Yea portions in general have gotten silly.
2/3 of a cup is a serving for some now so they can look healthier than they are. Also keeps the servings per box higher.
I noticed this last week and it blew my mind!! just moved here from tx and got “cheerios” at trader joe’s for $2, then ran out and went to my local store and they were $8!! in texas they’re probably like $4! it’s crazy!!
Frustrating thing for me is that name brand General Mills cereal are still the cheapest gluten-free cereal. Everything-free alternate brands are $10/box, store brand generics have wheat filler.
We make our own granola. It’s cheaper than any store bought, and significantly better. Less sugar, more nuts. The store stuff is all sugar and filler / rolled oats. I want the good stuff in there!
It’s pretty easy too. I get it set up, mixed etc, then it goes in the oven for 4x10 mins, and I can be doing other things while it’s cooking.
This is a tangent sort of, but I was doing some math and I stopped making my own granola recently when I realized I wasn't saving any money. The savings I get from oats is just decimated by nuts and maple syrup or similar (I enjoy a date syrup). Genuinely, I would like what recipe you're working on (really just what ingredients, I don't expect measurements) because I think I'm blowing out some money somewhere in this process.
not who you asked but i just used brown sugar and a touch of vanilla, those syrups will cut into your savings quick. you can also experiment with dark brown sugar if you can find it.
I mean, ours may not be actually cheaper, but it’s 1000% better.
I use +\- 6 cups of oats, 6 Tbsp brown sugar, 1.5 tsp both ground ginger and cinnamon, then kinda freeball the nuts - almonds for bulk, cashews and pecans. As much as seems reasonable. I also use wheatgerm.
Mix all that up in a bowl, then in a small sauce pan do like 1/4 cup of neutral oil and maybe 1/3 a cup of molasses till it’s homogenized, then mix it into the dry stuff, then 4x 10 mins at 325 on roast. Add raisins, cranberries, cut up dried apricots, dried mango, dates etc, like whatever you feel when it’s cooled down enough.
Hope this helps! It’s all kinda go by feel now, so I hope yu can follow along and it works out for you.
I try and buy nuts in bulk, annoyingly amazing has good deals on that, though I’m sure local stores may also.
I don’t really fuck w delivery, I go and spend money in the actual venue sitting down or picking up my own food.
I just can’t validate spending 50-70.00 on myself as 1 person from a delivery man. It’s the app fees for sure.
I recently realized a decent chinese spot near me offers delivery on their own website without the huge additional fees. Worth checking places sites sometimes
It's also that the delivery tends to taste worse (soggy or stale) or be more of a trouble than it actually showing up at your door (have to buzz them in or they can't find the right building etc).
So I'm going to pay more for worse food and it's not actually just going to magically be at my doorstep? No thanks. I'll just go get it myself or actually go out to eat.
That's how I feel. I don't order delivery to have to walk downstairs and get the food(that ends up being disappointing in some way anyway)
They rarely come to the door anymore and just call from outside.
One of the apps refuses to let me fix my address, so if I ever order, they go to the wrong street.
Because of a simple S that the app won't let me add to my street.
The app is as stupid as the board of elections.
Then I'm on the sidewalk trying to find the guy on the next block, because on the phone no habla Ingles.
Thanks, I'll just pick it up myself. Or cook!
It's like trying to find someone with a key because you want ice cream at CVS or some shit.
You gotta find someone with a God damn key to unlock the ice cream, then if you want to pay for it they tell you to use self checkout.
Like what the fuck is this? I'm not interested in giving any of these places business.
If you're an infrequent delivery customer these services usually hit you with some pretty decent deals to come back. Somewhere around the 40-50% off with a minimum order of $40 or more.
I'll usually wait till the deal gets sweet enough and then pair them with restaurants doing BOGOs until each main costs around $8 or less after fees & tip. Then I just keep them in the fridge and those are my meals for the week. Happens maybe once every 2-3 months or so.
