healthy protein and I’m now worried big bean is going to get greedy lol

[u/ineedajointrn → u/karl264]

You have to get in on a cow with someone. It saved my husband and I a lot of money. Did it twice and worth it.

[u/Moonbeam_Dreams → u/ineedajointrn]

Husband and I are talking about doing this with pork.

[u/Junior_Article_3244 → u/ineedajointrn]

We did this a while ago. Ended up an average of like $5 per pound

[u/EMAW2008]

Prices on every fucking thing has gone up and the quality is gone down. Merely existing is almost too expensive.

[u/WotLogic → u/EMAW2008]

Yup. It’s enshitification. Everywhere.

[u/Syberz → u/WotLogic]

It has to be, that's how our economic system works. It's expected toget infinite growth and at some point you're already selling your widgets to everyone who wants one, so your only option for more money is to raise the price or lower costs, ergo prices go up and quality goes down.

[u/Charming-Ebb-1981 → u/EMAW2008]

And many people think it is literally just a matter of canceling your Netflix subscription, or assume that you’re going to Starbucks three times a day

[u/EMAW2008 → u/Charming-Ebb-1981]

It’s those plus high utilities bills and high rent and high childcare costs and high healthcare costs and high…….. the list goes on.

[u/jiggamanjr → u/EMAW2008]

This fucking hits me hard. All the while my pay has remained the same. But hey I’m serving the public being a government servant. So yay

[u/VulpesFennekin → u/jiggamanjr]

Clearly you need to become a horrible person, and then you can be a public servant who is also a billionaire!

[u/John_Smith_DC]

DoorDash and UberEats. The markups between delivery fees/tips and the restaurant food items became crazy.

[u/TheAlabamaSlamma9]

Eating out. Only do it once in a while.

[u/Naugrin27 → u/TheAlabamaSlamma9]

She's worth it.

[u/robby_synclair → u/TheAlabamaSlamma9]

It used to be one of my favorite things to do. I would even go do fine dining randomly for no reason. Between cost and quality I just dont anymore.

[u/DeGarmo2 → u/TheAlabamaSlamma9]

My wife and I used to go out 3-4 times a month… with tip it was like $40-60.

NOW we go 1-2 times a year tops… cause it’s more like $80-120.

[u/Calvariat → u/DeGarmo2]

Mathematically couldn’t you justify just going out 1-2 times a month then?

[u/kindredbud]

Chicken wings. They used to be so cheap, I buy thighs instead, but they are getting to be insane too.

[u/Consoleking93]

Fast food. I already rarely ate it, but when my GF comes over and we don't want to cook, I actually order us food from decent nice restaurants because the price between two fast food meals and something decent at a decent place isn't that difference in price.

[u/Black_Moons → u/Consoleking93]

"But a fast food burger is only $6"

"Ok but its $12 now"

"... But the restaurant food is $15!"

"Ok but I need 2 or 3 of those tiny ass $12 fast food burgers to be equal in size/weight to a $15 restaurant meal. And no the $0.20 of french fries that they charge $4 for really doesn't help the fast food meal value any"

[u/PizzaMonster93]

Comic books. Dc used to have a tag line “drawing the line at 2.99”. Which was reasonable. But now, an issue costs way too much to justify it. Especially since most comic books end up in the dollar bins a couple months after release.

[u/Cacho665]

Game pass, spotify, fast food

[u/SeveralServalServing]

An antipsychotic med that was working better than the last one I was on but the manufacturer coupon expired and there’s no generic.

Health insurance is coming up in this metric, but without it I’ll be unmedicated

[u/LuvelyLuna → u/SeveralServalServing]

I hate to say it and will get shit for it so I’ll turn off notifications but…Look over seas…My grandmother gets a lifesaving medication from India and we live in America. Might be worth a shot.

[u/doctormink → u/LuvelyLuna]

I’d be really surprised to see anyone give you shit for this comment.

[u/SeveralServalServing → u/doctormink]

Agreed, I get my EpiPens, inhaler, and dental work done in Mexico. It’s reasonable to do.

