The cost of living continues to soar in many places across the world. For example, the typical American household spent $709 more in July than it did two years ago to buy the same goods and services.
Interested in what drives this number, Reddit user Just_Some_Troglodyte made a post on the platform, asking everyone, "What is horribly overpriced?" It immediately went viral, and as of now, has over 5.7K replies. From groceries to funerals, here are the most popular ones.
#1
Groceries
It is so stupidly expensive to buy groceries right now. Even if I just need a small list, specifically for the dinner I’m making that evening, it’s always $50–$75. I feel like in the past two years, groceries have skyrocketed.
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364points
#3
Gasoline. So sick of hearing about record profits by oil companies almost every quarter.
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191points
#4
Concert tickets.
Ticketmaster gave me a $75 service fee. Why does it cost $75 for you to send me a digital ticket when these venues are probably paying them to sell their tickets anyway?
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186points
#5
Diamonds. Contrary to popular belief, they’re not a rare gemstone and their perceived value is almost entirely artificial.
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167points
#6
Subscription plans.
Five dollars per month doesn't sound so bad, until there are 10 of those you have to use, and every one of them has an 'ultra-premium' tier for 10 dollars that has all of the feature things you actually care about.
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164points
#7
Anything for weddings. If you say "wedding" to any vendor or business, the prices go way up. It's ridiculous.
Me and my fiancé are trying to plan a cheap wedding. Yeah, we are going with the eloping idea right now.
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150points
#9
Women's self-care/cosmetic products. It's the same exact stuff as men's just with a different smell, but it costs SO much more. Don't believe me, read the ingredients.
142points
#10
Airbnbs are through the roof. I used to get great deals for under $100 for nice places. Now, it's impossible to find something decent under $200.
When I was a lowly unpaid government intern in 2017 in another state, I really wanted to explore. I managed to find so many $20–$25 Airbnbs. They were rooms in people's actual houses or their basements, and so many of them made me dinner. Now, it's $130 a night for a literal shed in Kansas and another $150 for a bullshit cleaning fee. No thanks, I'll sleep in my fucking car.
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137points
#11
Funerals
Mortician here. Go to a privately owned family mortuary. They actually give a shit most of the time about what families want and are generally more flexible than corporate mortuaries. Private mortuaries rely on returning families so they have to do a good job to survive.
NEVER go to an SCI location. I worked for that company for two years too long, and it's astounding how little they cared about people. They had NO issue nickel and diming everyone while doing the bare minimum if that. They regularly buried people without their belongings and never told the families. They had numerous occasions where the body was not ready for a funeral, bodies were used as doorstops, people were put in the wrong urns, etc. They do not care about you and are no better than car salespeople. Family-run mortuaries do what they do because they care.
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131points
#12
McDonalds. It was made to be cheap and fast. Why am I spending close to $5 on fries? That's when I realized corporate greed was getting bad
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121points
#14
Just saw Oppenheimer at 11:00 am on a Sunday. $43 with a popcorn and soda.
This is why I don’t go to the movies. And I have four kids. My three girls want to see the Barbie movie, but I know it would cost a month’s worth of rent to take them all.
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116points
#15
I swear that it would be cheaper to melt some platinum and pour it into a printer cartridge than to buy some regular printer ink.
That's why you need to buy an Epson EcoTank. The ink lasts through literally thousands of pages. I bought one in March 2020, went all the way through school and didn't buy ink again until January 2022. Plus, when you do buy the ink, all four bottles are, like, $50.
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112points
#17
Airport food.
I travel a lot for work. I leave the house at least 2 1/2 hours prior to my flight just to get food before going to the airport. Usually, like a Subway footlong or something that fills me up for half the day. Also, bring your own water bottle.
99points
#18
US healthcare
Yes! Even with insurance, I have a bill for my child’s birth at around $30,000. My OB didn’t even pick up the phone when I went into labor. Nor did her backup. I had to get an emergency C-section, so I was charged accordingly.
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98points
#20
Groceries are insane they go up every week a noticeable amount. I don't know how people on fixed incomes afford to eat.
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91points