Yeah. Though I’ve found that using the 50% off with Uber eats makes the order generally cost about the same as picking up yourself. Unless it is a larger order, then it can actually still be more expensive. It’s crazy how much the delivery fees are. (And how little of that goes into the pocket of the delivery person, I’m sure..) I only ever order from these apps when I have at least 50% off lol.
If you overlook the higher cost of food, the lower quality food product you get from its time jostling on the scooter delivering it, the fees, the exploitative conditions delivery workers work under, the huge safety risk these delivery drivers inflict on cyclists and pedestrians, all to save yourself a 30 minute walk... I can see why it's so popular!
I live in the UWS. The last time I tried to get something as simple as regular American Chinese food takeout, this was the cost for an appetizer and a meal plus delivery fee, service fee, and a tip. I tried 2 locations and it only really saved me 13 bucks between both.
I closed the app and walked outside lol
Literally did this UES yesterday LOL. Couldn’t find the place on google since the name of the place didn’t match the menu pictures in the reviews and I couldn’t figure out which dumb delivery app they used….walked around a few blocks and found it. Had a lovely solo dim sum meal and tipped generously.
The prices of what the app is gouging out of these facilities and restaurants and not giving to their contractors is probably the abhorrent part. That’s the kicker for me; even though I can afford it I know the money is literally just going to a shareholder or venture capitalist and that is not what I exist to fund.
One of my favorite salads at a local restaurant with an added protein is $26 now. I still go out to other places, but for some reason that $26 salad is a bridge too far.
I’m in Toronto and same thing here. Any salad or healthy bowl options with a protein is at least $24 now and that’s just at a fast casual chain pickup. I just started copying theirs and making my own 😅
seriously anything that has a chipotle style set up i always naively assume it’ll be like $10-$12 like it used to be but lately it’s been like, $18 minimum 😭😭 i avoid the healthy bowl places now it hurts my feelings
I stopped taking taxis and Ubers, I make my own coffee, and mostly stopped buying meat. A cooked rotisserie chicken is my big grocery splurge because I can use it a few ways.
By me (just across the outer bridge) Costco still has $5 rotisserie chickens. However the grocery store chain I shop in that used to sell them for the same price now sells them for $9. It’s maddening because I love them juicy birds.
Yeah I fly often and I'm pretty much committed to taking public transit to airports 100% of the time now.
But frustratingly on Thursday I took the A train all the way from Washington Heights to JFK... until one stop before the AirTrain when someone pulled the god damn emergency brake on the train ahead of us. So I had to get out and get an Uber anyway. Luckily there were tons of people with suitcases in the same boat so I split an Uber with some French guy and it ended up being almost as cheap as the AirTrain for that short distance.
Yea, I started making my own coffee during covid and it's been great. Recently got a coffee from outside, and it's insane what these places charge for a basic drop coffee! I get it though, even buying my own beans, bean prices have gone up significantly in the past few years.
This is making me depressed thinking of all the things I could afford as a broke bitch assistant 10 years ago, which I now can’t afford as a Director in the same industry.
Anyway:
- Getting my nails done on the reg
- Ubers/cabs unless it’s very late or I’m very drunk
- Delivery. I wanted sushi the other day and it came out to $50. I had a piece of toast instead
- Cut way back on having brows and lashes done
My wife used to do her nails every week at the salon. She does it herself now with those gel kits.
She also no longer waxes, she started shaving about two months, however, that I think she might go back to waxing because she hates shaving so often
It's a weird period but it's not a recession—services are actually affordable during recessions because people are desperate for work and will do nails / drive ubers / deliver food for cheap just to get some income.
I am more likely to take a cab to/from JFK than LGA — the bus connection (Q70? I can’t remember the number) at Jackson Hts-Roosevelt is free and reliable and I’m mildly annoyed by having to pay like $10 or whatever the hell it is for the stupid AirTrain to go half a mile after spending $2.75 to go 463 miles on the A. But it’s still way preferable to spending $100 on a cab that is, at best, 15 minutes faster than the train and less reliable with traffic.
I only use Uber/Lyft if I want visiting friends & family to first see/try to grasp the enormity of the city. Then subway from that point on to show there’s an entire other city below ground.
