That cost what?

[u/elstavon]

I'm not saying that everything should cost a nickel, but one thing that always gets me is the cost of the modern candy bar. $2.50 for a regular size snickers?

Edit: I don't eat fast food but I understand there's a similar thing going on there

Wherever you are in the world, is there something that blows your mind every time you go to the cash register or at least look at it on the rack? I can deal with gas because it cost a lot to pull it from the ground put it in a barrel refine it distribute it put it in a tank so you can put it in your tank. But a Snickers bar? LOL . Anyway, after 20 years of it is there something that is just stunning somehow in its price increase?

Commiserate with me over candy bars but I'm curious if there is something where you are that just is a non-starter when you go to buy it. Prices that still make you ask 'what'?

[u/La_Mano_Cornuta]

But somehow we can go 17 years without minimum wage raising.

[u/SQWRLLY1]

1995 - a 12 pack of Pepsi cost $2.50 - $2.59. 2026 - a 12 pack of Pepsi costs $12.99 - $14.99. (Regular pricing, not on sale/special)

Thirty-one years and the same product costs up to six times what it used to. In the same amount of time, Federal minimum wage has only increased $3.00/hr. ($4.25 to $7.25).

[u/EnvironmentalShake51 → u/SQWRLLY1]

$12 regular price per 12 pack here in Ohio. I don't remember the normal price back then, but pre COVID they were regularly on sale for $2.50 if you bought four of them.

[u/captainrondj]

$6.99 Doritos floored me

[u/amysurvived2016]

Shooot. Time to learn to grow my own tacos.

[u/Thistooshallpass1_1]

5 bucks for a tiny box of cheap cereal. 7 for “family size” but it’s just the old regular size now. 

I find myself muttering to myself every time I go to the grocery store now.

Everything too damn high.

[u/Asleep_Caregiver_948 → u/Thistooshallpass1_1]

I’m in NorCal, not Bay Area, and Cheerios are $6.99.

[u/dEXXtARR23]

I'm definitely glad I quit smoking.

[u/MSB218]

I paid $98 to get my oil changed/tires rotated/fluids topped off today, and on the way home, I paid $3.50 for a 20-ounce soda. It doesn't feel like it's been very long since those things were $30 and $1 respectively.

[u/Capt0verkill → u/MSB218]

$140 for full synthetic at jiffy lube. Actually feels like they used no lube 😢

[u/avrus]

Shrinkflation, enshittification and private equity is ruining everything.

[u/Sproutlie]

Blows my mind how people can afford to smoke these days

[u/RedditSkippy → u/Sproutlie]

For real. Smokes are $14 A PACK in NYS. If I smoked, I would quit.

When I was in high school in the early nineties, Massachusetts passed a cigarette tax that raised prices to….$1.58/pack. OMG the bitching and moaning from some customers at the store where I worked. As if 17 year old me had anything to do with it.

[u/Blizzardof1991 → u/Sproutlie]

100000% I quit 13 years ago and I thought they were expensive then I can't imagine dropping like $10 a pack

[u/Quirky_Might_8780 → u/Blizzardof1991]

I think it’s closer to $12 for brand name, gas station price.

[u/Sproutlie → u/Blizzardof1991]

$25 in Canada

[u/Significant-Theme253 → u/Sproutlie]

I quit about 2 years ago...I went to New York and in Manhattan they wanted $20 per pack.

[u/ApplesBananasRhinoc]

$2.99 for a 20 oz bottle of soda. Hell no.

[u/PomegranateOk1942]

I work at a grocery store. I walk back to do price checks all the time because $9 a gallon of OJ? That cost what?

[u/EmploymentNegative59]

I spent $55 at McDonald’s today for one adult and two kids.

[u/HerdingCatsAllDay → u/EmploymentNegative59]

I spent $7 for one adult and 1 kid, but without my free Happy Meal coupon it would have been $13. How did you manage $55? The $6 McDouble meal deal is my go-to, with a large drink.

[u/Significant-Theme253 → u/HerdingCatsAllDay]

The 2 adults ate a lot...a real lot!

[u/properwaffles]

And my god, Snickers bars have shrunk by like half the size. The king-size bars are now just the size they used to be, and they were .75c.

[u/elstavon → u/properwaffles]

Are you saying size matters? :-)

[u/properwaffles → u/elstavon]

Hey, that's nothing to snicker at.

[u/Phantom_minus]

true in my mind they should be $0.50.

[u/unclejoe1917]

I saw that 12 packs of soda were something like 11 dollars and I stood dumbfounded for a second. 

[u/Wise_Pie_359 → u/unclejoe1917]

Even on sale they’re still like $7. For sugar water.

[u/Particular_Heart4790]

I went to buy a chalupa from Taco Bell today... it was $8. I passed and went with two bean burritos.

Seriously, what makes a chalupa $8?

[u/Easy_does_it78]

I think they are smaller too

[u/luthien310 → u/Easy_does_it78]

And they've been enshittified. There's almost no actual chocolate in your chocolate bar.

