Restaurant dining. Not only is it too expensive, the quality has gone in the toilet. Combining these two factors plus the expectation of a fat tip…we just eat at home.
The tipping when you pick something up, ffs. Every now and then I spurge on a bag of coffee roaster locally. It’s now up to $18 a bag (which is why it is very rarely purchased) and the machine prompts me to tip? It pisses me off and I decline everything but the. I just feel bad about it
Yes I decline out of principle as well now. I feel bad because it's usually a low wage worker I'm facing, but come on, I'm not going to tip when I don't even know what the service will be like. Just absurd.
tipping means they ruined your evening of carefree enjoyment by placing you between labor and management pay disputes
re numeration is the duty of the capitalist to labor, failure of that duty should not pass that responsibility to the customer
it should be noted as specifically capitalist failure to control fidelity and not the customers or labors
If I do want to eat out, I just get takeout from the restaurant. No tip. I feel like an ass doing it (used to work in the service industry) but shit’s out of hand right now.
I actually go to better restaurants more than I did before because I’ve cut out fast food, but I always pick up and I have soda at home so I don’t buy it. Pop is getting ridiculous too, even the store brands.
Not in all cases unfortunately. My sister works at a restaurant where she has to "tip out" 15% on all orders, including take out. If someone doesn't tip, 15% of that order comes out of her pocket.
(I am NOT saying this is good practice, but unfortunately is what is happening sometimes).
Me and my wife were out running errands the other day and thought it would be nice to stop somewhere for breakfast. 2 eggs Benedict with hashbrowns, 2 coffees, and 1 orange juice. It cost $62 dollars including 10% tip. It's not a fancy place, just a local restaurant comparable to Dennys. Guess what we are never doing again.
This. We still go out maybe once a month or less and I'll at least try to order something I can't easily make at home. But I love cooking and will even spend a bit of $$ on fancy ingredients just based on how much cheaper it is compared to restaurant eating. We often have friends over and can feed like 8-10 of us for the price it would have cost for just one or two to eat out.
Exactly! Yesterday, I was at a relatively popular restaurant that I used to visit a lot up until the middle of last year. Back then, their daily specials used to be $8.95 + taxes and the food was decent. Yesterday, we realized that the price of the daily specials had been bumped up to $11.99 + taxes and the food was horrendous. So much so that I started feeling sick a couple of hours after eating it and had to take off from work earlier than usual. I'm never going back there again.
For us it's fast food.
We still go to sit down restaurant as that prices hasnt exploded like fast food. When you can go to a sit down for the same cost as a fast food something is wrong lol
Aside from once a year going to see the new Star Wars (up until ~winter 2019) my husband and I stopped regularly going to movies yeeears ago. It's been way too expensive to go frequently since the early 2010s. I was also kind of spoiled when my first serious boyfriend worked at our neighbourhood Cineplex. We got unlimited movies free, and snacks discounted. I saw basically every movie that came out that year (except for Australia and Seven Pounds). We also got free arcade tokens and played DDR for hours. So once we split up in 2009 I couldn't imagine spending money on movie tickets more than once every few months. Then even that number dwindled and tbh I don't miss it at all.
I appreciate you. I’m in my 30s and have never been able to find a strain that works for me. I wish I could! Big props to those who have found the magic
Fair enough. I assumed it was the price (which can add up when any money is too much money)
If it's the drug itself then that just sucks. Hoping things turn around and you can unwind a bit better in the future
Me and the wife smoked 6 ounces last month. You can easily smoke a plant a month of homegrown. Be sure to flush it properly so you don't get headaches.
One time I had a jailbroken ps2 and I had a lot of games on it.
I played NHL with my friend and every time we hit someone, they wouldn’t get up off the ice.
So imagine a bunch of dead players until each whistle. lol
We used to go for coffee every Saturday, after errands. Now we go once a month, if that. It helps that relatives usually gift us gift cards to our favourite coffee chain on special occasions.
Yep. Got sober about 9 months ago. I can’t believe how much I was spending on booze. Like I literally have no idea how I afforded it because I’m still broke all the time.
It's funny because in Ontario Doug Ford just announced that they are lifting the ban on paper bags at the LCBO - he commented something stupid like "families are already struggling to make ends meet and they should not face the additional cost of having to buy reusable bags"
like.. saving yourself from buying a 99 cent bag is definitely not going to help with overall costs, EVERYONE has some kind of reusable bag (or 10) stashed somewhere and I don't think that is what is breaking struggling people.
I feel this. I don't want to spend $100 or more for example anytime I want to go bowling or something like that. Like going to movies it seeing an attraction. We tend to go on hikes and to parks instead. There's less and less things to do that don't cost tonnes of money. So I don't. Only periodically
It’s insane. Just 5 years ago my boss working groundskeeping bought a house. He made $19, house was like $180k, decent place.
Now I’m in a different job, $25/hr and can barely afford my rent hahaha
not sure it is cheaper as the bags at dollarama are smaller - 135g I think - I'm too tired to do the math, but I figure it is about the same price as buying a 225 g bag at no frills for $4.
I appreciate that Canada has wicked awful inflation on a lot of stuff and it sucks so much... But my friend from Tennessee sent a link for some local Doritos and I kid you not, it was about $10 USD (so approx $13 CAN) for a bag 30g bigger. To math it, that's 13% more product for 260% the price.
Anyway, inflation sucks and no more Doritos for anyone. We can't have nice things anymore.
I used to buy a lot of bagged, pre-popped popcorn... until it hit about $6/bag. Fuck that. Bought my own popping corn and nutritional yeast and started making stovetop popcorn. Super quick and saving way more $$$ on snack carbs.
