30 Wildly Expensive Things These Adults Thought Were Very Cheap When They Were Kids
Interview
Many things change when you move out of your parents' home and start your new chapter as an (official) adult, but money is often the most pressing concern. Taking care of your financial matters usually helps alleviate stress in numerous areas of life.
However, that's easier said than done. Reddit user ForeignReviews asked everyone else on the platform "What item did you not realize was expensive until you became an adult?" and their question immediately went viral.
As of today, it has 6.1K upvotes and 5.6K comments, proving that managing your personal budget can be harder than it looks. From owning a vehicle to grocery shopping, here are some of the areas that were mentioned the most.
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my parents split up when I was a kid in the 90s, and I remember going to my dads apartment in another city, and him cooking us steak on the grill. I always loved that.
Once I moved out I was like "wait steak is how much? Why the hell did Dad keep feeding us this?"
Then I realised he was eating poverty meals all week to treat his kids on the weekend.
For his 60th birthday us kids pooled our money and took him to arguably the best fine dining restaurant in my province for the full tasting menu. Seeing him light up at trying things like caviar and truffles for the first time made me realize how much he has sacrificed for us.
So yeah, steak is expensive.
Pets
Hairhelmet61 replied:
They’ve gotten so expensive over the past few years. It used to be $50 for a yearly exam with shots for each of my pets. Then it went to ~$100. Now it’s over $200. That doesn’t include any flea treatments or medications for minor things they might find. Those also cost about double what I used to pay. I have four pets, and three are geriatric. I went from being able to afford their care for most of their lives to having to save up for their checkups.
They just double the prices for vet treatment in Germany. Mine has a operation insurance and a savings account just in case. Add to that food, tax and daily stuff. It's an easy 100€/month for kibbel/snacks/vaccination/minor treatments +132 yearly tax + 335 yearly for insurance + savings. I calculate with 200 a month just to be safe. Lou is medium sized and generally healthy. My first dog did cost 50-80 a month in meds and another 50 in shoes a month when she got old. Add to that the standard costs... please plan ahead.
We managed to get in touch with ForeignReviews, and they agreed to tell us more about their now-viral post.
"My friends and I were complaining about the price of groceries, especially produce," the Redditor explained its origins to Bored Panda.
"We were reminiscing about the quote 'money doesn't grow on trees' but juxtaposed that with why something that literally grows out of the ground could be so expensive. Then as the conversation developed, we talked about things we thought were much more affordable as a child, such as McDonald's or going to the doctor's, which eventually resulted in me posting this question."
Kids. I'm amazed how my parents could afford me
314159265358979326 replied:
My grandfather never earned more than $35,000 a year, raised five kids, and died a millionaire. WTF.
New tires. Most unexciting $1,000 purchases I have ever made.
CunnyMaggots replied:
Right? I remember buying new tires for my car for $20 each. Then I remember that was in 1999 and my car had tiny 12-inch rims.
Move someplace snowy so you have to buy 2 sets of tires and pay 2X a year to get them swapped out.
After going through the answers to their question, ForeignReviews noticed some common themes that are trending with this generation, such as gas, rent, medical care, education, and life in general, but a couple of items that seemed to be recurring and made them chuckle were Legos and cheese.
Interestingly, nowadays, adults in the United States are reaching key life milestones later than they did four decades ago, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.
Adults who are 21 are less likely than their predecessors 40 years ago to have reached five frequently cited milestones of adulthood: having a full-time job, being financially independent, living on their own, getting married, and having a child.
Glasses. I have awful eyesight and an astigmatism and got quite a shock when I had to pay for my own prescription glasses for the first time.
The eyeglass/frame industry are almost 99% monopoly run by some scumbag in Italy. Go to online sites like zennioptical.com where the glasses are more affordable and of high quality.
Legos. My god. How my parents ever got me any, I'll never know.
they're just building bricks unless they come from the Lego region of Denmark.