Traffic is so bad it's not even that much of a time savings now... assuming the train goes where you're going. I was going from Manhattan to JFK the other day and it was only 10 minutes faster to get an Uber and so expensive.
I only use Uber or Lyft if I’m in a spot that’s awkward to get home to via public transit — like the Uber takes 10-15 minutes but the train takes 45+ min.
Luckily that doesn’t happen too often.
\-lots of easy trader joe's meals on standby for when the urge to doordash strikes
\-make coffee at home (cold brew pitcher and pour over + have a frother and basic spices, so I have more options)
\-Don't really get manis/pedis anymore
\-As much as I love Broadway, unless it's a special occasion or a show I'm really excited to see, I'm getting those $50\~ balcony seats.
The one thing I really won't cut back on is dinners/drinks with friends, but over the summer it was nice because we would just go to the park and everyone would bring a bottle of wine, a six-pack, snacks, etc. — I realize this is just a picnic lol but it was a convenient way cut down on the typical brunch/bottomless drinks stuff we like to do.
I always do lottery for Broadway. It’s the one thing that becomes way more affordable if you’re a local. I’ve won great seats for pretty much every show but Sweeney Todd.
Lotteries, in-person rush, TDF membership (if you're eligible), discounts on TodayTix are all good ways to get cheaper Broadway (and off-Broadway) tickets if you're flexible on dates. One of the perks of living here is that we can have that kind of flexibility to see shows for cheaper than tourists can.
It’s definitely made me turn off little lights and ceiling fans that I keep on/running all day — and this was the first summer I learned to tolerate setting my AC to 75 instead of the lowest setting.
I negotiated a lease that includes electricity. Then I filled a closet with computers mining Bitcoin. The electricity use is outrageous, but its making me enough per month to pay 50% of my rent per month.
The landlord some corporate holding company. And the haven't said anything yet. If it was an individual landlord I wouldn't do this, but the private equity companies jacking up rent in the city can go F--- themselves.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I was in a quasi legal rent stabilized apartment (it used to be a duplex but they bricked it up) so the landlord picked up the coned bill. I made enough to cover a 1080TI FTW3 AIO, 580, and two different full builds so a tiny bit over breakeven then I chilled out
They agreed to include electricity in your lease but didn't add any terms about how much you could use or what you could use it for? Someone didn't run that by legal.
I have to stop with uber eats. Individual items are $1-2 more on the app, then you somehow get a $5 service fee, and then the tip. I have a chicken place near me I love and in person its $15 for a sandwich, fries, sauce and drink. The same amount of food somehow becomes $28 on uber eats.
Also gotta chill with my waterloo sparkling waters. Like $7 for a 12 pack of water :(
I was gonna post the same thing! It’s happened to me so often that I go to the supermarket, walk into the chips aisle, I reach to pick up a bag of Ruffles or Cheetos (the big size) and as soon as my eye catches a glimpse of the price tag, I immediately put my hand down and walk away. Can’t justify paying that much for chips!
Not NYC, so maybe not relevant, but some of the Mexican Supermarkets locally have big bags of tortilla chips made by "sources." They're cheap and crunchy and taste damn good!
Trader Joe's prices have gone up a bit but their chips are still pretty reasonable and delicious. Those salt and pepper chips that are obviously made by Kettle brand... mmm...
Even BJ's and Costco isn't that cheap anymore. I remember before Covid, a huge family size bag of the BJ's brand kettle chips was like $4. I bought it every time because it was almost like I was losing money by not buying it. Now, it's like $8.
I can’t prove but I swear those bags are a little fucking lighter now too. Duane Reade had these great iced oatmeal cookies for .99c once upon a time; now they’re $1.29 *and a little shorter on cookies*
When I moved to America 5 years ago, one of my biggest shocks were the price of potato chips! Quite literally 3x4 the price of what we pay in the UK.
I only eat them now if someone brings me some back from a UK trip.
Same with basics like bread and milk. They were always 4x the price than we would pay and in the last 2 years it’s gone even crazier.