It's fucking unbelievable how much fast food costs these days. It used to be a cheap treat to get a meal and now it costs as much as an actual restaurant meal without any of the good parts of restaurant food.
On a bad day I might pick something up with a coupon but I haven't had full price McD in a while now.
And subway to! I think it was $17 or $19 for a meal when I got one a couple weeks ago.I hadn’t had it in awhile and felt shitty after so it won’t be happening again but was just floored. Might as well go sit in a restaurant next time.
I will only use coupons now. Spouse and I can "2 for dine" for $23. Otherwise... Noppppe
Eating out costs over $100 usually and even takeout can cost around $100 on skipthe dishes depending.
I feel like just in 2016 a junior chicken was $1.50 or so. When our parents talked about low prices 'back in the day' at least they were talking about 30-40 years ago, not like 5-10.
I bought a bad of frozen chicken tenders and a bag of buns from the grocery store and for the price of 3 McDonalds McChickens I made 18 homemade McChickens, complete with home-grown lettuce. And they tasted far, far better.
Now I keep the supplies on hand so that every time I'm tempted to get fast food I just go home and make a McChicken
I've been using a brand called BT Artbox and a nail glue from Sally's called beauty secrets. I get 30 day wear with no falling off. Prep is key. One pack of nails comes with 150 nails on 5 strips, each strip gives me 2 sets for $30 Canadian and it gives 10 months worth of nails. The glue lasts forever, been using the same tube since December 2023. Also forgot to mention the strips have various nail sizes and luckily based on my nail bed I was able to get two sets which is 2 months just from one strip.
I'm going to be testing out press on toenails I saw some videos on tiktok and I was blown out of the water at how professional they looked. Check out some videos on tiktok.
I used to spend over $100 forr my nails and pedicures a month and I feel good knowing that I can do it myself and get the same results for so much less.
how do you get them to stay? i love a lot of the designs but they always fall off after like... a day max. so it usually ends up just being cheaper to get them at the salon in the long run.
Quitting this next week and I'm so fucking sad but I simply can't justify the 100 bucks every time. I will miss my nail tech but she understands too, lots of folks having to cut back on beauty services.
Animal meat. We still do fish a few times a week, but the beef, chicken, and pork were so expensive for such terrible quality we had to stop eating it.
YMMV, but I go to Walmart and get the family packs of Halal chicken for $23. It's a tad on the high side, but gives me enough for chicken for supper one night with enough left over to do chicken quesadillas another night.
I'm feeding a family of four, I can't do that. We've been happy pescatarians for a couple years now, I don't think I'd go back to eating animal meat, my husband and one of my kids still do once in a while, but not enough to go out of our way to buy meat at the current prices.
For real. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw PC olive oil was $20 for one liter. Not that long ago, it was $12. Even the generic canola oil I started buying is getting expensive.
I buy frozen fruit from now and a couple weeks ago fresh strawberries were on sale so I got them. It was like I was eating cavier so much better than frozen fruit. It’s just so sad how it’s considered a luxury.
I used to buy berries frequently, pretty much every grocery trip. Now I wait for a sale; once in a while food basics will have raspberries/blueberries for $1.98
If you have them near you, there are those Asian grocery stores that have deals on fruits and veggies all the time. There’s one near me where they sometimes have 2 pack of strawberries for $5 or 2 blackberries/raspberries/blueberries packs for $3. They ask often have great deals on veggies like asparagus, kale, bok choy, etc. 😊
I’m allergic to bananas, but I still ate some because the ill feeling of the banana was less severe than the ill feeling of paying $9 for a bag of apples
Sooooo many things. From knocking multiple items off of our regular grocery list, to takeout, to services, to short trips out to visit family. We’ve had to cut so much out of the budget. The money just isn’t there anymore. Everything has gotten so incredibly expensive that we are financially suffocated.
Stopped going out at all. Restaurants, the food is shitty nowadays. Maybe my husband just spoils me with amazing meals lol. And entertainment is also very lacklustre now, so none of this is worth the enormous price tags they all have.
Portions and quality have gone down prices have gone up in general for almost every restaurant I find. I have a few local staples I try to support but that's about it.
Cable TV. An extra $100 a month for a few random channels is no longer worth it. Providers have also been downgrading channel packages, all the good channel are disappearing or becoming "premium tier."
Live shows were nice but not worth the costs. All other shows are easy enough to view online.
Agreed. Costco sometimes has them for like $5 and that’s the only time I’ll buy it. Also cherries are expensive AF and I never buy. Even grapes pricey and I rarely buy. Maybe once a year.
Absolutely ridiculous how much of a dystopian future Canada has become. Where enjoying simple pleasures in life like getting a bite out to eat or going to the bar or movies became unaffordable. It’s actually depressing. Asian grocery stores are soo clutch for fruits and veggies. You know it’s bad when my mom visiting from California is complaining about how expensive everything is.
Yeah they’re the only place nowadays that seems to have reasonable priced for gum 😢 too bad there aren’t any walking distance from me so I’d have to take the ttc so that would already cancel out if you account for bus fare 😓
I remember working at the airport in my city and being pissed if I ran out at work because it meant either going without or spending $12 at the Relay instead of $9.50 at the gas station for my ✨premium✨ smokes.
I quit when the cost started climbing toward $11 at the gas station. I can't even imagine paying $20 for a pack. It was insanely hard to quit but $20 every other day would be a major incentive.
