Have you ever felt like you constantly have to pay more for less, like the world is conspiring against you every time you go shopping? As the cost of living is going on an endless upward trajectory, the quality of the products and services we rely on constantly declines. We get you, it’s a feeling that’s all too familiar for many of us and one that’s only getting more worrying with each passing day, to say the least. The frustration is real and palpable, but we’re not alone in our struggles — the internet has become a megaphone for these grievances.
While many have spoken plenty about which products got worse, Reddit has emerged as a particularly vibrant hub for discussions about how things are going to hell in a handbasket. A thread dedicated to this topic has attracted thousands of comments from people sharing their experiences and opinions on everything from everyday essentials to niche products.
We’ll be taking a closer look at the most common complaints from this Reddit thread about things people think have gotten worse and more expensive. From food chains and streaming platforms to video games and clothes, no industry seems immune from the curse of rising prices and decreased quality. But what exactly are people complaining about and why? Join us as we read what people pointed out, and feel free to share your thoughts on the matter!
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"Certain house appliances.
My grandma has had the same fridge for 40 years. My parents recently had to replace theirs. It's their third in 20 years."
I’ve run my washer/dryer almost 24/7 for the last 25 years!! I dread when/if I ever have to replace them
aznuke said:
"New homes.
Cookie cutter houses, built with cheap contractors who cut corners left and right, situated in neighborhoods with ever higher HOA fees: and the HOAs are getting more expensive too."
fanpoppa749 replied:
"I agree with this one. I thought buying a newly built home would be great. Turns out everything is cheap. Those nice looking base boards? Particle board. Cabinets? Particle board. Nice front door? it’s plastic and warps when the temperature changes.
Everything ‘looks’ nice, but at the core it’s all super cheap material that was installed as fast as possible by the cheapest bidder."
It's really f*****g annoying when people somehow blame tradesmen for wanting to earn a liveable wage. What do you want us to do? Land costs are through the roof as are materials, are we meant to work for peanuts? Everybody is quick to defend, righteously, servers' getting a liveable age, but when it's construction workers all of a sudden we're swindlers
lorenzini3 said:
"Food."
Hot_Shot_McGee replied:
"Even cooking you'll find that ingredients are going up and up. You gotta be a master gardener and rancher apparently if you want to cook really well on the cheap."
"INSULIN.
It’s a necessity for lot of diabetic people and I know a few who ration insulin to last a long time. Some times if they have extra and aren’t using it then they send it to those who need. When asked at least 50 people respond asking they are in need. It’s a sad reality. Everyone says eat better, but even with eating better sometimes sugar levels don’t get controlled."
Im never gonna get over the price gouging of insulin in America. The most obvious scam in the history of all scams and nothing can legally be done to address it? How is this moral, ethical or legal ffs. For the hundreth time in Australia insulin is $6.80 for Months supply, simply because we have enough ethics not to allow our most vulnerable to be ripped off or suffer unnecessary health risk or freaking die because they are poor.
Jarred-Binks said:
"The basic American dream."
bttrflyr replied:
"The new American dream is just be able to work one job and still be able to afford living expenses with enough left over to pay down debt, add a savings and retirement.
Like when did it become 'entitled' for us to expect to be paid a livable wage? F*ck the 'American dream.'"
Though salaries have increased looking at the dollar amount, prices have too. For a typical salary real purchasing power has flatlined for more than 30 years. Yet the highest incomes have grown even more. That’s the sad reality.
"As a somewhat older person born in the late 60's, EVERYTHING. Clothes fall apart and there are no classic styles anymore unless you want to pay out the nose, Christmas ornaments are just junk now, it's heartbreaking when I think about my teens and 20's, my first job and apartment I could rent with cash left over for concerts on the reg. It was awesome and I am now wondering what's left. If I didn't have an aunt and mom who care so much about me I'd probably just give up the ghost. I've had my good years, and now trying to re-enter the employment market and try to "adult" again is disheartening. I could never afford an apartment on my own anymore, and I don't get along well with a lot of people, I value my privacy. It's a college world out there now, and with only a HS education and even with 15 years of admin experience, people pay absolute sh*t and my work ethic has taken a deep dive because if I make things more efficient, they'll get rid of me and hire a part-timer rather than give a raise or anything. Never used to be that way. Then again there were no "human resources" departments back then, it was just a small personnel office. The name alone shows how companies think of their people: just a resource."
thirdnut4 said:
"Life."