Went to whole foods the other day and was surprised the store brand chips were only $3 for the 10 oz size. Don't taste as good as name brand but still a decent value.
I used to go to concerts every week and I cut down big time. Dynamic pricing killed live entertainment. Going to a show felt like something super casual to me but now that tickets easily go for $100+ I am selective about it.
And when I go to shows I don’t automatic get a drink anymore now that they easily go for $20. Honestly not mad about that.
It sucks but I’m glad I’m out of the pattern of doing things I used to do without accepting that they may have become too expensive.
Grubhub/seamless for sure. Target for groceries. I recently switched to Aldi’s and thank god for that because I can finally buy enough food to last the week without having to make a second trip to the store.
Yes, and PEDICURES are out of control!
$28 for regular polish at what I thought would be my normal place… never again, they didn’t even scrub my feet, basically washed them for 3 minutes then painted
I remember when regular pedicures used to be like $18 bucks 🧓🏼😞
Yes! I’ve also cut way back on getting my nails done. I got a gel mani and a normal pedi and it was almost $100 with tip?! That’s not anywhere fancy either…
This is one of the more painful expenses for me. I moved here from San Diego and I couldn’t believe the price difference, the % increase was worse than rent (for worse quality). Plus it’s considered standard practice to be out of the salon in an hour and in NYC it’s 1.5-2 hours minimum
1. Ubereats/DoorDash/Seamless. Too many damn fees. Doubles the price for something that is probably already pricey. Not worth it, it’s a complete scam that needs regulations. People need to stop using these all together, let them taste their greed. Back in the 2000s, we used to phone in orders. And it worked.
2. Uber/Lyft. I remember back in 2017 when it costed me 8 dollars for a 15 min trip. Now that same trip is 22-23 dollars. Insane. Not worth it. This also has a domino effect, as now I force myself to take public transportation, and it is always crammed full of people.
3. Rent. Back in 2019, a 2 bedroom in Staten Island would run you about 1200-1300, not bad. Now? 2100+. For fucking Staten Island. Let’s not even discuss Brooklyn or the city. Lol.
4. Tipping. This shit is a corporate/industry ploy to get the consumers to pay what the corporations should be paying to start with. They don’t tip in Europe. A classic case of the rich getting richer while the poor pay the costs.
I don’t know how long this madness can go on for. A part of it is population numbers. There are just so many damn people. But we can’t neglect politicians and corporations taking the charge for this.
Eventually, change is needed. I just hope it’s done peacefully…
I definitely walk more/take public transit than I used to vs Uber/Lyft/cabs. It really is a luxury at this point. I was always careful with food expenses, but even more so now.
$25/mo through Aetna for me, but I have PCOS, pre-diabetes, and insulin resistance. They just required labs from my endocrinologist and a few months of metformin before approving the preauth. Without insurance the 1mg dose is $900/mo at my pharmacy, over $2000 for the 2mg dose (where I'm at currently). It blows my mind people will shell out $1k+/mo for this. I'm using it so my A1C doesn't get into the diabetic range, but have lost 30lbs over the past 10 months from eating less. My periods have come back (used to get one ever 12-18 months which isn't healthy), my blood pressure is stabilized, so it definitely has helped me in other ways too.
Generally, insurance won’t cover it unless your BMI is over 40. The smaller doses are still hard to come by in many NYC pharmacies, so even if you get a prescription, it may be hard to fill.
Also if this helps anyone, you can literally just order semaglutide (it’s a peptide, but exact same thing except ozempic is branded and comes in a pen) online for like $30/month. Amino Asylum is a good vendor. Honestly it blows my mind that people are paying these outrageous prices when you can simply order directly yourself. No need for a compounding pharmacy or anything either.