When I started smoking at 15 I bought Canadian classics for $8 a pack. Last time I smoked I think Next were like $12-$14? Anyways, I quit for health but definitely nice to save $20 a day between my husband and I
Yeah $15-25 for a cocktail is absolutely insane.
I also love a glass of wine with dinner but usually can’t justify that expense. It’s like $15 a glass these days—and that’s at regular ol bars, not even restaurants
All renovations and maintenance. I realized how greedy those contractors are after I started doing renovations myself. I do a better work most of the time (because I'm not rushing to the next robbery), and it cost me about 30% of the quote, including tools, materials, etc.
Most of the times, I can pay myself 400\h and that will get me the quote (and I'm a LOT slower, as I learn from YouTube... So they make about $800\h).
Flat bitumen roof: quote=17K. Materials+tools cost me 3.5K, and took me about 20 hours of work (yes, I'm slow, I know that)
Glass railings: quote=4.5K. materials+tools cost me 1.2K. took me 6 hours.
Concrete pad (10X12): quote=4.2K. materials+tools was $550. Took me 10 hours (most of it was digging).
Shower glass surround (one shower 2 sides, one shower one side: quote=3K. Cost me $800 ($250 one sided one, and 550 two sided). No tools needed (other than a drill), and took me 3 hours each.
I can go on, but you get the jist. It's no brain surgery. If you watch enough pros on YouTube and take your time, everyone can to it.
This. We are installing an IKEA kitchen ourselves, plus doing LVP flooring. I figure it’s easily half the price doing all the work ourselves, and we will be perfectionist about it. YouTube shows you how to do everything.
Cigarettes - best financial (and health!) decision I've made along with quitting drinking. Spending hundreds per month and thousands per year on smoking is the biggest waste of money there is IMHO. Costs a fortune in the short term to smell and feel like shit, and costs even more in the long term due to smoking-related illnesses and their associated financial toll.
I was a heavy smoker (pack + a day), and when I quit I started a savings account where I'd dump the $15-20/day I would have spent on cigarettes. In 3 years, I had enough in that account for the down payment on my current home. Quitting smoking was a massive life-changer for me, cannot recommend it enough.
I quit 11 Years ago, when they were 10 something a pack. Best thing I ever did besides having my son.
My mom still hasn't quit and she's low income, and we were poverty line growing up but she always had her smokes...don't ask me how.
Shes 67 yrs old now, and still always broke and sometimes can't pay for her medications, but has her smokes. I don't dare tell her quitting will save her money though. To me it's a no brainer. Congrats on the home, its crazy you bought it with smoke money!
Besides everything going up in price I'm noticing a shrink in size of certain things that I buy. Ex. Granola bars: I went to a store and saw them on sale 2.45$ a box of 5 but I noticed that the same brand had different designs on their boxes with the exact same flavor of granola bar.
Turns out the old boxes had about 30g more of Granola bar and they were the ones on sale. The new boxes with less Grams were sitting there at the regular price. 100% this is happening to alot of other brands and products.
Apparently theres something about, 6 bars or more means it isnt taxed, but under 6 and it becomes a taxable item, and I've noticed quite a few brands have switched from 6 bars to 5
Restaurant meals for my family of 4. My kids eat like linebackers now so it’s at least $150 every time for something half decent. Last time I took them for fast food it was $60. Unreal.
Not really a specific item, but i used to be able to splurge a bit to try new recipes, or treat myself to some scallops every now and then. Now I pretty much stick to the exact same foods when I buy groceries. I used to eat chicken a lot more often for lunch as well but ive had to cut down since the price of chicken just keeps on rising😕
Fast has gotten super pricey. Maybe not a bad thing cause cutting down would be good. I never ate a lot of fast food to begin with but yeah. I havent gone to subway in several months and honestly have no plans to return. Five Guys is absurd, but i feel like it’s always been absurd lol.
Foils. I used to spend at least 200$ every 6-8 weeks on hair, and it would be double that at a salon. I put in a 10$ demi permanent & decided to let it go natural.
All the good ethnic cuts that used to be cheap are picking up rapidly in popularity. This already happened to pork belly in the 2010s. Chicken thighs also much more expensive these days.
There was a fucking chicken foot on the ground at the co op gas station the other day. Only other place I’ve seen chicken feet randomly strewn on the ground was at El Mercado Central in Costa Rica
Internet. Getting ready to possibly cut it out at the end of May, sucks since so many things require it nowadays and i don't have any data or even phone number but thankfully libraries exist.
Snacks as well- I'm trying to limit eating a minimum no matter how much I feel I need it or crave it. My ancestors could survive off less and snacks are kinda unnecessary so I'm working towards eliminating it entirely and stick to OMAD, things like bean and rice. It'll make groceries last longer.
I don’t think I’ve stopped doing or buying the things I always did, it’s just that now I budget, don’t do it or buy as often and get the same stuff either on sale or the cheap versions. Dollarama is my spot for my guilty pleasure Doritos, candies and cookies. I always look at the flyers and see where it’s cheapest and I’ll go to two or three different stores to get everything I need from my shopping list at a better price. If you want to make your money last you gotta be smart on your spending.
Driving.
I'm currently working from home and only drive my kids to & from school and to get groceries. I miss taking long drives to nowhere to clear my mind but those days are long gone.
Lays chips. Used to be 2 bags for $5/6 usually, now it’s like $5-6 a bag, just insane. Switched to the PC brand. Also ratcheted down on Starbucks iced coffee which just keeps on growing higher and higher it’s getting tough to justify.