Osiris32 replied:
"Life, don't talk to me about life. Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they ask me to pick up a piece of paper. Call that job satisfaction, because I don't. And I have this pain in all the diodes down my left side."
"There used to be this burger joint called “Joe’s cablecar” near me. Great place. I miss it so much. A few months before it closed down, I was there and the owner, Joe, was having a heated conversation with one of his suppliers on the phone. After he hung up, he looked over at me and just said, “price goes up, quality goes down.” It took me a while to realize that that wasn’t an asshole supplier he was dealing with, just a fact of life. People like Joe can’t tolerate that. That’s why the truly great things never last. Only the mediocre things are able to endure long enough to degrade into the universally hated embodiment of entropy that the physical world allows for."
Buttproblemzthrow said:
"Clothes. Even a sweater from the Gap is like $70 now even though the quality is about 10% better than Old Navy. Goddamn it clothes retailers, settle down or I will go naked.
Edit: To the people suggesting thrift stores, I agree! It's thrilling to find something special and cheap. You wash it, you're good to go. Plus retail clothing is so expensive nowadays that I would rather someone else take the hit of driving it off the lot."
RedSquirrelFtw replied:
"What I hate about this is all the brand names are super expensive, but they are still all made by slaves in poor countries. I would be willing to pay the higher price if it was actually made in Canada or US, but it's not."
Problem is all the thrift stores prices have gone up close to retail prices.
lunari_moonari said:
"Cable television. More commercials, channels upon channels of crap, ridiculous bill."
happyends replied:
"I remember when you could watch a show on cable without any commercials. That was it's big selling point."
Back when you could learn things on The Learning Channel, listen to music on MTV, and discover new things on The Discovery Channel.
"Almost everything. Planned obsolescence and expediency has taken the place of quality and craftsmanship."
"Clothes, very few companies make clothes to last and fast fashion is rising while the cost of items continue to increase!"
That's true. I've had shirts from the 00s that are still good but new clothes just doesn't seem to last as long.
Back2Bach said:
"Ice cream containers that were originally one-half gallon have been "shrinking."
They went from 64 oz. to 56 oz and now 48 oz. - but the price hasn't "shrunk" (it's been increasing steadily) and the quality often isn't as good as it used to be when containers were a true half-gallon."
pakidara replied:
"When I worked at a gas station I noticed the same thing with Pringles. The tubes would shrink in height by about 1/8 of an inch every month or so. Once they got "small enough" they would release a "New BIGGER size!!!" for a month with a higher price tag. They would then remove the bigger-size tag and begin the shrinking process again."
Yes. They’re not only charging more, you’re getting a lot less for your money. We are being robbed and we have to deal with it apparently.
"Education.
Long ago, the premise of institutional education provided promise. As the Information Age progresses, the quality of institutional education has dramatically reduced but the expenses of education has risen dramatically. With the rise of computers and online education, people are learning elsewhere even though the legitimacy of institutional certification remains large. For that reason, the quality of education received is vastly poor since people will be enrolling regardless of any pressure to improve themselves."
Am I right this is a problem specific for the US? It’s somewhat oversimplified but I feel it’s fair to say in the US it’s the persons with money who go to university. In Europe it’s the persons with the best grades. It’s ironic since the new social order in the US was supposed to get rid of class privileges found in old fashioned England. But think about it. How did the noble class come into being other than by accumulating money over generations and marrying and networking with others belonging to the same upper class, and by fashioning society and laws to their advantage.
"Concert tickets (HEAR ME OUT):
I’m not saying concerts are getting worse but the entire process for getting tickets, as well as the pricing, have gotten worse. You used to be able to see big bands for like up to 100$, but now every concert is literally hundreds of dollars for a nosebleed seat alone for any band. Now, instead of going to retailers to buy physical tickets, we are buying from sh*tty corporations like StubHub and Ticketmaster who on occasion scam people and f*ck around with ticket pricing as a result of the online move meaning that ticket sellers can now be subtly scummy."
"Everything Nestle takes over."
"Movies.
Bigger budgets, less creative concepts/writing. Most blockbusters are just derivative of pre-existing intellectual property."
"Scented candles, Yankee Candle in particular used to be the candle that was considered premium. But while they've never been cheap at least a while ago it was worth the money. But now they're just exorbitant in price, they don't smell like they used to, and they are not worth the money."
Yankee candles are paraffin rubbish. The margin they make on those is extortionate. Check out blugrass.co.uk for quality hand made ones
"Arcades!!!
