Since the pandemic, three subjects have been particularly prominent: continuing to work from home, perpetual health symptoms, and just the cost of living.
When we say "cost of living," we don't mean housing. We, unfortunately, mean living.
Ready to face this issue head-on, Redditor BasicWitchCrystalCo asked:
"What is so ridiculously overpriced, yet you still buy?"
No Name Brands Here
"It’s not like I’m buying name brands here. I’m a cheap bast**d who never buys meat and processed food sparingly and still can’t walk out spending less than $100."
"And let’s not forget gasoline…"
- DesertDelirium
Computer Graphics Fail
"F**king graphics cards. They're getting better but like half a decade ago, I bought a mid-range graphics card for the PC connected to my living room TV. I fully expected it would go outdated fast, but with the chip shortages and stuff, anything that's more than a slight upgrade is stupid-expensive still."
"I want something that does raytracing, but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for it!"
- s_SoNick
Expensive Snack Time
"Potato chips! It's crazy to me that a 200g bag of chips can be on sale and cost more than a pound of ground beef on sale."
"How can potatoes chopped, cooked, and seasoned cost twice as much as raising an animal for one year and butchering it?"
- DrunkenSeaBass
More Expensive Snacks
"Beef jerky has always been SO damn expensive. Super annoying, it's such an enjoyable snack."
- ruffsnap
Not to Mention a Nice Drink
"Alcohol in general. The cost of beer is even going up. I don’t drink anymore but where I live, a six-pack of the 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."
- BigMike0228
Hard Boiled Eggs, Anyone?
"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!"
"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, but still."
- SsurebreC
Easy, Lazy Dinners Are Out
"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 have gotten so stupid with most of them close to $10 that we decided to learn how to make our own pizza. It’s difficult as f**k, but in the end, we save a lot by eating homemade pizza four times a week."
"At this point with a frozen lasagna at $15, f**k 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 used to be my go-to lazy dinner thing. Now I just can’t be lazy. Not in this economy."
- Kinita_85
An Ending Concert Era
"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."
- NEAWD
Concessions Anywhere
"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."
- Silent_Performer7453
Housing
"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 February."
"I'm sure home prices will come down a bit next year but it won't be by a whole lot in our area."
- Hartge
Paying the Bills
"Electricity. The main provider in my area wanted to raise rates by about 9%, but only got approved for 0.78%."
"'But we need the money to make improvements!' That's what you said last year, but 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 f**k itself."
- blackesthearted
Reality Check
"Pretty much all the things I need to stay alive."
- lunalunaluna1999
The Gift of Sight
"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."
- normandoor_
Just, Everything Really
"Fruits, milk, veggies, meat, olive oil, a mattress, a vacuum cleaner, and the list goes on. Every f**king thing is 40-50% more expensive now. It feels like price gouging."
"The Narrator offers an aside: It IS price gouging."
- chappanteekli
Looking at the Positives
"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."
"And I will continue to rent everything... own nothing... and be happy... d**mit!"
- ProbablyInfamous
It's no secret that prices of basic products since the pandemic have gone up considerably.
But when someone is really paying attention to what they're spending while trying to live their life, it's just a bit startling.
@JennJVN/X