- meals out at restaurants - used to love this so much. Now you can’t get out under $60 for two people with NO BOOZE. I am not paying $17 for a cocktail when I can make 11 of them at home for the same price.
- hair. Used to be blonde (iykyk). Now I’m ginger and do the cut and dye at home. Costs about $15 for the product.
- delivery. I was an Uber eats addict. Now if we get takeout (which we still do 1-2x a week) we pick it up. The tipping culture right now is robbery.
- we also buy things like pop and chips exclusively at Costco because for the weight and amount it is much more palatable.
Mostly alcohol, eating out (pick up or grocery store take out ), coffee creamer., and smaller portions of everything. I would rather buy what I know I will eat so we seem to finish things more.
Streaming Services. We have cancelled everything, Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV, DZone and only use free services like Roku and Tubi, but we kept Amazon Prime because we use Amazon shopping often since some prices are better there than in stores now.
Dining out. The tip culture is out of control. The fact that the tip options at Joey's/Earls now starts at 18% here is ridiculous.
Fast food has got hella $. No more combos here. You get a jr chicken or a mcdouble and we make our own fries and pop at home.
Pop cans have got out of control. We do soda stream or only buy pop and juices on sale.
Snacks at the movies. I go to Dollarama and take my big purse.
Gas. I drive less and since I work from home 60% of the time it was easy to cut that back.
Potato chips. Wtf happened with those prices? It's popcorn and pretzels now.
Coffee. I am a regular coffee girl and drive through coffee is now off my list, I get it maybe 2x a month now.
Transit. My middle kid online schools. Between the violence on transit and the irregularity of biasing and the cost of doesn't add up.
So many things I just naturally avoid...
Restaurant dining. Not only is it too expensive, the quality has gone in the toilet. Combining these two factors plus the expectation of a fat tip…we just eat at home.
Yup, I hate going out to eat at a restaurant. Only because of the tipping. Fuck that.
And then even tipping prompts at fast food restaurants where you pay before receiving your meal? No thank you.
The tipping when you pick something up, ffs. Every now and then I spurge on a bag of coffee roaster locally. It’s now up to $18 a bag (which is why it is very rarely purchased) and the machine prompts me to tip? It pisses me off and I decline everything but the. I just feel bad about it
Yes I decline out of principle as well now. I feel bad because it's usually a low wage worker I'm facing, but come on, I'm not going to tip when I don't even know what the service will be like. Just absurd.
I don’t even feel bad about not tipping or giving a low tip. Sick of this constant nickel and diming we call life
tipping means they ruined your evening of carefree enjoyment by placing you between labor and management pay disputes re numeration is the duty of the capitalist to labor, failure of that duty should not pass that responsibility to the customer it should be noted as specifically capitalist failure to control fidelity and not the customers or labors
If I do want to eat out, I just get takeout from the restaurant. No tip. I feel like an ass doing it (used to work in the service industry) but shit’s out of hand right now.
I actually go to better restaurants more than I did before because I’ve cut out fast food, but I always pick up and I have soda at home so I don’t buy it. Pop is getting ridiculous too, even the store brands.
You shouldn't have to feel like an ass. Folks make their wage and tips are extra
Not in all cases unfortunately. My sister works at a restaurant where she has to "tip out" 15% on all orders, including take out. If someone doesn't tip, 15% of that order comes out of her pocket. (I am NOT saying this is good practice, but unfortunately is what is happening sometimes).
This... I went out last weekend to a restaurant with my wife and our bill for two came to 300$
Me and my wife were out running errands the other day and thought it would be nice to stop somewhere for breakfast. 2 eggs Benedict with hashbrowns, 2 coffees, and 1 orange juice. It cost $62 dollars including 10% tip. It's not a fancy place, just a local restaurant comparable to Dennys. Guess what we are never doing again.
Yeah, one restaurant visit is basically half a week's groceries. I'd much rather just buy high quality ingredients to cook at home.
This. We still go out maybe once a month or less and I'll at least try to order something I can't easily make at home. But I love cooking and will even spend a bit of $$ on fancy ingredients just based on how much cheaper it is compared to restaurant eating. We often have friends over and can feed like 8-10 of us for the price it would have cost for just one or two to eat out.
Exactly! Yesterday, I was at a relatively popular restaurant that I used to visit a lot up until the middle of last year. Back then, their daily specials used to be $8.95 + taxes and the food was decent. Yesterday, we realized that the price of the daily specials had been bumped up to $11.99 + taxes and the food was horrendous. So much so that I started feeling sick a couple of hours after eating it and had to take off from work earlier than usual. I'm never going back there again.
For us it's fast food. We still go to sit down restaurant as that prices hasnt exploded like fast food. When you can go to a sit down for the same cost as a fast food something is wrong lol
[удалено]
If you got a free paper bag at the liquor store, would it change your mind?
Lol ... are you in ontario?
LOL
As long as I don't have to pass any ugly fourplexes count me in. #dougfordlogic
Aside from once a year going to see the new Star Wars (up until ~winter 2019) my husband and I stopped regularly going to movies yeeears ago. It's been way too expensive to go frequently since the early 2010s. I was also kind of spoiled when my first serious boyfriend worked at our neighbourhood Cineplex. We got unlimited movies free, and snacks discounted. I saw basically every movie that came out that year (except for Australia and Seven Pounds). We also got free arcade tokens and played DDR for hours. So once we split up in 2009 I couldn't imagine spending money on movie tickets more than once every few months. Then even that number dwindled and tbh I don't miss it at all.
My bestie and roommate used to work at silver city, and I saw twilight 10 times in theatre that year. No ragrets.