Dave n Busters is ridiculously expensive, hyper-commercialized, and they all look the same/lack that mom n pop feel. I don't want to charge a card or play a game that's just an advertisement for a TV show. Let me throw tokens into a vintage pinball machine at a family-owned arcade, haphazardly grab my tickets after I play, count them out and buy some Reese's with my friends.
Edit: This makes me sound like an old grouch. I still love arcades, but they just feel.. Different. Maybe it's just me getting older."
The best is when you find a barcade where the old games have been modified to be free-play. I got to experience levels in games that I was never able to reach as a kid who only had a few quarters in his pocket. (I'm looking at you, classic Simpsons arcade game. You were a real quarter-hog.)
demonardvark said:
"Cable/ Internet providers. Oh yes sorry your trial period was over, your bill went up 200 dollars. Oh no we didn't promise you 200mb/s download speed constantly, we said UP TO. Read the fine print."
Jacker9090 replied:
"'Up to 50mbps, not our problem if we tear down another hotspot and you internet goes from a barely usable 500kbps to something that timeouts web pages, a nice 50kbps. You'll get that sweet 90's nostalgia. 600 ping is bothering you? Nah that's perfectly acceptable. Oh and also we're doubling your bill, f*ck you. Oh and don't even think about any other provider. They just happen to have the exact same speeds, coverages and prices. No cartel here.'"
Wait, people actually consider 500kb/s unusable???? I get that on a good day and its not unusable, just mediocre
"As someone shopping for a house, I have to say homes.
Not only has the real estate market been ridiculously inflated (especially in NYC, my residence), I'm finding that the actual quality of a lot of these homes are absolute sh*t. Due to the ability to find and source cheap materials and labor, developers are able to make huge profits off high prices and low costs. It's making me really rethink if I want buy a house, or just use all that money to aggressively invest."
Akoni_8 said:
"Size of bags of chips."
Commenter replied:
"I mean the bags have gotten bigger, but suddenly they need to sell you more air as well."
NIRPL said:
"Gaming. Mainly micro-transactions and subscription based purchases."
Commenter replied:
"Seriously tho, why are there subscriptions in a game. That makes no sense since you've already paid for the game."
The whole subscription thing has gotten completely out of hand! Everything is subscription based these days, even things you used to buy and keep! Like, how are people going to afford anything if they have to pay for everything? From software to streaming services, to heated car seats even when you own the car already and the seat-heating mechanism is already installed! This has gone way too far... ☹️
UDAkumano said:
"Printers."
SueZbell replied:
"It's about selling ink."
"Healthy food options."
That is edible, because some of the healthy food options are so bland or blended, they taste the apple sauce without the apple. You can still spice things and have it be healthy, most spices are healthy in moderate portions.
"I’m sure this will get overlooked but KFC. I remember growing up a whole family could eat there and it was great! Now it’s just garbage, super greasy, and will cost you an arm and a leg for a dang bucket of chicken. They have gotten way worse and the price has went up."
"Fast Food. I’m lucky to get a meal under $10 and even more lucky if it’s accurate."
"Going to bars to drink. I don’t see the appeal of spending $11 for a mixed drink with a well liquor to chat with a friend. I’d rather invite my friends over for drinks and for the same price I can give my friends much better booze. Obviously I’m talking pre Covid."
ThatFinnishGu said:
"Ice cream with fudge in it. Used to get massive slabs of fudge now they just have tiny nuggets."
marvlyn replied:
"I can pretty much only stand to buy Ben and Jerry's these days. It ruined other 'frozen dairy desserts' for me."
Thiz is every filling in every ice cream brand whatsoever these days. I buy fudge, caramel and all other preferred syrups and additives separate now and only buy plain vanilla or chocolate ice cream tubs. Much better end product, can't be bothered digging for the tiny bit of flavoring in mixed tubs anymore. Plus the syrup lasts through several tubs cos you don't always want the same flavors.
quilp666 said:
"All Cadburys products."
Commenter replied:
"Kraft ruined it."
"Photo booths!
Oh the old ones were so cool! Four different real photos for 1 dollar. - Now you pay $ 7 for four identical bad laser prints."
How long ago was that? I can remember using them for passport photos since I was a child (early 90s) and they've always been like that. You get a strip of the same photo, and while the price ha gone up it was always expensive for the time.
MsMeself said:
"College tuition. When I hear college used to be paid with a summer job, my eyes get watery. I’m a college student."
DpvReno replied:
"I didn't pay for mine on a summer job but worked nights and lived alone and could take 3 classes a semester + summer classes (and paid 1/3 rent) with the money I made."