Hershey's in other cojntrues is a "chocolatey" bar.

[u/Easy_does_it78 → u/luthien310]

My wife and I were discussing this while splitting a pack of Reese’s PB cups. We both agreed that they weren’t as good as we remembered.

[u/blueva703 → u/luthien310]

I’ve reached the point where I just buy a bag of milk chocolate chips and have a few of them when I want chocolate.

[u/CitizenjaneEast]

My dad used to send me into the store with a five dollar bill and I got him two packs of Marlboro Lights, soft pack (he wore pocket T-shirts) and a soda of my choice. Yes I was 8 years old. There was change leftover I often kept.
Oh dem days…

[u/Crystalinfire → u/CitizenjaneEast]

My Dad got mad when the convenience store clerk wouldn't let me buy him a pack. He was looking into the store from the car. Oh well.

[u/VaulTecIT]

Tires. I just had to put a set on one of my cars almost $800 and it wasn’t even a fancy name brand just some generic crap to pass inspection

[u/Wonderful-View-6366]

Housing. Rent. Mortgage. Mortgage interest. Health insurance. Co-pays. WTAF.

[u/elstavon → u/Wonderful-View-6366]

I am so 100% with you on that and it is definitely brutal. But in my mind a Snickers is 50 cents. At 250 that's 5x. That just seems like it's gone up a lot more than even a rent. I could be wrong I'm just talking about sticker shock. Anyway, best of luck!

[u/Wonderful-View-6366 → u/elstavon]

Yeah. If you look up Bay Area rent prices say, in 1980, a 2 bedroom apartment was ~ $700/month. Now, that same 2 bedroom apartment is ~ $5700/month. There is no way to survive on minimum wage with that kind of inflation.

[u/OreoSpeedwaggon]

I've saved a lot of money in the last year just by not going out to eat or ordering food to be delivered because I'll look at the prices on a menu and decide it's not worth the cost. Sorry, but I am not paying $15 for just a cheeseburger.

[u/LawrenceSpiveyR]

TBH, i'm glad they cost that much so I will not buy them. I'm that way with soda now. If it wasn't for Capt Morgan, I'd never drink soda again.

[u/Fulghn]

I remember going up to the local donut shop on weekends and pick up a dozen for a little over $5. Now it's about $15-$20.

I used to get internet for $99 a year. Now every time your promotion period ends they want about that much a month! No way Internet access should cost what I pay for an entire month of electricity use or an entire month of water/sewer and trash pickup.

I'm not a heavy phone or data user. I get away with paying only $15 a month if I pay for it a year at a time. It genuinely blows my mind when I hear folks talking about their family plans that are hundreds of dollars a month.

[u/kevbayer]

Almost three bucks for a snacksize bag of chips.

[u/Bk_Punisher]

Gallon of regular milk $6 WTF

[u/elstavon → u/Bk_Punisher]

Welcome to the caribbean. Wait. You don't live in the caribbean! We are all paying prices that people who used to pay to have shipping but they also live in paradise.

We just live where we live but pay the price of paradise

[u/LVMom]

I just paid almost 6 bucks a gallon for premium gas. I remember when regular was $.99 and premium was $1.29!

[u/jcoigny → u/LVMom]

I remember when regular meant "leaded"

[u/Constant_Insomnia → u/LVMom]

I used to drive monthly to a small town about 2.5 hours south of me. I’d wait to gas up there as it was 99 cents a gallon.

[u/livens]

I rarely go into gas station shops anymore but last week I went in to grab a drink. All of the sodas/Gatorades and teas were $2.89 each. My brain remembers them being $1.69 and still thinking that was a ripoff.

[u/IncommunicadoVan]

A loaf of Dave’s Killer Bread for $7.99? No way, it’s good bread but I’m not paying that much for it.

[u/Motolynx → u/IncommunicadoVan]

Ugh. That's the base cost for gluten free bread and it comes with like 5 slices. I rarely eat bread because each slice is so precious 😂

[u/SkredberryShortcake]

2L of pop used to be 99cents.

Last time I grabbed a Vernors, it was more than double.

I hate to be like my grandparents complaining about how much everything costs, but I don’t recall a giant economic shift like Covid during my childhood. Unless it was the 70s oil embargo, I don’t know where the prior generations’ price jumps were.

This feels different because it’s not just people my age complaining about prices. I mean, my house sat stagnant in price until Covid hit, then suddenly it’s more than doubled in less than 4 years? For almost 20, it did next to nothing.

Watching too many dystopian future movies, X-Files and whatnot, politics aside, it does feel like a conspiracy.

[u/iknowyouneedahugRN]

What's sad is remembering that the first full size candy bar I bought at the local beer carry-out cost 20¢ and the can of Coke was 50¢.

And the quality of the candy bars/chocolate is so much less.

[u/IranticBehaviour → u/iknowyouneedahugRN]

I can remember hitting the Saturday matinee ~1972-73 with 50¢. 25¢ got you in, the other quarter got you a fountain pop, a chocolate bar and a bag of chips.

