So why, in the blue hell, do CD’s cost 120% as much as tapes do?
Because frat boys can stll have races with them where they hold 'em between their butt cheeks, run some set distance and pass 'em off without ever touching them. To do that with cassettes would be, I don’t know, wierd.
When it was apartment-finding time, I narrowed down my choices due to price to two places, across the street from each other, each $355/month for a one-bedroom. I chose the slightly nicer-looking of the two. After my first lease was up, they jacked up the price to $365/month. When I went off my lease, it went up to $400/month (which I was expecting) but starting this month it’s up to $415 (and I suspect this means the folks on a lease will be paying $380). Across the street? It’s still $355. Grr.
My wonderful little Civic is dead. And yes, it’s all my fault for not taking care of it. I have no idea how much it’s going to cost to fix it, but it will certainly be more than what I have, which is next to nothing. I swear, I get paid on Monday, Tuesday I mail out the bills and it’s all gone.
It’s not like I’m paying for crap I don’t need, either. Summer in Texas means there is no way I can live without electricity. And I’m not going to go without a phone when my car’s not running. Then I’ve got to pay insurance, even though the car’s not running. And the student loan monsters automatically deduct their tithe every month. I don’t have cable, I keep my Internet time down to what I can get for free, and I don’t even subscribe to Writer’s Digest anymore (sob).
Ferggie: you spend HOW MUCH on a 1 bedroom?!? I should have it so bad! When I left MY 1 bedroom, the cost was up to $765 a month. Now spouse and I pay $1250 a month for a two bedroom (with dishwasher and washer/dryer in unit). We’d get a condo, but they’re going for $220,000 or more for a two bedroom.
$1250 for a 2 bedroom? I would kill for that! My place is $2000/month, and that’s on the cheap side. Other places are up to $2300/month for a 2 bedroom.
You guys want to gag at housing costs? Visit me here in NYC. (And if you’re not from San Francisco or maybe Hong Kong, don’t even think of hitting that Post Reply button!)
– Drinks in bars. (16 oz. beer + obligatory tip = $5. Having been out of the US for four months – in imperial-pint countries, no less – this is one of the things that gives me serious reverse culture shock.)
– Food in restaurants. Hell, I could make most of it at home for about a fifth of the price, not even counting tips.
– Hotels. (This is why I don’t spend my vacations in the U.S. Well, one of the many reasons, anyway.)
Gas prices are CRAZY!! A dollar and eighty-nine cents a gallon?? Yeah, sure, when I wasn’t old enough to have a car, the price was a buck lower. Now I have to sell organs to be able to afford to get anywhere. Just ridiculous.
DVDs. Anything decent is $20 or higher, while I consider $15 a fair price. Feh.
And airline tickets, yeah. Geez, for the kind of money I pay for coach, I think the people who pay first class might as well have their own jets instead.
On the other hand, I am willing to pay $50/month for DSL, because broadband is very important to me.
Took the words right out of my mouth. We have four bedrooms and two full bathrooms, and my mortage payment plus property taxes plus insurance is still less than $1000.00 a month.
Back to the OP, what I find feindishly expensive is furniture. Any kind of furniture. When shopping for new furniture anything it all seems to fall into two categories: So cheaply made you don’t want it or so expensive you can’t afford it.
I taught myself how to refinish and reupholster. The most costly peice of furniture I own (sofa) came to less than $200.00 when all was said and done. I paid $20.00 for the sofa a a little more than $150.00 to reupholster it.
Tollways: 40 cents (or more) to sit in traffic on a road that should have been paid for 40 years ago.
Medicine: I buy medicine the drug company charges $1000 per 15 doses. ($12000 per year). When we could not pay, they lowered it to $1 per dose. Most people I know get the subsidized rate. Who pays the difference? The people paying $1000. Why doesn’t the drug company just charge everyone $5 per dose, and even out the true cost. Drug companies justify high costs because they spend so much on research. Drug companies spend at least twice as much on advertising as they do on research. How about they cut the advertising, and cut the drug prices?
Ferraris: Everyone should be able to own a piece of art. Everyone would drive better owning a car they wouldn’t dare dent.
Prisons: Cable TV in prison? I don’t have cable! Cut the luxuries and pack the criminals in! 6 to a room is fine with me.
Public Transportation: If the government wants people to start using PT, and stop driving cars, PT should be free. It would raise ridership.
AOL: They should pay you to use it.
Attention: Sometimes I am so poor, I can’t afford to pay attention.
This is completely dependent upon where you’re at. In my hometown recently, we enjoyed beers for 85 cents for a 10 oz glass. Granted, that was happy hour prices, but regular prices were still only $1.25. You’re going to the wrong bars.
Saran Wrap. Seriously, I went to the grocery store (well, Wal*Mart, but it’s one of the Wallies with a built-in grocery) and got eggs, cheese, flour, sugar, vanilla extract, chocolate chips, bread, milk, soda pop, baking soda, canned soup, brown sugar and strawberry jam, and each of those items was under $2.50. Then I went to get a roll of plastic wrap, and the ultra-cheap STORE BRAND was $2.85, and brand-name Saran Wrap (which, IMHO, is really the best, because it’s substantial) was $3.50. That’s just insane. A piece of plastic in a cardboard box is 25% more expensive than a six-pack of brand-name root beer in glass bottles.
Diapers, maxipads, How about paperback books ? $7.99 for a new one. Also a little off the subject, I’m tired of paying the same price for an item that has less in it then it used to.
[li]Beluga Caviar[/li][li]XO Congac (any decent brand)[/li][li]Diamonds (VVS1/E)[/li][li]Lamborghini Diablos[/li][/ul]
All these things are incredibly expensive. None are necessities. None would be so expensive if we did not put a value on them. I mean, 'cmon, how can one little Gem cost more than a house???
BACON, dammit…
I’m mad as hell about the price of bacon,
I love and adore bacon and resent having to think twice before buying it.
Seems to me just several years ago it was around $2.50
a package, now it’s closer to $5.00.
It’s only a pig dammit, and they didn’t have to go to Pluto to get it. While I’m on this partuclar rant let me also say it doesnt taste as good as it did several years ago either.
What have they done to my BACON!!!
Books of any kind
Gas
Hearing Aids- Now there’s a major rip-off if ever there was one… Avg. around $4,500 for the digital which naturally are the best for certain hearing problems.
What do they expect people to do who CANNOT afford it??
Youth Ice Hockey Leagues- $700.00 per student + outrageously expensive uniforms, pads helmets,+ $30.00 ice time per practice + plus plus plus plus, it never ends… anyone out there want to sponsor a child?
I’m serious…
Concert tickets- I absolutely refuse to attend anymore concerts, most of these folks are plenty rich enough and they wont get any richer through me. And MOST of the concerts suck anyway, very few people even sound like their record anyway outside of the technicalized,digitalized recording studio…
Small car parts, like tail lights and seals. I once had to pay $13 for ONE left-hand thread BOLT. No wonder theives steal cars just to re-sell the parts.
Plastic pipe valves. $20 for one plastic ball valve, while a larger steel one costs $5.
Firewood. ~$130 per cord here, if you’re lucky. My parents used to sell it for $1.50 just a few decades ago.
Land. Due to various reasons, land in Canada within 50 miles of any decent sized town is ridiculously expensive compared to the States. Try to buy 1/4 section within an hour of Calgary and you’ll need at least half a million. Good land with even a small house will cost you several million.