The rising cost of living

The cost of living continues to rise steadily around the world. Even financially well-off people are starting to feel the effects of rising costs and are being forced to adjust their lifestyle to save money. This may mean foregoing major purchases like buying a home or skipping out on smaller things like eating out. Whether small or large, people end up having to give up things they once enjoyed simply because they can no longer afford them. Reddit user u/guywhostillhasnoname asked the community, “What is no longer worth it because it’s gotten so expensive?” Here are 10 of the most insightful answers people had to offer.

1.Fast-food

All fast food. It used to be at least something you could rationalize as a “cheap treat,” but now it’s just as expensive as more upscale places with fresh ingredients, the same garbage quality, and smaller portions. u/Petraretrograde Add to that absolutely abysmal service, slow-moving lines, order takers who don’t seem to know the basic menu, a virtual guarantee that you’ll get missing or wrong dishes, and they treat condiments like Fort Knox and it’s like pulling teeth to get more than 2 cups of sauce with the 20 nuggies. u/hypntyz

2. Second-hand shops

Thrift stores have gotten insanely expensive. All the thrift stores I used to go to have raised their prices. Also, flea markets are insane. My favorite thing to do is go to flea markets and see that the owners have printed out random listings from eBay. “No, Bob, I’m not going to pay $100 for a 2010 microwave because it sold on eBay for that exact price 5 years ago.” u/xElementop Goodwill has been losing its mind lately. They’ve forgotten that they’re a dumpster that people pay them money to dig through, not a boutique store. u/eldestdaughtersunion

3. Subscription models

How everything is a subscription now. OK, I guess I don’t need it. u/Soakitincider I blame Adobe most of it. Fuck Adobe. When they successfully moved Adobe Creative Suite to Creative Cloud, it was over. Autodesk went subscription-only. One day Microsoft Office will switch to subscription-only. Things like calculator apps will switch to subscription-only to remove ads. Cars and farm equipment will switch to subscription-only. Fuck Adobe and Autodesk. It warms my heart when I meet someone who uses Krita, Darktable, Inkscape, GIMP, Kdenlive, Scribus, or Blender. u/tripplesuhsirub

4. Deliver food

Order delivery. It used to cost the same as ordering in person, with a small fee and tip per dish. Now most places have signed a contract with a “service” so they don’t do it themselves anymore, and now you have to go through Door Dash or Uber Eats, etc. who charge additional fees, higher prices than menu prices, and higher tips for what is in most cases the worst service than when restaurants or pizzerias still delivered themselves. u/Sestos. Also, everywhere asks for a tipping option when paying. Like if I picked up my pizza myself, I don’t tip on top of the $20. u/belovedfoe

5. Live concerts

Concerts! When all the extras and fees are factored in, they’re prohibitive. u/xenoclownpanda My daughter and her friends want to go to an Olivia Rodrigo concert next year so I’ve been looking into tickets. I can’t even buy the tickets on Ticketmaster because I wasn’t “invited.” I looked on StubHub and the cheapest tickets I could find were $440 each and that’s not even including the ridiculous fees I’m sure we’d have to pay. When I was around the same age as my daughter, I went to an NSYNC concert with a group of friends. We got seats in the back row for $60 each. u/penelope_pig

6. Housing costs

Cost of living/housing. At this point we can all fuck off too. u/Taurus0594. I’m an IT professional. I make way more than my parents but I’m in my early thirties and don’t have a house or car. I’m starting to save up for a down payment but I can only do that because I live with my parents and make an above average salary. Even I’m fed up. My dad bought our house on a single worker’s salary. I honestly don’t know how people make ends meet on minimum or average wage or rent. u/CryptograherMore944

7. Cable services

Cable TV. u/Human_Mechanic_2310 My mom has been asking me to cancel our cable for a while now, but I always hesitate because my grandma watches TV (even though she complains there’s nothing to watch) and even though I’ve shown her how to use her smart TV and cell phone several times, she still finds it difficult to use. I don’t want to take away one of her few sources of entertainment. u/LiliGlez14

8. Starbucks coffee

I used to love stopping by Starbucks for coffee, but screw the $6 lattes or whatever it is now. u/loztriforce My wife and I have moved away from coffee chains. We now buy the whole bean coffee at Costco and grind it at home. In our opinion, it tastes a hell of a lot better and the cost isn’t even close to comparable. Occasionally, my wife will treat herself to a Skinny Vanilla Latte from Starbucks, but that’s about every three months or so. u/COSurfing

9. Shopping at a farmers market

Farmers markets. Everything was about a quarter of the price in the store, grown closer and from smaller local farms. Then everything changed when it became fashionable; now it’s more expensive than the store and I wonder if it even comes from local farms and not Costco. u/colbymg My local farmers cracked down on this. What happened was some vendors went to the supermarket and bought up a bunch of the produce and sold it for a lot more. A couple of times they forgot to remove the rubber bands with the store name. Now vendors have to prove they grew it. u/Abstract_Logic

10. Stay in an Airbnb

Airbnb. All of these extra fees usually drive the cost higher than an actual hotel stay in the same area. u/TheRealTinfoil666. My family and I were in San Francisco a few years ago and thought we could save money by booking an Airbnb. It turns out these places all cost as much or more than a decent hotel in the city. We ended up staying in a hotel for a few nights and then at a bed and breakfast in Half Moon Bay for a good price. Plus, we weren’t expected to do any cleaning or whatever else these Airbnb hosts think is acceptable to have their guests do. u/bunnyfloofington

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on October 9, 2023. It has since been updated.