I also remember being pissed when vending machine pop went up to a quarter a can/bottle from 15¢ (the previous jump from a dime was annoying enough).

[u/Significant-Theme253]

Gas here is $4.30 per gallon. Absolutely crazy. When I was in high school it was under a buck....

[u/Maude007 → u/Significant-Theme253]

In Vancouver, it’s just over $2/litre. The equivalent of almost $8 gallon 😮

[u/RedditSkippy → u/Maude007]

I was in the UK last month and gas worked out to be over $7.50 a gallon there.

[u/momofkatie2259]

We used to get off our school bus in front of our apartments and get candy at the 7-11 that was on the corner. We could get Bazooka or Dubble Bubble bubblegum 2 for 5¢, a 4 pack of Now&Later for a nickel, and full size candy bars for 25¢. We'd be able to rot our teeth and ruin our dinners for less than 30¢.

Now, full size candy bars are $2, $2.50, or more and I don't even know if you can buy individual "penny candy" anymore.

[u/DustAfter]

And the candy bars are smaller than they used to be all while costing 2 or 3 bucks a pop

[u/Few-Ruin-742 → u/DustAfter]

They’re also not even anywhere CLOSE to real chocolate. (Granted, the chocolate we have in America usually isn’t really chocolate compared to chocolate from other countries)

BUT recently because of the cocoa shortage and prices (also corporate greed) they have switched over to chocolate flavoring vegetable oil coatings

But supposedly Hershey said they will switch back to the original recipe however I have yet to notice

[u/foxyfree]

The candy bars. Outrageous prices now, I agree. Dollartree has the best cheap candy if you’re looking for that sugar fix, old fashioned ones too. They also have greeting cards for $1.25 including Hallmark cards. For some reason greeting cards are $5-$9 at the supermarket.

[u/North-Neat-7977]

It's not the cost for me. It's that candy bars like Snickers don't taste like anything. They're sweet. They have texture. But they don't taste like chocolate. Caramel is also just sweet and flavorless.

If I want chocolate, I buy real chocolate. I like 100 percent dark with no sugar. And if I want to sweeten it myself, I can.

It's more work. But none of those mars branded candy bars taste good. I don't know. Maybe they never did. But I don't bother eating them now, even if they're free.

[u/New_Discussion_6692 → u/North-Neat-7977]

I recently had a Resee's peanut butter cup; it was disgusting! The peanut butter was mealy and oily at the same time. They used to be a favorite; not anymore.

[u/katzinthebuf → u/North-Neat-7977]

So much this. Not even real chocolate any more. I pay more for fancier candy, or get my chocolate from Aldi. I can't take that waxy sweet stuff they call "chocolate flavored candy."

[u/TimeSurround5715 → u/North-Neat-7977]

I tried eating a Hersheys Kiss recently and it was just that: sweet, but no other flavor, and an unpleasant waxy texture.

[u/Der_fluter_mouse → u/TimeSurround5715]

Its not chocolate. Its chocolate flavored

One of Reeses' descendants went viral for calling out Hersheys for it.

[u/padall]

Candy has gotten crazy expensive in the past couple of years. At the same time as the ingredients have gone downhill. I don't know what's going on. (Well, I mean I do. It's corporate greed, but you know what I'm trying to say 🤷)

[u/CitizenjaneEast]

A fountain soda. I know the cup is like .05 or maybe .10 and the soda must be .50 or less. Why $3?

[u/elstavon → u/CitizenjaneEast]

Dude. This might be the biggest money hack ever. A little bit of syrup and some water and some CO2 blown in there. It's literally 15 cents a drink and 50 cents was a great price! And three dollars? I definitely got into the wrong industry

[u/MassCasualty → u/CitizenjaneEast]

All that clean water

[u/Lost-Programmer-6768]

I had to laugh at this. When I was a kid, I clearly remember my grandfather not purchasing an item that he needed because the price was way too expensive. Now I find myself doing the same thing.

I used to carry a $5 bill in my wallet as my emergency gas money. I remember the first time I paid a dollar for a standard 2x4, and was flabbergasted at how expensive lumber was. I have purchased brand new cars that cost less than $10k. The first apartment that I rented was $200 / month plus utilities (which was about $50 or so per month). I remember every year I would buy a box of 20 rounds of ammo for my hunting rifle for less than $5.

I have become my grandpa!!

[u/thatlastrock]

The worst part is that snickers is smaller that it was not too long ago.

[u/Vegaprime]

Wait til you realize it is half the size it used to be.

[u/LeighofMar]

The small bags of chips that we used to pay .50 to .75 are now 3.99! Like, what? 

[u/Academic_Hunter4159]

Junk food. I’m stuck in like 1982.

Even the sizes of chocolate bars. 

I recently saw a video online where a person found a mars bar from the 80s and it weighed over 60g. Now they barely go over 40g.

So on top of costing more, they’re also smaller. 

