It seems as though no consumer good has managed to go untouched by inflation. A carton of eggs costs up to $4. Crying while filling up your gas tank is now a sad reality of driving. The fact that the once revered McDonald’s dollar menu has now been replaced with the much less catchy — and frugal — “$1 $2 $3 Menu.”
But just because even sacred institutions like cheap Maccas breakfast are coming to an end doesn’t mean there isn’t hope — just ask savings-savvy redditors.
From bananas to TVs, here are 20 items that are still affordable as the price of everything else slowly and steadily trends upwards.
1
“In-N-Out. Double double, fries and drink is $10.40” — mitchsn
2
“Camping at state parks (at least here in TX). $12/night without a park pass and $9/night with a pass? Please and Thank You” —jrakosi
3
“Just went to a mom and pop Chinese place last week. There are only Panda Express around me, so I went out of my way and was surprised that my two item with rice and chow mein were $8.99! And it was packed with so much, they could barely close the tray.” — MeWantFood69
4
“A guitar set up (straightening the neck, checking the wiring and action, cleaning it up, ect.) has been $100 at guitar center for at least 25 years.” —hello_ground_
5
“Cooking beans. Dry beans that you soak overnight, then boil for a few hours with a little seasoning. So much good healthy food for under $5 that you probably can't even eat all of them with a family of four. They go with everything from burgers, veggies, chicken, fish, cheese & tortillas, etc.” —gottapeenow2
6
“To me, shaving cream has always seemed underpriced. I pay like $5 and a can lasts me years. I do use it sparingly but compared to other hygiene products, It seems dirt cheap.” —MONSTERBEARMAN
7
“My phone plan. $20 per 28 days, for 20gb and unlimited text/talk and once every few months they give me extra data for being loyal (not that I even use the initial amount lmao) I still spent a solid few minutes thinking about this, this is my only answer. Everything in Australia has f—in skyrocketed, except that.” —
8
“The Sam's Club rotisserie chicken It's still $5 and it's perfectly cooked and seasoned ... I eat the legs and thighs. Use leftovers for lunch the next day. Put the bones into the instant pot and turn them into stock. Probably the best deal for dinner around.” —Honest-Scar-4719
9
“My water bill is like $30/month for a family of 3.” —backflip10019
10
“I bought a new house and need to buy appliances. Last time I did that was 13 years ago. Prices are about the same.” —SomeGuyInSanJoseCa
11
“Just bought a 2 TB SSD for like $120. IIRC When I was first building in 2016 a 500 GB was over $200” —Vilenesko
12
“The current new Mac computer is about $2k. Easily thousands of times more powerful than the original which, comparatively with inflation, went for about $7,000.” —RetroactiveRecursion
13
“Video games. Some of them have started to go up a little bit but overall, they're just as much as they were 30 years ago. A lot of games on SNES and N64 would retail for $80-$120 at release.” —UndeadBread
14
“Potatoes. Even normal stores have 10lbs for $5, and you can easily get 50lbs for $20 at a restaurant supply place.” — Corvus_Antipodum
15
“An insane resource that most of us are sleeping on. Free books, movies, public records, even tools. My local library rents out paintings.” —Galileo258
16
“The bar by my house is still serving up fried foods that will kill me and 20 oz jack and cokes for $2. Dangerous place.” —1ToGreen3ToBasket
17
“I remember always struggling to get money for my skateboards as a kid and i went to buy my son one and I was shocked that the bones reds bearings I used to get are still only like $20 (Canadian).” –ANDYHOPE
18
“Costco Founder Jim Sinegal: ‘If you raise (the price of the) effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out!’” — xrayboarderguy
19
“I bought our first flat screen during a Black Friday sale in 2011. I paid $400 for a 32" screen and that was a deal. I saw a 65" screen a few weeks ago for $300.” — RphWrites
20
“Bananas. I can still get a whole bunch of 5 or 6 for under $2” —takehertothemoon0