"Face razors. They had it perfected with double edge blades in a metal razor. Cheap and incredible shaves. Modern plastic disposable razors are worse on your skin, give a worse shave, and grotesquely expensive.
They are nothing more than monopolies controlling the availability and accessibility. When you go to the razor section at the store you can only choose from their garbage. I give double edged metal razors to men and women loves ones as gifts and universally their minds are blown realizing how much better and less expensive they are."
timetobeatthekids said:
"Health Insurance."
minneapple79 replied:
"Goddamn. Last year we ran out of money in our HSA in July. We were paying for everything out of pocket after that and praying for no major medical expenses. And we have Blue Cross Blue Shield! And it ain't cheap! What the hell are we paying for?
This year has been a bit better, ironically(?) because of corona we haven't gone anywhere or done anything, so we actually have money in the HSA. Now we're like, 'uh... what do we do with this money if we still have it in December? New glasses for everybody?'"
DarkSaviour18 said:
"Smartphones in general. They made it less modular and more disposable. It's like you're forced to change your phone every two years, even when the only problem is a battery which in the past is removable and can easily be replaced."
PauloFernandez replied:
"I feel I have this problem less if I avoid the industry giants (Samsung, Apple). Motorola and Nokia used to be big in cell phones but not so much anymore and have made my two favorite smartphones I've ever had."
"Girl Scout cookies. I remember people whining when I sold them back in the day when they were $2.50 a box. Now they’re what... $5/box?!? And not nearly as tasty as they used to be IMO."
Been waiting for someone to mention Gorl Scout cookies. I sold them in 1960’s for $2/box! Smaller and fewer in a box now….. it’s a disgrace
ahjteam said:
"This coming from an avid Apple user: Apple computers. I’d rather take 1cm extra thickness and more ports than using a hub for EVERYTHING."
95percentconfident replied:
"For sure. This obsession with slim and light bothers me. If I wanted slim and light I would have bought an air. I need a laptop that I can travel with, is sufficiently powerful to run the programs I need for work, can connect to a projector, external HD, charge, and maybe plug in an SD card all at the same time, and seamlessly interface with our cluster which runs linux. The MacBook pro ending around 2015 was as close to perfect as you can get for an off-the-shelf laptop."
badmangoodguy said:
"Big Macs. That burger 'patty' is a stones throw away from being a slice of roast beef."
GrizzlyEagleScout replied:
"Just order a double quarter and ask them to make it like a Big Mac. It’s more expensive but the quality goes up.
I work at McDonalds."
"Reese's peanut butter cups.
Their "Big Cup" is basically the size of their original cup for double the price.
Also it tastes different. I remember as a kid the original peanut butter cups came in those 4 packs and you could individually peel away the chocolate from the peanut butter. Like, part of the game for me was to try to peel back the chocolate so all I had was an intact peanut butter disc.
Can't do that anymore. The chocolate is super thin and has no 'snap' to it. It's just mush."
"Wood.
Wood is getting worst because old growth makes the best building lumber, but of course if you cut down all the old trees there are no more old trees to cut down."
I get all my wood at no charge from trees that people are taking down. Not all are old growth (30-50 rings per inch) but none are plantation grown (5-10 rings per inch). Get in good with a few tree cutting companies and you can get all the white oak, walnut, cherry, and maple you want. The sawyer charges $85 US and hour but we can mill an average size tree in about 3 hours which includes slabs, quartersawn, and some dimensional lumber.
Pbackrider said:
"Anything EA."
pumpkinpatch212 replied:
"As a Sims player I came here to say this. The base game is so watered down and you have to buy expansions to even make it bearable and similar to previous sims generations."
"Car parts."
You can still find things (relatively) reasonable price wise but you really need to shop. The stuff you buy on the corner is, by and large, overpriced junk. They know that they have by the short and curlies because you need it now but if you can plan out a repair you can get decent deals online and lots of places include delivery. Of course that is if you aren't ordering a fuel tank.
-LeatherWhip- said:
"Netflix."
littleallred008 replied:
"If you’re the one providing the ten other people with the account."
I find it frustrating that so much of most of the content on all these platforms requires you to rent or buy what you want to see. What am I paying a monthly fee for? My favorite is the offer of renting the movie for the same price as buying it.
"Disney Theme Parks. (Speaking pre Covid world)
They were better when you could do an entire park in a day, cost much less, like $40 vs whatever the insane price is now, and they limited who could get in.