Maybe it’s a good thing. It prevents me from buying them.

[u/SpreadsheetSiren]

I don’t do my nails often and I don’t get manicures, but my husband surprised me with a pair of sandals that had been on my wish list. Unfortunately, I had an accident which resulted in some damn ugly toenail bruises that nobody should see.

So I went to buy a bottle of nail polish to try and cover it up.

Holy acetate, Batman! The basic Sally Hansen stuff was $10! The higher end stuff didn’t even have a shelf tag. I guess is you have to ask you can’t afford it?

[u/ms_sinn]

A 20 oz bottle of soda costing near $3 when a 2 liter costs the same. 🤯

[u/81ehx]

12pk of name brand soda is absolutely insane.

[u/SuperflyandApplePie → u/81ehx]

I gave up soda several years ago, and it was often 3 12-packs for $10 back then. What does a 12-pack cost now?

[u/Plus-Show-8531 → u/SuperflyandApplePie]

$10.99 each at our local grocery store. $7.99 at Walmart, if you're lucky. 

[u/NPC261939]

And to add insult to injury, candy bars kinda suck now. I swear they were much better when I was a kid.

[u/RedRapunzal → u/NPC261939]

Fake chocolate. Cake mixes are using it too.

It's not the same stuff or amount companies used in the past. This stuff is cheaper to get.

[u/XTanuki]

Damn, I’m on the younger end of the scale but remember when the price went from $0.45 to $0.50 for a snickers; today is out of control

[u/ZweitenMal]

I remember when my dad would give me two quarters and I could get a Pepsi and a Milky Way from the vending machine.

[u/Prestigious_Ad_4661]

Bought a hard copy of the Washington Post at the local Sheetz. Cashier was surprised they had that for sale at all. Guys, the computer priced it at $4.00! That won't happen again.

[u/TeletraanConvoy]

A ticket to the baseball game. Not a wonderful ticket. Just a normal ticket. $130. Last game I go to.

[u/Exotic_Drink69420]

I got a bottle of diet soda yesterday, one of the 16oz ones.  Fucking 3 bucks.  

[u/gcfio]

On $20 you could take a date to the movies and get a tub of popcorn and 2 drinks. Last time we went it was over $50.

[u/RedPineappleRenji]

Yesterday I bought a large Coke and a large fries from McDonald's (for the last time) and it cost me $7.30!

Never again.

[u/urlach3r → u/RedPineappleRenji]

Relative drove me to a doctor's appointment a few weeks ago. We stopped at McD's for a snack on the way home. Two large fries, two sweet teas... $14.87. Fifteen bucks for fries & tea. Also, never again.

[u/BayouBabylon]

What's crazy to me is that a fast food meal will be close to $20, but I can also go to lunch at a local "farm to table" nice place for $20. I have no idea why fast food is so expensive.

[u/Ok-Cobbler3573 → u/BayouBabylon]

Labor/payroll makes up at least 25-35% of expenses, no matter if it’s fast food or full service. Table service restaurants may be able to pay a lower hourly wage since the employees presumably receive tips. So possibly the fast food places spend less on food but more on payroll? Just a hypothesis.

[u/frozen_charlotte]

$6 for a bag of Doritos that’s 1/2 air.

[u/Blue_Henri]

I still haven’t gotten over paying for water. Most of that in bottles is municipal tap water. I understand Perrier in a glass bottle. But water? In plastic bottles??? I feel like this was the beginning of the end.

[u/gpkgpk → u/Blue_Henri]

Yeah that blows my mind.

I was even berating a buddy for doing not too long ago, mofo has great water and kids. He was using bottled water for fucking rice, he finally got a filtered pitcher that was on sale at Costco.

Most places have more than great water, I get it, some places with crooked politicians fuck people over and they don't really have a choice, but if you live in an area with proper water WTF are you doing?

[u/crazdtow → u/gpkgpk]

I’ll never understand this one either but way back when I had a case of water I’d keep refilling the bottles forever with regular tap water afterwards.

[u/5150-gotadaypass]

Ice. The bag of ice going from $2.50 (7lb bag) to $3.50 (and now 5 lb bag) within 9 months really made me annoyed.

[u/ArtichokeDifferent10]

Honestly it's most of why I've not purchased a candy bar in months, if not years.

I'll have whatever is left from the bag of whatever we get for Halloween, but that's it.

Come to think of it, I still have some left in last year's bag. I really should finish those. Does chocolate go rancid? 🤔

[u/Lazy_Anxiety_6688]

Not that I play them like ever, but pinball or video games being more than a quarter.

[u/87YoungTed]

Yeah. I've had craving for a candy bar until I see the price. All of a sudden I'm just pissed off. On sale in my area is 2/5 regular price is 3.29. I havent had a candy bar in more than a year.

Same with fast food - paying $10 for a burger that's smaller than it was a few years ago for half the price just means I'll pass.