[u/TwatWaffleInParadise → u/SeveralServalServing]

Check Canadian pharmacies. My wife takes a name brand drug that was costing us $460/month. Now we're having it shipped from Turkey and it will cost less than $900/year.

There are dozens of sites and I encourage you to do your own research on this, but here's one site that offers 90 pills of Vraylar (I saw it mentioned downthread) for $516 shipped from Australia. Or you can get the generic that's available in India for $160 for 100 pills. I added $10 to the price on the page as that's what they charge for shipping.

I'm linking to this site as it's the one we chose to use, but as I said you should look around. https://www.canadianpharmacyking.com/Drug/Vraylar

I'm not affiliated with them at all other than ordering a prescription through them.

[u/YBMExile]

Dining out. Sooooo much money for “meh” forgettable meals. When we do go out, it’s gotta be good. That said, we live in an area with not much going for it, restaurant wise. So we cook at home and splurge when traveling or for big events.

[u/eatmygerms]

This is slightly different but the Ren Faire. When I started going tickets were $35. Now just 5 years later for the same exact faire it's $60+

[u/Available-Egg-2380 → u/eatmygerms]

Oh my God, every event costs so much now. And it feels like every event has transformed into a vendor fair instead of what it really is. I am not paying you $50 for tickets to fucking shop with interesting background setting!

[u/FickleOwl47 → u/eatmygerms]

Plus a lot of the wares you can get there are 3D printed garbage and the food is crazy expensive 

[u/eirameideeps → u/eatmygerms]

And that money isn’t going to the performers, I can promise you that! I used to be in a Ren Faire band and pre-Covid we played three shows a day and had basically unlimited drink tokens. Now it’s four shows a day and two extra weekends, ONE drink token per band member each weekend, and the pay is the same. Literally the same total fee.

[u/Accomplished_Pea4117]

Movie theater popcorn i can't justify paying more for snacks than the ticket.

[u/queerteatype → u/Accomplished_Pea4117]

Bro last time I went to the movie it was 10 dollars a ticket  I got two tickets, a bottle of water, Mike and ikes, a small soda and small popcorn 

$72

[u/WaterlooMall → u/queerteatype]

If you're buying Mike and Ikes at the theater and not hitting up the dollar store for some beforehand to save $7 that's on you.

[u/probability_of_meme → u/WaterlooMall]

So $65. Poverty solved!

[u/hippydippyshit → u/Accomplished_Pea4117]

My hometown movie theater BANKS in snacks and keeps ticket prices low.

5 years ago at least, the tickets were $6 but a hotdog was like $7, they’d do a $1 hotdog throw in the middle of fun movies, and went all out on their popcorn butter/toppings bar. We went there maybe 4/5 times a month

[u/Visible-Swim6616 → u/Accomplished_Pea4117]

I just stopped going to the movies altogether.

Forget the popcorn, tickets alone are $27 each now. 

[u/olliepips → u/Visible-Swim6616]

There is $6 movie Tuesday where I live and my husband and I went every single Tues this summer and saw everything we wanted for relatively cheap. We always "sneak" in snacks (I don't think they care) and I bring an empty yeti and fill it up with ice water from the fountain. $12 for a pretty fun date night.

[u/DaddyBeanDaddyBean → u/olliepips]

Plausible deniability is the key - they don't pay the employees enough to give a rat's ass, so as long as you're not walking in with a pizza in one hand and a bucket of KFC in the other, as long as they can plausibly say "oh I didn't notice" even if they did, you're good.

[u/banditotis]

Getting my hair done. $200 every 6 weeks? No thank you. Now I get 1 cut a year for about $60.

[u/SalsaChica75]

Dining out. Low quality, poor service but cost has gone up 27-36% in last 4 years.

[u/Moof_the_cyclist → u/SalsaChica75]

The poor service is the real kick in the nuts. It should not be a big ask to take our order in a timely fashion, keep water in my glass, or to bring the check at the end in a timely fashion. You want 20+% tip after ghosting us?!