In 2021 (the most recent year with available figures), just 39% of 21-year-olds were working full time, compared with 64% in 1980, and only a quarter of people this age in 2021 were financially independent of their parents, meaning that their income was at least 150% of the poverty line, compared with 42% in 1980.
gas
caffeine5000 replied:
I recall one glorious summer in the mid- to late '90s when it was 79 cents a gallon. My friends and I would just drive around and hang out because it was cheaper than mini golf or the movies! My little Toyota at the time got 38–40 miles per gallon!
gotta be furniture
Stetikhasnotalent replied:
When I bought my house, I only had a bed in the master bedroom, and all my friends kept saying, 'You make good money, just buy furniture — you could have it furnished in a month.' Then they bought houses and now understand why it took me a year to furnish my house.
ForeignReviews thinks it's natural that as we grow up, we start to see the amount of effort we need to put in to purchase even basic items.
"Along the lines of making a living wage, we find out that after someone spends hours dealing with terrible people or does physically demanding work but cannot survive," the Redditor said. "There does seem to be a disruption in some of the values we were raised on."
"It just doesn't seem like the idea 'hard work pays off' really means anything these days other than to allow corporations to reap the benefits of our labor. Maybe to summarize it more succinctly, we were raised to believe hard work will result in some reward, but the reality is that some of the hardest working people can barely make it, let alone live in some level of security, comfort, or luxury."
Cars, all grown ups had them, maybe even multiple. I still think its insane that some cars are more expensive than a 2 bedroom apartment
Getting something framed. Holy cow!
VIDCAs17 replied:
I'm getting two 130-year-old maps framed. After I factor in nice frames, preservation glass, and other custom details, the total is over $500. And there was a sale going on during my purchase.
Owning a house. Not so much the mortgage, but everything else that you don’t really think about when you’re young and dumb. Insurance, yard upkeep, tools, routine maintenance, emergency maintenance, misc supplies, etc.
People who complain that they pay $1500 a month in rent but can't get a $1200 a month mortgage are not factoring in all these things.
Food is both more expensive and goes bad quicker when you're an adult.
ariana61104 replied:
I honestly love grocery shopping, but it's just so expensive. I often look for deals and will buy generic/store brand on most items. My biggest tip for 'goes bad quicker' is to always get from the back because usually that's where the longer-lasting stuff goes.
My teeth.
NoThanksJustLooking1 replied:
Seriously! I have almost all filled-in teeth from not taking care of them as a kid, but now every time I go to the dentist, they want to charge me $10,000-plus after insurance to fix stuff that's been fixed before. Almost every year! I can't afford that!
In romania it costs about $100 to get a dental IMPLANT, compare that to the $1-$2000 per tooth in the US. Getting a full set of dental implants can be done for around $1200
A good pair of shoes will set you back a bit, especially if you need more specialized ones for whatever reason.
But most important, it can prevent so many problems with your posture later in life!
Health Insurance
Beverice replied:
My employer health insurance would cost me ~20% of my paycheck, so now I don't have health insurance.
Electricity, I thought it was as free as the air we breathe so would have my bedroom lit up like a Christmas Tree 24/7, my poor parents!
Bras
Delouest replied:
I went through breast cancer treatment, which includes a mastectomy and reconstruction. My old bras didn't work for my current chest, so I had to replace my entire bra drawer. It cost more than I paid for my surgeries after insurance.
This is not the reason I go bra-less (my chronic pain disorder and easily dislocated joints are the real reason) but not paying through the nose for even poorly built bras is definitely a perk!
Groceries
People who used to be able to afford to eat now are visiting food banks. And those in the military. Their families are needing food banks. So much so there aren’t enough food banks to cover it all. Their families should be able to afford to eat. They give a lot too, what with frequent moves, kids always going to new schools and learning to establish friendships they know are short term. Paying those on the military a livable pay check. It’s the least we should and can do.
Rugs
[deleted] replied:
I’ve never been able to get my head around why rugs are so expensive! And I’m not even talking a handmade, intricate one. Just a standard mass-produced thing.