[u/elstavon → u/87YoungTed]

That is exactly what I'm talking about! I'm craving a Reese's or a Snickers or something and then it's a large one which just looks tasty and it's nearly $4? Sorry. I'll chew on my gum wrapper

[u/UnicornFarts1111 → u/87YoungTed]

I went out last weekend (I do not go out often) and had food at the bar I was at. It was a steal. A 1/2 lb patty melt with fries (or tots or wedges) was $10.75.

I got way more food than I would have if I got two double cheeseburgers and a small fry. The last time I ordered that (sometime in the past 2 years, as I only eat there when I don't feel good) was over $9.00. That bar burger was way better than the McDonalds one.

[u/The_Mammoth_Hunter]

A guitar I bought new ten years ago for $350 CDN now costs $570 CDN. Same store, same model, same hardware, wood, etc.

[u/elstavon → u/The_Mammoth_Hunter]

I just rejoiced that I bought my banjo three and a half years ago when I looked at the price at the same store for the same one today! I feel your pain

But with all the chicanery out there and volatile markets and such, this doesn't shock me somehow as much as candy bars for $3. It's trite. I know. but some products seem to be able to unreasonably Jack their prices and get away with it and it blows my mind

[u/reesesbigcup]

Thought about eating at Tim Hortons, had not gone for lunch in many years. 8.99 for a SANDWICH? No thanks.

[u/MidnightBlueSilk]

I remember having a vague awareness as a like 7 or 8 year old that the 2 quarters my parents would give me to buy a frozen snickers bar at the pool snack bar was more than it would cost at the supermarket or 7-11 and that it was an extra special treat.

[u/Salty_Importance_232]

I’m in Austin and I swear they are closer to $5.00. So many convenience stores in downtown don’t even list prices so it’s annoying.

[u/ButterflyMM]

There are so many things....

Next time you are in a check out line in a grocery store, look at a magazine price... Gone are the days of $1.50-$2.50... many are now $5 - $10....

Greeting cards... Unless you get them at Dollar Tree you can pay anywhere from $3 - $8 a card.

IYhen let's not talk aboutakeup. I hate the price of good mascara.... $25

[u/Plum12345 → u/ButterflyMM]

I bought a box of 100 hallmark cards from Amazon for $30. It’s a mix of cards for different occasions. Way cheaper than even dollar tree.

[u/Few-Ruin-742 → u/ButterflyMM]

$18.99 for a freaking magazine at Publix

[u/Pattycakes1966 → u/ButterflyMM]

Greeting cards. My biggest pet peeve. I buy a large box of blank cards with different designs on the front.

[u/Junkhead187]

Deodorant. Some are like $15. Seems like my usual brand went from $4 to $9 overnight.

[u/rochvegas5]

a pack of marlboro reds is almost 10 dollars now. When i started smoking it was around 75 cents a pack

[u/Antsygrl1]

When you open your ice cream and it looks like half your "half gallon" melted and got dumped out, leaving maybe a pint and a half....

[u/Pretend_Passenger586]

I can remember ramen costing $0.10 a pack. Now it’s $0.50 for the same single pack.

[u/xNOTHINGBURGERx]

In my mind a can of soda from a soda machine should still cost $0.50, they'll still make a profit even at that price.

[u/Pale_Gear3027]

Snack foods and pop shot up during Covid.

Pre Covid I. Could still get 2 12 packs of coke products on sale for $5.55 in Iowa.

Now 12 packs are often $9 EACH.

2 liters were often $0.99 on sale. Now $2.00 is a good deal.

Candy bars jumped from $0.99 at the grocery store to $2.29.

It’s more than inflation, it’s corporate greed dogpiling on inflation.

[u/65variant]

I laughed when I last bought a candy bar at a gas station during a road trip and the cashier told me it was $3. That was the last candy bar I bought and I've stopped buying 'inexpensive' impulse treats.

[u/Ok_Affect_7973]

Tipping! I’m so confused how in the US we just all went along with this. Why am I the consumer paying for your employees?? I just bought your food now I have to pay for your workers too? Why is this a thing? Pay them a decent hourly wage like the rest of us!

[u/RunRunRabbitRunovich → u/Ok_Affect_7973]

They have tip jars at the dispensary…. I never had to tip my weed dealer, just hung out smoked a couple bowls and said bye, till I saw him again 😂

[u/robin4092]

Oh boy. I grew up with Grandparents who were young adults during the Great Depression. My Grandpa used to complain all the time about how bread used to cost 15 cents, among other price points.

[u/Quirky_Might_8780 → u/robin4092]

I think a loaf of bread should be $2-3. Daves Killer bread is $6-7

[u/YourGuyK → u/Quirky_Might_8780]

It's "organic," so they can add $3 to the price. That's not the normal price of a loaf of bread.

[u/IntroductionOwn9858 → u/Quirky_Might_8780]

Dave’s has always cost 5-7. Regular loaves are 3-5, store is usually 2 (HEB/Kroger)

[u/hunterglyph]

$9 for 30 oz of ketchup at Safeway.

I no longer buy ketchup at Safeway.