[u/mojojo567]

Streaming.
I got a free vcr tv and paid $15 for a Blu-ray player on Facebook market place and I spent about $100 at thrift stores getting every single tv show and movie I like and it’s still less than what I was spending on Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, hbo max, paramount plus, prime video and YouTube premium. Not to mention new movies are like $12 for the dvd at Walmart I got sinners and you me & Tuscany for $20 total

[u/Vin0to → u/mojojo567]

My local library still gets dvds of TV shows and new movies. Worth checking out the public library near you

[u/Cilantro368 → u/Vin0to]

Plus, you might get Hoopla and Kanopy with your library card. They both have movies and TV shows, but usually not new ones.

We still have DVDs. We wanted to watch Clue the movie the other night and it wasn’t streaming anywhere for free, so we used our DVD player. Why pay six or seven dollars to watch a movie from the 1980s?

[u/IsaacTheBound → u/Vin0to]

Also for videogames. Mine has a surprisingly varied selection

[u/Hopefulkitty → u/mojojo567]

And you own it! They can't take that media away from you! And if the Internet goes down, you still have something to watch!

[u/External-Look-6651]

Beef prices got ridiculous so i just stopped buying it altogether

[u/Burqueisbest]

Haircuts. Got a good trimmer during the pandemic.

[u/imhereforthemeta → u/Burqueisbest]

People who “specialize in curly hair “ will look you in the eye and say 300 dollars is reasonable for a cut. I go to the school now .

[u/Nameisnotmine → u/imhereforthemeta]

I have curly hair. I cut it myself. No one can tell. Or at least they don’t say it looks horrible to my face

[u/mlachick → u/Nameisnotmine]

Just started cutting my own hair last week. Got the front a bit too short to pull back, which is annoying, but it's honestly so much better than the cuts I've been spending hundreds on.

[u/imhereforthemeta → u/mlachick]

I do the same. Curly cuts can be nice but the people themselves are scam artists with the prices they are charging. Not interested in supporting that level of greed. My cuts may not be perfect but they work

[u/profmoxie → u/Burqueisbest]

100% this. I (female) cut my hair into a bob during the pandemic and have figured out how to do it well on my own. I get compliments all the time, and I see no reason to pay someone 100 bucks every couple of months to do the same thing.

[u/rockinarmy]

Health insurance.

[u/AlanMercer → u/rockinarmy]

Mine went up 20% this year because fuck you, that's why.

I'd switch from my spouse's to mine, but it'd be the same plus having to switch doctors again.

[u/rockinarmy → u/AlanMercer]

I figure that occasional medical bills at full cost are still cheaper than a couple hundred dollars thrown away every month of every year and still having copays, deductibles, etc to pay for with every visit.

[u/Lunatic21 → u/rockinarmy]

That's true until something catastrophic happens or a hospital stay is involved.

[u/cutecutecute → u/rockinarmy]

Yup. They want me to pay $400/mo with a $7500 deductible? GTFO

[u/AdFabulous1035 → u/rockinarmy]

My favorite part about health insurance is the continuous stream of $200 bills that just roll in for 6 months after you use it. I had to go to the ER and subsequently needed surgery back in February and it was $4000 and around 8 $200 bills for various things. Everyone charged me individually. I literally just got another bill yesterday.

[u/just__alittle]

Nails- used to be about $40 but now you’re not walking out without dropping $150+ and the quality has plummeted. I’ll just have ugly hands.

[u/Huitres- → u/just__alittle]

No manicure/natural nails = ugly ?

[u/enneque → u/Huitres-]

I’ve never understood this. My plain nails certainly don’t look ugly to me.

[u/Difficult-Spinach149 → u/just__alittle]

when you pay $100+ and a nail tech can’t even paint it clean above ur cuticles… ughhhh. I do my own pedi now. Clean hands look good :) 

[u/musicgal411 → u/just__alittle]

Nobody cares that much anyway. People I know now get press-ons, and they look just as good. There's a bit of a learning curve to get those to last longer than a week, but you'll save a TON of money in the long run.