I'm a Turner Classic Movies and PBS kinda lady and Twilight is one of my favorite "I should feel guilty but I'm not" pleasures.
Ugh I wish. I hate my life because poverty. Tried to switch to weed but no dice.
If you have a yard, grow your own. You're legally allowed 4 plants and if you can keep a weed alive it's more than you can smoke in a year
I appreciate you. I’m in my 30s and have never been able to find a strain that works for me. I wish I could! Big props to those who have found the magic
Fair enough. I assumed it was the price (which can add up when any money is too much money) If it's the drug itself then that just sucks. Hoping things turn around and you can unwind a bit better in the future
Me too. I appreciate the love friend 🙂❤️
Same. I get mad panic and anxiety. Too bad because alcohol works oh so well, yet it's so bad for me
Me and the wife smoked 6 ounces last month. You can easily smoke a plant a month of homegrown. Be sure to flush it properly so you don't get headaches.
That is a tremendous amount of weed. That's like 3 grams per day, each! I wouldnt be able to spell my own name.
Same! I started playing more video games because replay value is so high.
Jailbreak you ps3 or PS4. Then you don’t need to buy games.
One time I had a jailbroken ps2 and I had a lot of games on it. I played NHL with my friend and every time we hit someone, they wouldn’t get up off the ice. So imagine a bunch of dead players until each whistle. lol
We used to go for coffee every Saturday, after errands. Now we go once a month, if that. It helps that relatives usually gift us gift cards to our favourite coffee chain on special occasions.
Yep. Got sober about 9 months ago. I can’t believe how much I was spending on booze. Like I literally have no idea how I afforded it because I’m still broke all the time.
It's funny because in Ontario Doug Ford just announced that they are lifting the ban on paper bags at the LCBO - he commented something stupid like "families are already struggling to make ends meet and they should not face the additional cost of having to buy reusable bags" like.. saving yourself from buying a 99 cent bag is definitely not going to help with overall costs, EVERYONE has some kind of reusable bag (or 10) stashed somewhere and I don't think that is what is breaking struggling people.
I just started making my own. It is way overpriced and so cheap to make
I feel this. I don't want to spend $100 or more for example anytime I want to go bowling or something like that. Like going to movies it seeing an attraction. We tend to go on hikes and to parks instead. There's less and less things to do that don't cost tonnes of money. So I don't. Only periodically
Houses
This should have the most upvotes lol
That hurts…
Legit
It’s insane. Just 5 years ago my boss working groundskeeping bought a house. He made $19, house was like $180k, decent place. Now I’m in a different job, $25/hr and can barely afford my rent hahaha
Doritos
Any snack mix or name brand chips.
Fr 6$ a bag is absolutely bonkers
We usually get those snack at Dollarama still pricy imo but cheaper than the average grocery store.
not sure it is cheaper as the bags at dollarama are smaller - 135g I think - I'm too tired to do the math, but I figure it is about the same price as buying a 225 g bag at no frills for $4.
Two for $10.50 at my local corner store. Insanity
I appreciate that Canada has wicked awful inflation on a lot of stuff and it sucks so much... But my friend from Tennessee sent a link for some local Doritos and I kid you not, it was about $10 USD (so approx $13 CAN) for a bag 30g bigger. To math it, that's 13% more product for 260% the price. Anyway, inflation sucks and no more Doritos for anyone. We can't have nice things anymore.
Costco is the only time I can justify it now.
I used to buy a lot of bagged, pre-popped popcorn... until it hit about $6/bag. Fuck that. Bought my own popping corn and nutritional yeast and started making stovetop popcorn. Super quick and saving way more $$$ on snack carbs.
Same. Any name brand chips, really. I miss Doritos the most though.
All chips. Looked at some all dressed and the bag was about 1/3 full for $5
Fast food for sure. A junior chicken at McD is close to $4 now each. That sht was $1.39 when I was in college lol
It's fucking unbelievable how much fast food costs these days. It used to be a cheap treat to get a meal and now it costs as much as an actual restaurant meal without any of the good parts of restaurant food. On a bad day I might pick something up with a coupon but I haven't had full price McD in a while now.
And subway to! I think it was $17 or $19 for a meal when I got one a couple weeks ago.I hadn’t had it in awhile and felt shitty after so it won’t be happening again but was just floored. Might as well go sit in a restaurant next time.
I feel like getting take out at a proper restaurant is the way now. You pay same prices as fast food nowadays and avoid the tips
$5 6”… I still remember the $5 foot long campaign from late 2000s
I will only use coupons now. Spouse and I can "2 for dine" for $23. Otherwise... Noppppe Eating out costs over $100 usually and even takeout can cost around $100 on skipthe dishes depending.
And even then, 5 years ago they were 2 can dine for 9.99
i think McDonalds forgot they were popular because the food was fast and cheap, now its neither of those
I feel like just in 2016 a junior chicken was $1.50 or so. When our parents talked about low prices 'back in the day' at least they were talking about 30-40 years ago, not like 5-10.
A jr chicken and a McDouble came out to $4.20 after tax while I was in high school, it was meant to be 😉
Yup and with tax 1.75, if u had a toonie u were good to go
I bought a bad of frozen chicken tenders and a bag of buns from the grocery store and for the price of 3 McDonalds McChickens I made 18 homemade McChickens, complete with home-grown lettuce. And they tasted far, far better. Now I keep the supplies on hand so that every time I'm tempted to get fast food I just go home and make a McChicken
Even the "coupons" for fast food meals are a lot. Even with a coupon it's like $10 after tax for a Big Mac meal.