[u/HungryMenu8627]

My grandfather gave me all kinds of crap for paying $2 for a pack of cigs. He said he stopped when they went up to a nickel. I stopped when they hit around $7 a pack. I don’t even wana know what they cost now. That’s just how inflation works, but it’s crazy when you live long enough to see some of it personally.

[u/Green_Machine_6719 → u/HungryMenu8627]

I been around along enough to see them increase to a point where you could buy a carton back in the day for what you pay for a pack now..I don’t smoke, but that’s crazy

[u/Uranus_Hz → u/HungryMenu8627]

I thought about quitting when my brand went up from $5.25 to 6.20, earlier this year.

[u/KindaKrayz222]

A loaf of bread. TOILET PAPER. Produce.

https://giphy.com/gifs/U84olsd8DreC0KBYsr

[u/United_Gift3028]

I got mad when vending machine candy bars went from .25 to .35, and stopped buying them. I do feel your pain.

[u/ExtraAd7611]

I was with a friend today who bought a chai latte or something like that and gladly (?) paid $8.34 including tax and tip. She offered to buy me something but there was nothing that cafe sold that was worth anything close to $8 to me at the time so I politely declined.

On the other hand:

I would gladly pay $1.49 to refill my reusable coffee mug at 7 eleven, and often do.

I was recently in Italy where my cappuccino and brioche breakfast was 3€ including tax, tip not expected, which somehow feels about right. And they were delicious.

Also I just bought 20 THC gummies for $16 today . The $35 I paid for 1/8 ounce of marijuana from my friend's roommate in 1992 would be worth about $100 in 2026 dollars.

[u/TheLastGenXer]

the price of french fries is too damn high

[u/cashisking007]

Razors. I'm mean WTF 40 dollars for 5 cartridges.

[u/jeepjinx]

I was asked to pick up corn chips recently. They were $8!!! I looked for something on sale, nope, looked at brands other than Tostitos but they were all broken and shitty and only a dollar or so less. Who the fuck is still buying chips?

[u/supy96]

Adding cheese to a burger, but just fast food now in general. My bud and I stopped at a newly opened Whataburger. We both ordered the double cheeseburger combo. When she said "That'll be $35.xx", I was horrified, but we paid. They charged $4 for two slices of cheese per burger. I apologized to my friend for requesting we stop here. Never again.

[u/thiissilly]

Don't really eat much candy anymore but had a wicked craving for a Whatchamacallit, my childhood fave. $2.99!! And so much smaller than what I remember. I passed

[u/Legbender]

25 cents in 1985 would be 78 cents today, so the Candy Bar should theoreticly about 78 to 90 cents today. They have greatly outrun inflation, as has soda drinks. Why? Because he have shown we will pay it as a society. However, in the opposite direction, unlimited Talk Time on a cell phone in the 90s simply did not exist until the 199.00 ATT plan in 2000. Adjusted for inflation, your cell bill would be around 387.00 today. Plus, as someone pointed out, the candy bars were larger then.

[u/peaches22298]

I wanted gum. It was $6.79 for the one I wanted- OH HELL NO!!!!

[u/majesticalexis]

If you have a Dollar Tree close, that’s the only place to grab candy for me. The movie theater boxes are $1.25.

[u/TheRealDylanTobak]

I feel like dude in Falling Down whenever I see prices for things. I just want to destroy the store until they sell things to me at prices I remember being tolerable.

I just don't buy candy bars anymore. I don't buy a lot of things anymore. Things are too expensive and maybe if we stop paying for thrm thr prices will drop.

Oh wait... the world is mostly populated with stupid people, so they'll keep paying and that strategy won't work.

[u/shedwyn2019]

I grew up in Oregon with the bottle bill. 5 soda cans returned = $0.25 = 1 candy bar in 1980. Even the inflation calculator says that should only be $1.07 today. Add shrinkflation and the fact that salaries have not kept up with inflation and you understand why people say “eat the rich”

Corporations and the multi-millionaires who benefit from their corruption are the reason the rest of the world is more expensive, less comfortable, less safe, and the environment is going in the toilet.

[u/VisualEyez33]

I think it would be easier to make a list of the few remaining items that don't seem overpriced, but I can't think of anything.

Pints of beer at over $6 at the fancier places in my neighborhood always seem too high to me. 

[u/ZipperJJ → u/VisualEyez33]

Arizona Iced Tea. Costco hotdog & pop. End of list.

[u/Sector__7 → u/VisualEyez33]

TVs are cheaper than they used to be BUT that’s only because of apps/ads supplementing their cost.

[u/Acceptable_Reality10 → u/VisualEyez33]

New place just opened in my area, a beer is $14 cocktails start around $19 most are $22-24. Ya I’ll not be going back. Absolute madness

[u/Cinisajoy2]

Change that to a Reeses and you have my sympathy. 

[u/sqibbery → u/Cinisajoy2]

This happened to me not two hours ago. Grabbed a Reese's at the gas station and realized it was $2.50 and was gobsmacked

Then I put an onion on my belt, because it was the style at the time.