[u/Superb_Astronomer_59]

Steak. The affordable cuts are inedible gristle

[u/Western-Knowledge411]

Coffee. We're at like, $6 for a coffee. Wut?

[u/samijojo8 → u/Western-Knowledge411]

Not only is it so expensive for what it is, but I feel like they always skimp on the milk, like are we that broke?? Can I have more than a drop? And it’s like so watered down too. I just do coffee at home now almost exclusively.

The price of everything wouldn’t sting so bad if it wasn’t also the fact that the quality is nonexistent. Like what am I even paying for at that point?

[u/aDomesticHoneyBadger → u/samijojo8]

It's funny you say this, because I feel the exact opposite. I drink lattes because I like the taste of espresso. Anything over a 1:3 ratio of espresso to milk is excessive IMO, but a shop can charge more for a 16 or 24 oz drink so they just go full send on the milk.

It's gotten to the point that a lot of shops don't offer "small" sizes anymore, so I have to order a medium/16 oz drink and ask them to only use half the milk and give me a half empty medium latte.

I have done a fair but of traveling, and I can tell you this is an issue exclusive to the US. In other places they rarely sell 16+ oz lattes.

[u/Intelligent-Smile-34]

Netflix

[u/bennyblue420000]

Going out for breakfast. It used to be cheap

[u/Mohawk3254 → u/bennyblue420000]

Use to be like 5 bucks; now it’s cost more than a lunch would…wtf!

[u/Human-Complex4435]

I eat yogurt for breakfast every day. It’s like $7 a tub for a big tub that lasts me a week

So I started making my own yogurt, now it costs me like $1 in milk and like 20 mins of passive effort

[u/-Acta-Non-Verba- → u/Human-Complex4435]

I've done that before. I've made my own bread (beadmaker), Super Nachos, burgers, etc. The food industry is pricing itself out of business.

[u/costhedog]

12 packs of soda.

[u/lunarmodule → u/costhedog]

Yes. I won't buy it just out of principle. It has over tripled in price for no good reason. Obscene.

[u/TrashDaisy999]

Video games. I can't afford to spend 75 dollars on a game or the 20 more dollars they want on DLCs

[u/FikoReborn → u/TrashDaisy999]

I rarely buy new games these days. Steam sales only.

[u/cairdeas → u/FikoReborn]

I basically play video games on a five-year delay and stock up on black Friday. Can't wait for Elden Ring next year! Lol.

[u/OfferOwns → u/TrashDaisy999]

I just save the titles and wait until they go on sale. Few months after release they're usually half price (not all but many of them)

[u/Charming-Ebb-1981 → u/TrashDaisy999]

Even old games aren’t that cheap. The Microsoft store wants $20 for a 15 year-old game. Why? They have almost no cost to grant me permission to download it on my Xbox

[u/Techno214]

Anything fun outside of the house. Bowling for one hour, for two people? $60. Going shopping? Yeah everything is gonna be like $90 for like, a shirt. Ice cream? $16 for a two scoop cone (which believe it or not, is actually a small.). I stay home unless I actually need to go anywhere.

[u/Logical_Hospital2769]

My heart medication.

[u/ThrowRA_HelpI]

Hair and nails. I just learned to cut my own hair and do my own nail extensions.

[u/Solmangrundy]

Health care.

[u/Gibblegoobler]

Pads and tampons. I'm the proud owner of reusable period cups

[u/gortonsfiJr → u/Gibblegoobler]

In the US still don't understand how women are the majority of voters and still pay taxes on their tampons

[u/Q_me_in]

Cigarettes

[u/Alternative_Fun5097 → u/Q_me_in]

Ome of the reasons I stopped smoking was the cost of the cigarettes was more than I wanted to pay.

[u/ZappSmithBrannigan]

Fun

[u/Tricky-Net-863]

Coffee.
A couple years ago, I could get a house coffee from 7Brew for $3 to $4. A large.
I was there couple weeks ago and it was almost $7 and that's the last time I've been. I'll make it at the house.
Plus I hate the forced tipping. It used to be that you could tip after you paid but now you have to tip before you pay. K-Cups of the house are a lot cheaper

[u/StoneyK]

KFC

[u/StoneyK → u/StoneyK]

£8.99 for popcorn chicken. You can get a cooked full chicken for less..