Universal is the same way, specifically Halloween Horror nights. It was $15 the first time I went, they capped how many tickets they sold and you had time to do every house plus a couple of rides. It was my favorite and we would go every year. Now? It's like $70 for a ticket, you have to buy fast pass for another $30 or $40 just so you have a chance to do every house because the lines can literally be hours long because they don't cap ticket sales and they recycle the same houses but pretend it's a new theme. It's so miserable we stopped going."
I have lost any interest in ever going there because of crowds, wait times, and “ influencers” all over the place
"Wendy's
In 1999, I could get a delicious, juicy double cheeseburger combo for $5.15. Now, I can get a dry, squished thing and like 5 french fries for $9."
Bonzos_bathroom said:
"College education in the US."
Mistes replied:
"Honestly this is a great point. My dad paid off his school year with a summer job, I pay off one year with ~5 years of work and gradual repayment with interest.
There's the perspective that online learning is just as good, which can be a fair point to make sometimes but with the price of education staying the same even for these online courses, a comparison is to be made - will the teachers be as integrated with their students? What of an intimate classroom setting where you get to view the reactions of your peers and have a fluid conversation? I think it will depend on the class whether it can be done effectively, but I don't think it's worth $50,000 per year. Access to the same facilities, resources, etc... is definitely lacking with online learning.
Education has also predominately become a business, and for many institutions this way of business has degraded at the quality of education as dollars are stowed to pay the higher ranked staff. I can't say more money isn't better, but there are diminishing returns."
"Coca cola
No real sugar, just hfcs, a shrinkflation has hit soda pretty hard. All candy kinda s*cks more and you get less."
"Smarties. Never been right since they got rid of all the artificial colours. Better for you, I'm sure, but chemical blue was the best flavour."
I've never noticed a difference in the taste of the colours.... The chocolate in these is awful though, I much prefer M&M's chocolate over Smarties chocolate!
Aero222 said:
"I remember the donuts at dunkin donuts to be bigger and cheaper."
ALoudMeow replied:
"And there was a huge selection of flavors every day!"
I used to love their toasted coconut donut...now it's just a dry plain donut covered with u toasted, chewy coconut.
"Pokemon games."
I haven't enjoyed a pokemon game since black and white. I know they're trying to cater to kids, but the games are so easy and there's just so much extra c**p in them that it distracts you from the main game. I came to catch 'em all. Not play barbie dress up.
ushouldcmoiinacrown said:
"People outside the UK probably won't care but... the Christmas tins of Quality Street."
sonlovesbrolicky replied:
"Canadian here, yes we do care. When quality streets go on clearance after Christmas, I stock up so I have some last until the following Christmas (not that they last until then)"
nahgem_ said:
"Panera Bread."
Armyofducks94 replied:
"Have not eaten there since they got rid of my favorite sandwich. It’s now overpriced, cheap made hospital food."
"BMW relative to it's competition over the years.
If you've been in a BMW from 2012 to 2021, you can really see how antiquidated they've become. Standard steering wheel is just a big hunk of plastic. No touch screens, the software is a mess. Vents look old. Horse power, the thing is anemic compared to cars tens of thousands cheaper. The car has extremely high maintenance cost, and has an insane starting price. 320i is a 180 HP hot piece of sh*t. They depreciate so fast, you could get better performance and build quality out of a Honda/Toyota. The sad thing is, the Kia Stinger is holding it's value better, and you get a 6 cylinder engine with more horse power."
Does anyone actually WANT a touchscreen in their car? And if-so, why? It seems like the worst possible choice for a HMI.
BlueKnightBrownHorse said:
"My university education, specifically this year.
They are raising tuition AND fall semester has no in-person sessions."
Benjammn replied:
"I don't envy college students during this crisis. I would be pissed, especially if I had a major dependant on university facilities (labs, etc.). I honestly would highly consider a gap year (or two)."
"Prague. I went earlier this year, it feels like Disneyland with the amount of tourists and tourist traps, and it isn't really cheap anymore compared with other cities in Europe.
I visited Poland (Gdansk and Wroclaw) twice last year and enjoyed those trips a lot more."
"Authentic Mexican Restaurants. I remember going the first year and having so much meat in the tacos/entrees. Then next thing you know the prices going up and the meat quantity going down. I'm calling you out Mi Casita in NC!"
I'm lucky to live in the Bay Area, California where there are great taquerias all over, and with so many around the prices are relatively low.
Grandpa got the clap in his 60's. Grandma was not amused.
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