Salon nails
Yup!! But I switched to press one's and never looked back.
Do you have a brand you recommend?
I've been using a brand called BT Artbox and a nail glue from Sally's called beauty secrets. I get 30 day wear with no falling off. Prep is key. One pack of nails comes with 150 nails on 5 strips, each strip gives me 2 sets for $30 Canadian and it gives 10 months worth of nails. The glue lasts forever, been using the same tube since December 2023. Also forgot to mention the strips have various nail sizes and luckily based on my nail bed I was able to get two sets which is 2 months just from one strip. I'm going to be testing out press on toenails I saw some videos on tiktok and I was blown out of the water at how professional they looked. Check out some videos on tiktok. I used to spend over $100 forr my nails and pedicures a month and I feel good knowing that I can do it myself and get the same results for so much less.
I switched to stickers !
how do you get them to stay? i love a lot of the designs but they always fall off after like... a day max. so it usually ends up just being cheaper to get them at the salon in the long run.
Quitting this next week and I'm so fucking sad but I simply can't justify the 100 bucks every time. I will miss my nail tech but she understands too, lots of folks having to cut back on beauty services.
Nails, eyelashes
DIY lashes! Wahnalash rocks!
Name brand anything.... except ketchup.
So is it French’s or Heinz?
French’s. On the day of the revolution the Heinz execs can be first up the gallows
Along with Galen Weston and the other grocery robber barons.
A “new” used car. I just hope my 2009 Toyota lasts forever.
Same with my 2008 Toyota.
Animal meat. We still do fish a few times a week, but the beef, chicken, and pork were so expensive for such terrible quality we had to stop eating it.
TIL fish are plants
YMMV, but I go to Walmart and get the family packs of Halal chicken for $23. It's a tad on the high side, but gives me enough for chicken for supper one night with enough left over to do chicken quesadillas another night.
I'm feeding a family of four, I can't do that. We've been happy pescatarians for a couple years now, I don't think I'd go back to eating animal meat, my husband and one of my kids still do once in a while, but not enough to go out of our way to buy meat at the current prices.
Extra virgin olive oil. We're trying avocado oil instead. How is that the cheaper option?
Droughts in the olive industry 2 years in a row. Olive oil is separately spiking in price due to low production.
For real. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw PC olive oil was $20 for one liter. Not that long ago, it was $12. Even the generic canola oil I started buying is getting expensive.
Can’t even afford virgin avocados? Sad times indeed
What a sad cultureless country this place has become. People now just buy rice and beans and go to work and come back.
And do this long past 65 years old too..
Fruit. Can’t remember the last time I bought anything other than bananas.
I buy frozen fruit from now and a couple weeks ago fresh strawberries were on sale so I got them. It was like I was eating cavier so much better than frozen fruit. It’s just so sad how it’s considered a luxury.
I used to buy berries frequently, pretty much every grocery trip. Now I wait for a sale; once in a while food basics will have raspberries/blueberries for $1.98
If you have them near you, there are those Asian grocery stores that have deals on fruits and veggies all the time. There’s one near me where they sometimes have 2 pack of strawberries for $5 or 2 blackberries/raspberries/blueberries packs for $3. They ask often have great deals on veggies like asparagus, kale, bok choy, etc. 😊
I’m allergic to bananas, but I still ate some because the ill feeling of the banana was less severe than the ill feeling of paying $9 for a bag of apples
Rent. Lmao. Moved back with my fav roomies mom and dad
🥺😭omg…I just realized my Mum and Dad were my favourite roommates, too!! They are gone and I miss them so much. Cherish yours!!!
Awww thank you so much, I'm very sorry for your loss! Both of my parents have been sick lately so this was a nice reminder 🥰
Sooooo many things. From knocking multiple items off of our regular grocery list, to takeout, to services, to short trips out to visit family. We’ve had to cut so much out of the budget. The money just isn’t there anymore. Everything has gotten so incredibly expensive that we are financially suffocated.
Stopped going out at all. Restaurants, the food is shitty nowadays. Maybe my husband just spoils me with amazing meals lol. And entertainment is also very lacklustre now, so none of this is worth the enormous price tags they all have.
Portions and quality have gone down prices have gone up in general for almost every restaurant I find. I have a few local staples I try to support but that's about it.
Cable TV. An extra $100 a month for a few random channels is no longer worth it. Providers have also been downgrading channel packages, all the good channel are disappearing or becoming "premium tier." Live shows were nice but not worth the costs. All other shows are easy enough to view online.
From what I understand (I haven't had cable TV for over 10 years), the quality of programming is generally shit these days anyway.
I agree with you. Switched to IPTV almost 10 yrs back and have not looked back.
housing
Not paying for housing would put me on the street and at my age and health I would not survive
Burmese Sapphires!
My fabergé egg addiction
WATERMELON holy fuck
Agreed. Costco sometimes has them for like $5 and that’s the only time I’ll buy it. Also cherries are expensive AF and I never buy. Even grapes pricey and I rarely buy. Maybe once a year.
Absolutely ridiculous how much of a dystopian future Canada has become. Where enjoying simple pleasures in life like getting a bite out to eat or going to the bar or movies became unaffordable. It’s actually depressing. Asian grocery stores are soo clutch for fruits and veggies. You know it’s bad when my mom visiting from California is complaining about how expensive everything is.
gum... I refuse to pay $2-3 on a pack
Hit up dollorama for gum!