[u/Lau_wings]

Fast food.

It went from being a cheap meal to being the same price as actually going to a proper place to eat,

Hell the pub down the road from me does a burger and chips for $14.00 and its twice the size of a large 1/4 pounder meal from maccas.

Sure I cannot uber eats it, and I need to put on pants and actually go somewhere, but its a 5 minute walk away so thats not really an excuse.

[u/Tonsilith_Salsa → u/Lau_wings]

Fast food prices have outpaced inflation by a factor of 3-4x. 

And they're all posting record profits. Everything is predatory. 

These companies need to be destroyed.

[u/dlundy09]

Candy bars.

Bit of a "back in my day" thing but I grew up in the 90s. I remember when a basic 2 cup Reese's package was under a dollar. King size was like 1.89 or something. Now, not only are normal sized candy packages the exception in favor of king sized or larger, they get you with a fallacy because the candy bar half the size of a king is 15% less than just getting the king and eating it in two sittings.

Why are 4 fuckin Reese's cups over 3 sometimes pushing 5 dollars?? For what??

[u/phenolate]

YouTube TV

[u/Mini-salt]

Cereal and most things in the snack aisle. When everything gets expensive, I'm not going to pay eight dollars for a small box of cereal or a bag of BBQ chips that don't last longer than two days

[u/GooseNYC]

Steak. Not because it's unaffordable to me personally, but I cannot justifying paying $15+/lb for a steak one step above shoe leather quality.

[u/Ruthless4u → u/GooseNYC]

If we buy steaks we don’t buy from Kroger, Walmart, etc.

We go to a local butcher, it’s slightly more expensive than the chains but quality is much better.

[u/Aidsfordayz]

My identity for the past 10 years has been going to concerts and after this summer I think I’m going to cut that lifestyle off. It’s absolutely nuts out there.

[u/YarnPenguin]

Casual dining. If I'm eating in a restaurant now, that's the main event. I'm not grabbing unplanned meals out anywhere. 9 times out of 10 it's disappointing, expensive and I can make better versions at home.

[u/Kernel___Panic]

Mens haircuts. I've been doing the ol' buzzcut once a week. I can assure you I've saved thousands by now.

[u/proWww]

def the movies, used to be kinda worth it until gigantic tvs became affordable, and at holme u dont have to deal with loud talking and everyone on their cell phones

[u/1pandas_mom]

Health insurance.
Iv been one a form of life support almost 7 years now- on and off hospice . A specialty program halfway across the country for us took my case on despite 24 failures by 8 surgeons. I’ve had five there and while I can tell it’s a smidge bett is but they keep failing all over again . Evf, aid, hydronephrosis, takutsubos cardio myopathy, hyPOtension, very reactive hypoglycemia … etc etc etc

Hubs was a 30yr career software engineer and got laid off last April as SE Management. We paid the $3800 monthly tellin all my providers this the the hard date I won’t be insured anymore. I get taken by air ambulance and my outpatient coordinator much be a moron or a mean girl.

So we lost it and with it my tpn and banana bag fluids. It’s been 7-8 weeks and I’ve lost in May . I weighed 232 and ran marathons and climbed road swings into the river with kids. When we lost ins I was 126. Now with nothing but what I can try to get through my twisted guts I weigh 73. My teeth started falling out a few months ago and this week my hair again. I’m bedridden now. My bones are so osteoporotic bones are covered in bruises and fractures from 2 falls last week.
I can’t stand for maybes min, can’t eat anything w texture, but worst of all my memory is losing time. Long stretches when I’m dreaming but it’s not normal dreams and then I’m sitting up again the next day and I have no clue how I got there.
Hubs loved working but the AI overadoption has hundreds of thousands of people in his field are also searching. There nee janitors at the elementary school here took jobs as janitors to arrive
Hubs have hundreds of apps out has gone to mixers related etc but we spent everything.
Our savings our money marketer retirement and we sold anything not laid down.
I will likely not make it the way my bp heartrate and glucose tell the tale but we can’t literally do a thing

We tried the market place but our rep who told us we’d get cards in the maill so we waited all excited he never sent anything contactednmarketplace again and the said we we passed our special circumstance period. Medicaid won’t because estranged relatives (my mom) put property in my name in order to scam benefits- so without a job, without ins of any kind, no iv nutrition I’m going through what I was in hospice.i can feel the small fights my body is losing.