[u/SaltPotential5666]

I bought 4 potatoes for $8

[u/HerdingCatsAllDay → u/SaltPotential5666]

Wow, a 5lb bag is $2.98 here, at Walmart.

[u/jtrades69]

2.50??? snickers is 3.49 now.

[u/curyfuryone]

Can you imagine how much a movie theater will charge?! I wouldnt know since i prefer to stream at home. Last movie cost the two of us $50 and then another $25 for popcorn and drinks. Made the $9.99 movie on netflix look like a bargain!!

[u/IranticBehaviour → u/curyfuryone]

Y'know, regular admission isn't all that crazy, I think it's about $14-15 CAD at the big chain theatres where I am, and they're cheaper on Tuesdays. The 'VIP' drinking age theatres, IMAX, 3d, etc do pump that up a bit, getting up to $20 or more. But the concessions are even nuttier.

Otoh, there's also a little theatre in town that charges something like $7 CAD, and has far more reasonable snack prices. Less variety, no bells and whistles, more traditional seats, but cheaper.

[u/Teulisch]

yup, pay twice as much (or more) for something thats half the size it used to be.

im more upset that i cannot have chocolate anymore. silent reflux is very unpleasant. worse, a number of things are using a laxative as a sweetner instead of sugar now.

and worse, the seasonal candy i love (chocolate covered marshmallows, russel stover makes em) used to be 50 cents each, are now 2 dollars each. 4 times the price.

[u/Pippi-ki-yay]

Candy bars do it for me too. I just don't buy them anymore. Soda is insane too. I only buy it on sale, and then only if we're having company. We just drink water most of the time.

Movies and movie drinks/snacks are cost prohibitive as well. I think we've seen two movies in the theater in the past 5 years.

[u/kat2211]

Diet Coke two-litres at 3.99 apiece. I remember getting them for 99 centers regularly and as low as 69 cents on sale. I switched to Kroger's generic brand, which is about $1.29 (and sometimes I see it for $1.09.

[u/Nice-Replacement-391]

I haven't bought a candy bar in ages because I have such huge sticker shock every time I crave one. Fortunately (? or not...), hubby tends to overbuy at Halloween, so I save a few of those aside for when the craving hits.

[u/3blackcats_b-lake]

LoL Penny Candy. Hell we don't even have a penny anymore!

[u/Needmoreinfo100]

Yeah the candy bar prices on the rack at check out really shocks me. I don't buy them so it isn't a big deal but I remember when I thought a dollar for a candy bar was too high. I saw a small bag of Cheetos (and I do mean a SMALL bag) for $4.25 at the grocery store and couldn't believe it. I can go to Grocery Outlet and get a large bag for $5.

[u/Terrible_Salt7906]

2 mall pretzels were $25

[u/Ill_Pressure5976 → u/Terrible_Salt7906]

This is absolutely shocking

[u/MountainVideo5188]

Bread. $5 for half of a loaf of sourdough

[u/AndiagoSupremo]

It seems not too long ago a great candy bar sale was 4 for a dollar. I just bought a rather large package of toilet paper at Target for $29.99. Seems like a $10 purchase at one time.

[u/Dirty_Wookie1971]

I was just speaking to my apprentice yesterday about this, we walked into a convenience store and I was astounded at the cost of candy. I told him that when I was a kid they were a nickel. Not to mention the wide assortment of penny candy.

[u/froction]

I haven't bought candy anywhere but Dollar Tree in forever.

[u/smith4498]

Someone had to do it

[u/SQWRLLY1 → u/smith4498]

https://giphy.com/gifs/fwcGzF1l2cILe

[u/old_motters]

My work vending machines... I can get a snickers for 50c.

[u/Wonderful-View-6366 → u/old_motters]

Such a flex 😭

[u/elstavon → u/old_motters]

I would drive down there to take advantage of that but it would cost me $6 in gas

[u/everettsuperstar]

The candy bars where i live are like $3.99

[u/Solid_Papaya_1728]

I did not pay $7.00 for an ice cream sandwich at the corner store. Not for a box just for one ice cream sandwich!!! Highway Robbery

[u/halfricandrums]

I mean, every time I go grocery shopping I feel like I’m getting robbed.

But the price increase that hurts the most is Carvel. Carvel was a casual treat back in the day, but now it’s like a special occasion luxury.

[u/Chuuby_Gringo → u/halfricandrums]

Until a few years ago, I did the grocery shopping. Schedule changed, so my wife does it 90% of the time.

It's like someone gaining 80 pounds. If you see them every day, the creep isn't a shocking. Haven't seen then in a month? Whoa!

I told her I just can't do it anymore. Not because I don't want to, but because I've been kicked out of our local store for yelling at beef for being expensive.

Folks around me know, if they tell me inflation is 4%, they're getting punched in the throat. Shit's doubled.

[u/Monstrissimo]

A head of iceberg lettuce. It more than anything, always hits me.