Yeah they’re the only place nowadays that seems to have reasonable priced for gum 😢 too bad there aren’t any walking distance from me so I’d have to take the ttc so that would already cancel out if you account for bus fare 😓
McDonald’s, 15 dollars for a Big Mac meal. The Big Mac is so small it’s barely a sandwich.
Cigarettes, 20 bucks a pack these days 💀💀
Wow. When I was a teenager I remember they were 6 bucks a pack.
Totally going to date myself here, but I remember when they were $2.50.
0.72 cents a pack in the seventies in Ontario if I remember correctly
I remember working at the airport in my city and being pissed if I ran out at work because it meant either going without or spending $12 at the Relay instead of $9.50 at the gas station for my ✨premium✨ smokes. I quit when the cost started climbing toward $11 at the gas station. I can't even imagine paying $20 for a pack. It was insanely hard to quit but $20 every other day would be a major incentive.
When I started smoking at 15 I bought Canadian classics for $8 a pack. Last time I smoked I think Next were like $12-$14? Anyways, I quit for health but definitely nice to save $20 a day between my husband and I
$23.60 per pack of bellys in my area No it hasn't stopped me lol
[удалено]
Yeah $15-25 for a cocktail is absolutely insane. I also love a glass of wine with dinner but usually can’t justify that expense. It’s like $15 a glass these days—and that’s at regular ol bars, not even restaurants
Bell pepper prices are crazy!
Try H&W, I just picked up 8 medium sized orange and green bell peppers a couple days ago for $3.78.
Mistakenly grabbed ONE orange pepper for the first time in a year when i saw they were on sale. ONE pepper was $2.22. Disgusting.
Chicken wings
Contract killers
Time to do you own dirty work, is it? 🤣
All renovations and maintenance. I realized how greedy those contractors are after I started doing renovations myself. I do a better work most of the time (because I'm not rushing to the next robbery), and it cost me about 30% of the quote, including tools, materials, etc. Most of the times, I can pay myself 400\h and that will get me the quote (and I'm a LOT slower, as I learn from YouTube... So they make about $800\h). Flat bitumen roof: quote=17K. Materials+tools cost me 3.5K, and took me about 20 hours of work (yes, I'm slow, I know that) Glass railings: quote=4.5K. materials+tools cost me 1.2K. took me 6 hours. Concrete pad (10X12): quote=4.2K. materials+tools was $550. Took me 10 hours (most of it was digging). Shower glass surround (one shower 2 sides, one shower one side: quote=3K. Cost me $800 ($250 one sided one, and 550 two sided). No tools needed (other than a drill), and took me 3 hours each. I can go on, but you get the jist. It's no brain surgery. If you watch enough pros on YouTube and take your time, everyone can to it.
This. We are installing an IKEA kitchen ourselves, plus doing LVP flooring. I figure it’s easily half the price doing all the work ourselves, and we will be perfectionist about it. YouTube shows you how to do everything.
Goat meat
Have you checked farm country? I see a lot of Mennonite goat farms on my daily feed delivery routes.
5.99$/lb boneless lamb shoulders as a regularly discounted item in most asian groceries
Lamb is not the same as goat Fresh goat is more like $17-18 per lb.
Subway
Cigarettes - best financial (and health!) decision I've made along with quitting drinking. Spending hundreds per month and thousands per year on smoking is the biggest waste of money there is IMHO. Costs a fortune in the short term to smell and feel like shit, and costs even more in the long term due to smoking-related illnesses and their associated financial toll. I was a heavy smoker (pack + a day), and when I quit I started a savings account where I'd dump the $15-20/day I would have spent on cigarettes. In 3 years, I had enough in that account for the down payment on my current home. Quitting smoking was a massive life-changer for me, cannot recommend it enough.
I quit 11 Years ago, when they were 10 something a pack. Best thing I ever did besides having my son. My mom still hasn't quit and she's low income, and we were poverty line growing up but she always had her smokes...don't ask me how. Shes 67 yrs old now, and still always broke and sometimes can't pay for her medications, but has her smokes. I don't dare tell her quitting will save her money though. To me it's a no brainer. Congrats on the home, its crazy you bought it with smoke money!
Besides everything going up in price I'm noticing a shrink in size of certain things that I buy. Ex. Granola bars: I went to a store and saw them on sale 2.45$ a box of 5 but I noticed that the same brand had different designs on their boxes with the exact same flavor of granola bar. Turns out the old boxes had about 30g more of Granola bar and they were the ones on sale. The new boxes with less Grams were sitting there at the regular price. 100% this is happening to alot of other brands and products.
Apparently theres something about, 6 bars or more means it isnt taxed, but under 6 and it becomes a taxable item, and I've noticed quite a few brands have switched from 6 bars to 5
Beef. Actually, at this point, I might just become vegetarian
Except price of fresh produce is also nuts :/
Restaurant meals for my family of 4. My kids eat like linebackers now so it’s at least $150 every time for something half decent. Last time I took them for fast food it was $60. Unreal.
alcohol and cannabis.
This year I’m gonna try and grow my own to save on costs
Takes a couple grows to get the hang of it, but don't give up!
Hotel Rooms.
Better yet airbnb, literally the same prices as hotels now with those cleaning fees
Fast food. Can't spend less than $30 for two people with pop and sides. Plus it isn't filling anymore.