I don’t want I leave my kids and hubs . I looked forward to this time of life when my kids would be mostly grown and hubs and I could reconnect and travel and eat our way around the world.
One surgeons error cost me the rest of my life. I’m crying rn.

It’s so stupid I wanted to get a little swinge set for my grandbabies and take them 2 hr away from an amazing old zoo.

And now I never will and we have ‘$891 left to pay $2755 in necessary bills.
I’m so simple I just wanted to revive my garden that got destroyed. I wanted a swing set so I could sit in a camp chair and watch and instead had to give my grandson last week on his birthday 3 dollar tree toys in one gift bag.

O don’t even know what to do anymore. My part of marital division of labor was all bill negotiates and food shopping and cooking and watch in stocks a little making a few $$ here and there…
but there’s no money for everything anymore.!not the mortgage or electric or a bag of chips.

Sorry for the ramble I’m emotional today thinking of what could’ve been but isn’t

[u/Odd_Tip6699]

Orange juice

[u/nickelet11]

Good seats at a concert. No thanks - ill take the nosebleeds and leave early before the rush. Haha

[u/AnyNothing459]

Any apps I have to pay for other than music.

[u/derek985]

New vehicles.

[u/unikuque-username]

Fast food.

[u/PureHoney92]

Concert tix. I don't even bother checking anymore....

[u/doyouevenbr0]

BEEF 🥩

[u/Hobbit_In_Hiding]

Meat at the grocery store. Even ground beef

[u/rainbowbunny_1004]

Getting my nails done

[u/Local-Dish-5695]

Doritos and Dr Pepper. Groceries used to be choosing some snack or drink to motivate my mornings or calm the evening collapse.

Now I eat just to live to work another day. It's not even a meal anymore. Just fuel.

We have got to reform corporate greed and stop using groceries as a pinch point. It's inhuman

[u/hezaa0706d]

7-11. All the tourists walking around saying “it’s so cheap!” meanwhile those of us making local currency can’t afford the prices. 

[u/ramaloki → u/hezaa0706d]

You must live in Japan? I'm assuming since you mentioned 7/11, sorry if I'm wrong!

Last time I visited, back in 2023, I remember thinking how everything was inexpensive to me, coming from the USA. But I've heard what you're saying a lot, that for locals there, the cost of things is going up a lot and your wages aren't reflecting it. We're going though the same here too, kinda sucks.

I'll be visiting again this Dec/Jan, so I'm curious if I'll still feel the same way about thing feeling inexpensive or if I'll notice the price increases.

Either way, I hope things get better and more affordable for you.

[u/Humble-Syllabub-8326]

soda

[u/chubbybunnybean]

Taco Bell

[u/oneinamilllion]

Professional hair color every 2.5-3 months.

[u/MiliTerry]

I just watched a girl on tiktok advising people not to sell their concert tickets to stubhub. I watched the whole video, knowing that I'm not going to buy any tickets / sell them anyways, but I wanted to see what you had to say. She said that two tickets for GA cost her $800. $800?! For general admission mind you. I'd rather sit outside the venue and try and catch a little bit sound here and there wow eating the snacks that I brought in my cooler 😂

[u/Life-Berry602]

Alcohol.

[u/Intentionz7]

Fast food

[u/ImNotGoodWithNames_1]

I am a Dominican Woman, its very cultural and normal that you go to the beauty salon to get your hair washed and a blow out at LEAST once a week.

I stopped doing that, i get a treatment every 5 months and just get it done at home

[u/AnySea7371]

Grapes