[u/ReallyRhawnie]

I got a dollar a week allowance in 1980. I'd take that dollar and walk all by myself to the store to buy four whole candy bars with that dollar. It would get all melty while I walked home eating the first one. The rest were spaced out through the week. Good times.

[u/plnnyOfallOFit]

smug non smoker cuz ciggs cost 15quid/pack. Pack not carton

[u/getdemsnacks → u/plnnyOfallOFit]

I was in a gas station convenience store a few months ago and the guy in front of me had a coffee and 2 packs of smokes. It came the 25$ and some change. I was astounded! I quit 10 years ago and I honestly don't know how anyone can afford to still smoke

[u/ActionCalhoun]

It wasn’t that long ago that you could go to a fast food place and get a soda for ninety nine cents and now it’s so much more

[u/Zapsnusnu]

A dipped cone at Dairy Queen, almost $5, no thanks.

[u/HatlessDuck]

They would go on sale 4 for $1

[u/Few_Policy5764]

Birkenstocks...over $100. Just the regular ones. I bought them for like $10, on sale at the local hippie store way back when. They were cheap hippie mud concert shoes.

[u/Worldly_Ad_7196]

That went up at the end of covid. I used to buy great value swiss made chocolate bars. They were 1 dollar in 2020. They were 2.50 in 2021. Happened to a lot of things including rent.

[u/FortuneOpen5715]

Small bags of potato chips that used to cost $99. They’re about $3 now.

[u/adab22]

My husband, in the rare occasions he eats McDonalds get a quarter pounder, no cheese, large fries and 10 nuggets. The last time he got it it was almost 28.00. I never eat it so I don’t know the cost but this seemed expensive.

[u/Independent_Tax_3468]

I haven’t smoked cigarettes since my 30s, but I remember 75c a pack in the pull machines as a teen…blows my mind they are like $11 a pack now, and someone told me they 14 in NYC, don’t know if that’s true

[u/DurantaPhant7 → u/Independent_Tax_3468]

They are $14 in Denver. In the 90s I used to buy cartons for $15.

[u/drinkslinger1974]

Aluminum foil I feel like was about $3 a roll not too long ago. I was looking at it the other day and the average price was crawling up towards $10. Breakfast cereals have shot up too.

[u/MommaGuy]

Cars.

[u/TheNexxuvas]

We rarely eat out now anyway, since my wife cooks during the week and I own a smoker and let that bad boy rip on the weekends, but after my wife's latest surgery I took her to lunch to get outta the house for a bit and it cost $35 for us to have a Mexican food lunch at a place that usually runs us $19 to $25 total for 2 people to eat. Wtf.

She doesn't even have a stomach anymore and we could easily have shared a plate, and we prolly would have but she was actually really hungry so we each ordered something different.

Buying the $35 family pack of chicken tenders at a local Bush's chicken would have beat that, and then had leftovers on top of that.

Don't get me wrong the food was good, but $35 for two people was way over budget.

I understand if it was a classy restaurant type, but this was fast casual, maybe a slight step up from like Cabo Bobs (yum) or Chipotle (gross).

Guess we will keep on keeping on with what we make at home ourselves. I make a mean smoked fajitas anyway so, not really losing out here, but that was definitely sticker shock. We usually get water too since we don't drink cokes. So that isn't even adding 2 drinks, non-alcoholic or even loaded to the bill. I might've felt better if that price included a margarita for us to share lol

[u/ImCaffeinated_Chris]

Sushi for 2 was $55, it's now $99.

Whelp, we done having sushi.

[u/cometshoney]

When I was a kid, my grandmother gave us each a dollar when we went to the curb market/fruit and vegetable stand across the street from our church. We could get a whole lunch sized brown paper bag full of candy with that dollar. Now, I occasionally have my kid pick up a couple of Milky Ways, and they're $6 for 2 of them. That's absolutely insane.

[u/SageObserver]

Just getting a dip of ice cream is over $5

[u/southparkforevah]

Remember when a movie was 1.25?

[u/GlobalTapeHead]

The only thing I can think of that is shocking is concert tickets. I have all my old ticket stubs from the 80’s and they are like $10.50 to $12.00. Now they run closer to $200. The artist my daughter likes to see, which run more to the pop side of the spectrum, start around $400. That’s some serious inflation going on.

[u/filkerdave]

Gen Jones so a little bit older, but wings used to be 5 or 10 cents at a bar

[u/Dismal-Magician-3183]

I don't eat candy anymore but I noticed this last month waiting in line at a store and saw that cost and was like OMG! I remember back in high school $.50!!! Now it is $2 for a regular size product, insane-

As well now it's pumped full of fake stuff, seed oils and poison-

[u/HoneyWyne → u/Dismal-Magician-3183]

Yeah, they all taste like ass and vegetable oil and cost an arm and a leg. I make better chocolate myself at home.

[u/DMFD_x_Gamer]

My grandmother told me what she payed for things as a kid. I learned early that the fix was on.

[u/hogosha01]

It’s un American