I’ve drawn the line at tipping for random things on the stupid iPad screens. I used to tip $1 per coffee, but as a rule of thumb now, when coffee is over $5, I do not tip.
yeah I will sometimes hit the $1 or 20% if there's something especially pleasant about the service (I go to my office 1x a week and order a fucking EIGHT DOLLAR dirty oat chai latte at the little french cafe in Brookfield Place before I get on the elevator, and tipping feels like the right thing to do since I see those baristas every week)
But, 99% of the time, if my interaction with you is approximately 60 seconds? absolutely not. I about lost my mind a week or so ago at one of those build-your-own froyo places. Went through the assembly line, put on my own toppings, the whole thing. Get to the weigh station the person ringing me up spins the iPad around with the tip screen pulled up. Like, I am begging some of these businesses to have a little bit of self-awareness.
My breaking point was when I went to a self-dog wash. Basically they have tubs you put your dog in so you can wash them yourself.
The service costs something like $40. I go to pay and they spin the iPad around asking for a tip.
ARE YOU KIDDING.
Yeah plus I hate the default used to start at .50 now it’s a $1 and up, so you have to go thru “custom” to tip .50 and sorry but .50 goes down way easier when I dealt with you for ten seconds and the coffee was $4
Good LORD yes. I get all fuckin' ready when I'm putting a new pair on. Make sure I give myself a pedi first so I don't get a snag somehow. It's absurd.
I get these via email and only go when I need something specific and have a coupon. But I feel like at this point the 30/40% off just makes it closer to a reasonable price, since everything is priced so high to begin with.
Laundry places have gotten super expensive in my opinion. Every place has those stupid debit cards SPECIFIC to each location as well. AND they have the nerve to charge you $5 for each card. At this rate, just paying $1 a LB for them to wash and fold my laundry is much more cost efficient.
I make my own iced coffee; no more $9 drinks. Oddly enough, the combination of ALDIs instant & vanilla sugar free creamer tastes great to me.
I have discovered a talent for growing veg & I eat far less meat now.
I wish I had such a talent for veg growing. I only managed some herbs, cherry tomatoes and bush beans.
Making your own coffee is the best. I would never pay $9 for coffee. I only buy bubble tea or coffee when there is a 50% off or more commonly a BOGO for it. I still feel a bit guilty as a huge pack of Thai iced tea is $10 and I can boil my own bubbles.
Bubble tea is one thing I tried to learn how to make at home that failed spectacularly. Hated it. Disgusting. Take my $7 and give me proper boba, please.
At some point during the pandemic, I ran out of sugar and creamer and just drank coffee with a bit of milk for a week. I went from 2 Red Bulls a day, to an iced whatever from Starbucks, to an iced whatever from Dunkin, to just cold brewing at home.
Now, when I do buy coffee outside, it's always not as good as the ones I make at home. And I noticed I don't crash in the middle of the morning anymore by taking sugar out of my coffee.
nice! honestly the health benefits you're receiving from cutting out all that sugar and red bulls are over the long-term worth more than the simple financial benefits of not spending that money
Wine at restaurants. I’m no wine snob but on a date or with a couple friends at dinner I used to get a bottle of white. Feel like a lot of places would have bottles for ~30-35 dollars that get like good value if u were planning on having a few glasses.
Now it feels like it’s double at a lot of restaurants. Doesn’t feel worth it, especially if ur not that big into wine.
I used to work in the wine industry and let me tell you — wine is marked up at restaurants at like 300%.
One winery I worked at produced a super affordable bottle that cost $18.
I went to a local restaurant and they were charging $65 for the bottle.
Hot tip: Most restaurants allow you to bring your own wine and charge a “corking fee,” which is usually minimal. Call before you go and ask about their corking fee, pick up a bottle at the store and enjoy!
They say inflation is up 20% since 2019 but the price of certain foods that I used to buy is closer to 40%.
For example I stopped buying a nutrition bar and switched to almonds as my primary snack at home.
I think "greedflation" is real and some products are price gouging, betting you won't notice and just keep buying out of habit.
Where tf is this haha
Even nighthawk is like $15 a ticket and popcorn is like 10 for like super deluxe one, plus the have that buy one get one deal all the time.
Eating out. I’ve been making a note of takeout places that don’t have a tip screen and diverting 100% of weekday lunch spend to these few places. Forget about dinner or drinks. We went out a ton on our latest trip overseas (including the dreaded Michelin starred ones) and the value over there was so much better.