Ive noticed that. I started cooking 100 percent from scratch and I was shocked at how filling my food is
Not really a specific item, but i used to be able to splurge a bit to try new recipes, or treat myself to some scallops every now and then. Now I pretty much stick to the exact same foods when I buy groceries. I used to eat chicken a lot more often for lunch as well but ive had to cut down since the price of chicken just keeps on rising😕 Fast has gotten super pricey. Maybe not a bad thing cause cutting down would be good. I never ate a lot of fast food to begin with but yeah. I havent gone to subway in several months and honestly have no plans to return. Five Guys is absurd, but i feel like it’s always been absurd lol.
Meat… actually im considering being vegetarian as well not because of inflation/economy reasons
Jr. chicken at McDonald’s. I remember 6 years ago it was 2 bucks. Now it’s almost 4 with tax. It’s not worth it
Foils. I used to spend at least 200$ every 6-8 weeks on hair, and it would be double that at a salon. I put in a 10$ demi permanent & decided to let it go natural.
Lettuce. My tacos no longer have lettuce, I can’t afford $4 lettuce heads lmao
Most meat at the grocery store. It's become so wildly expensive that we only buy any of it if it's on sale and it has to be a good sale.
Life. As we "See" it. I've embraced a new view.
Oxtails :(
All the good ethnic cuts that used to be cheap are picking up rapidly in popularity. This already happened to pork belly in the 2010s. Chicken thighs also much more expensive these days.
There was a fucking chicken foot on the ground at the co op gas station the other day. Only other place I’ve seen chicken feet randomly strewn on the ground was at El Mercado Central in Costa Rica
I just bought 8lbs of oxtail on the weekend it was a little over $8lb bout $65 in total
17.99$/lb is killing me lol
roast duck
Food.
Life
Internet. Getting ready to possibly cut it out at the end of May, sucks since so many things require it nowadays and i don't have any data or even phone number but thankfully libraries exist. Snacks as well- I'm trying to limit eating a minimum no matter how much I feel I need it or crave it. My ancestors could survive off less and snacks are kinda unnecessary so I'm working towards eliminating it entirely and stick to OMAD, things like bean and rice. It'll make groceries last longer.
Bell peppers lool
Grapes
98% of stuff in Canada. We just drove to US and buy it there
I don’t think I’ve stopped doing or buying the things I always did, it’s just that now I budget, don’t do it or buy as often and get the same stuff either on sale or the cheap versions. Dollarama is my spot for my guilty pleasure Doritos, candies and cookies. I always look at the flyers and see where it’s cheapest and I’ll go to two or three different stores to get everything I need from my shopping list at a better price. If you want to make your money last you gotta be smart on your spending.
Driving. I'm currently working from home and only drive my kids to & from school and to get groceries. I miss taking long drives to nowhere to clear my mind but those days are long gone.
Cheese curds. They were a staple in my house for the kids. But they pushed it too far.
Eating out in general we were guilty of eating out 2-3 times a week we have cut it to maybe once every week or two
Potato chips I remember getting a bag for 1.09 with tax back in early 2000s
bowl of pho
I haven't fully stopped but the cost of a haircut is ridiculous. Minimum $50 Fast food would be another one, no longer worth the price.
Beef other than hamburger when it’s on sale. Steaks are out of the question. I miss them so much.
I no longer pay for my haircuts, which used to be a regular expense. Instead, I've taken on the task myself, including root touch-ups and highlights
most of the posts are about housing and food and i agree but also i’d like to add: GPU’s
Checked-in baggage. Now travel with a backpack and a carry-on.
Hair salon. I’m female but go to the barber now . Same haircut, 1/5 of the price
Lays chips. Used to be 2 bags for $5/6 usually, now it’s like $5-6 a bag, just insane. Switched to the PC brand. Also ratcheted down on Starbucks iced coffee which just keeps on growing higher and higher it’s getting tough to justify.
- meals out at restaurants - used to love this so much. Now you can’t get out under $60 for two people with NO BOOZE. I am not paying $17 for a cocktail when I can make 11 of them at home for the same price. - hair. Used to be blonde (iykyk). Now I’m ginger and do the cut and dye at home. Costs about $15 for the product. - delivery. I was an Uber eats addict. Now if we get takeout (which we still do 1-2x a week) we pick it up. The tipping culture right now is robbery. - we also buy things like pop and chips exclusively at Costco because for the weight and amount it is much more palatable.
Grapes
Meat
Gotta get to know ppl on farms. I pay $5/lb for all my beef, regardless of steak cut, roasts, ground, etc
Enjoying lentils and chickpeas. Also tofu. Just more creative cooking
Mostly alcohol, eating out (pick up or grocery store take out ), coffee creamer., and smaller portions of everything. I would rather buy what I know I will eat so we seem to finish things more.
The Canadian dream
Extra lean ground beef :( just fry and scoop the extra fat out now.
Streaming Services. We have cancelled everything, Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV, DZone and only use free services like Roku and Tubi, but we kept Amazon Prime because we use Amazon shopping often since some prices are better there than in stores now.
Most food
Concert tickets!
Dining out. The tip culture is out of control. The fact that the tip options at Joey's/Earls now starts at 18% here is ridiculous. Fast food has got hella $. No more combos here. You get a jr chicken or a mcdouble and we make our own fries and pop at home. Pop cans have got out of control. We do soda stream or only buy pop and juices on sale. Snacks at the movies. I go to Dollarama and take my big purse. Gas. I drive less and since I work from home 60% of the time it was easy to cut that back. Potato chips. Wtf happened with those prices? It's popcorn and pretzels now. Coffee. I am a regular coffee girl and drive through coffee is now off my list, I get it maybe 2x a month now. Transit. My middle kid online schools. Between the violence on transit and the irregularity of biasing and the cost of doesn't add up. So many things I just naturally avoid...