Life itself! EVERYTHING!
Work done by tradesmen. Plumbers, carpenters, masons, etc. If you have to pay someone to do it for you, it's going to be cost prohibitive.
Nanojack replied:
I wanted to save up a bit, so I waited a year. I called him again, and he said it was $6,500. I had only saved up $4,000 and wanted to do some other things as well, so I waited another year. Called him again and he said $8,000. At this point, I didn't see the price ever going back down, so I pulled the trigger in June this year and gave the dude $8,500.
Reconsider going to college. Trades will always be needed. And you’re not in crushing debt when you’re done. My nephew got a degree in a specialty you’d think there’s no problem getting a job and would pay really well. Not like it was a field that had a glut of people either. Ha! His parents worked their backsides off to ensure he started out without debt. Now? He went to community college and learned refrigerator repair. Now he works for the largest appliance repair company in the country. Regular hours and makes great money. No stress. Happy, and doing well. Trades!
Going to restaurants to eat. Of course as I child I never paid for anything, so I was admittedly shocked when I became an adult and had to pay my restaurant bill for the first time. Had no idea it was so expensive.
Grokent replied:
When I was a young man in 1999, I remember a date at Olive Garden cost me $32 on the high end. Now I can hardly go to dinner for less than $90.
I had gastric surgery 8 years ago. So I stopped eating out. Wanted a good burger delivered and was shocked to find it would be $30. Same for a delivered pizza!
Travelling
ChuushaHime replied:
When I was a kid, I thought the expense was in the plane tickets and in the sightseeing. The cool stuff, right? Nope. Turns out it's pretty easy to find reasonably priced plane tickets, and sightseeing really isn't all that expensive at all. But lodging? The barrier to entry is stupidly high. There isn't a hostel culture in the US, so you're facing a barrier to entry of like $80/night for a total shithole, $120/night for a barebones economy room, or $150-plus a night for actual comfort. And that's before the high taxes and fees that hotel rooms incur.
Wait until you go to Vegas and discover that in order to stay in your pre-paid $150/night room you must pay a surprise non-optional "resort fee" of $65/night. How that does not break at least a half dozen federal laws I have no idea, but I guess that's the benefit of being run by the mob.
Pizza was always chalked up to me as “cheap food for a big group,” and it’s definitely cheaper than taking people to a sit down restaurant, but, unless you’re buying BOGO pizza from Domino’s, it’s ridiculously expensive.
The run-of-the-mill local pizza place across me has a large cheese pizza for $22… with toppings some of their large specialty pizzas top $31. And an extra large with toppings can go as high as $36. All of this is before tax and tip and—*gasps* delivery fees.
I live in a more expensive area of the US for sure, but it’s hard to justify grabbing a pizza for myself when I could get a pretty nice Italian dinner for the same price at a fairly upscale place.
Or buy a frozen pizza from the supermarket and cook it when you want it.
Property taxes. My property taxes were about $4500 when I first bought my house in 2019. Increased to over $9200 this year.
Homes value has gone from $145k to appraised value of $420k.
I just saw a YouTube short that showed a woman's trick to keeping home values low. She'd stand outside the door and fire her gun about 6 times into the air. ***I'm totally kidding and do not recommend this!! It's illegal and could hurt someone. I just thought it was funny. Modern problems require modern solutions***
Patio furniture cushions. Seriously WTF?!?
Toilet paper! Like talk about actually flushing money down the toilet.
Nope. I knew every one of those as a young child. Couldn't afford most of them, turned off lights whenever we left a room, etc.
Right…if you grow up poor you definitely know how expensive stuff is
Load More Replies... Everything in the known world is wildly expensive when you become a responsible adult.
Nope. I knew every one of those as a young child. Couldn't afford most of them, turned off lights whenever we left a room, etc.
Right…if you grow up poor you definitely know how expensive stuff is
Load More Replies... Everything in the known world is wildly expensive when you become a responsible adult.