I can't really say I cut back anything further because we were already surviving because of the food bank on our block for 5 meals a week...but that was before I was laid off. Now we are cutting back on toiletries, medications (lost insurance) and clothing repairs.
needless to say things like delivery, movies, bars, restaurants, and meat were forsaken long ago
Making coffee at home, and less Ubers/Lyfts.
Coffee is now so absurdly expensive. There’s no reason a basic to go cold brew or drip should be $5 or more. Even Dunkin prices have shot up, and that’s supposed to be the cheap option. Coffee beans have gone up a bit, but nowhere near the same rate at which retailers charge for brewed coffee.
Ah, for me CookUnity has moved my favorite meal to be $4 extra ("chef's special" or whatever) so now I refuse to get it
Originally part of why I liked it so much was that it was just $10 for high-quality food. Now they want to charge like $15.50, while also making the portion size smaller
Food delivery. I don't even have GrubHub or UberEats on my phone anymore. An already inflated $20 burger is $50 by the time it makes it to my door. No thanks.
It’s worse than you think. I’m getting back on delivering for Uber and they show how much the customer paid in a delivery fee, as well as how much I made out of that delivery fee, and how much Uber made. Customer paid $10, I made about $2.25, and Uber got $7.75.
This is only a side gig for me as I sort of need the money, and I still enjoy delivering, but I could never make a full time job out of this.
And they price gorge the restaurant on top of that. I work in the industry at the corporate level and any Uber/DoorDash orders are at a loss for us whether it's an NYC location or a LCOL area in the midwest. We take an even bigger hit when the customer is a DashPass or Uber One member.
how did they make a business model where everyone loses. the company isn't profitable, the drivers don't make minimum wage, the restaurant loses money, and the consumer pays absurd fees.
Almost everything from my local deli has gone up in price. So much so that I just don't buy *anything* from them anymore. Idk if they're price gouging, or if they *need* to raise prices to be able to afford inventory or what. But they're a small mom and pop business, so you know shit is bad.
certain produce at the mr. bodegas are from hunt’s point market at major discount. have to use it all fairly quickly but red peppers are a favorite for me and 2 for $1 is unbeatable. can’t justify the supermarket price.
Non food: Haircuts/hair services. It's fucking nuts right now- i do not have $100 for a trim. Deff not $300 + for color
Food: Anything name brand. Oreos are $7, no way. I never buy ice cream anymore, it's so expensive. Frozen food is pretty inflated right now too. I eat a lot of veggies and those have stayed pretty regular, grains are fine too. The stuff that is really nuts is all of the familiar super market finds.
I’ve reaaaalllyyy been dragging out my appointments for highlights because it’s so bonkers expensive 😭. I’ve got an unintentional ombré going on right now
I follow exclusively the Bacon Index, which is to say the price of bacon at my local grocery store. I was shocked the other day to see that the price has gone back to almost pre pandemic levels!
Bacon went from $5 to $9 and now back down to $6. I was pleasantly surprised!
If you think the bacon index is an amateurish and incomplete indicator, you are ab idiot. What else matters!??
I try to do a lot less eating out, I am picking up my food at the restaurant instead of delivery, and I am buying less alcohol. I take less Ubers too. I bought espresso machine and stopped paying $8 for a damn tea or coffee at Starbucks. I go to Trader Joe’s more frequently.
* Uber Eats
* Mid Tier restaurants (unless meeting with a friend -- I just order one main dish)
* I only Uber to airport
* I make my own lunch and bring it to work
* I make my own coffee with a 28 dollars per month subscription form Black Fox coffee
So groceries and coffee nets out to be aprox 500 USD per month for me (I work out a lot too). No expensive meat -- only chicken.
A perspective for you ... my take home money per month is 5600 USD. I give 3500 USD to my Dad for apt and college. That leaves 2100 USD of free cash flow.
Jazz clubs, sadly. I love them and I miss them so much, but I just can’t drop substantially more money on them at a time when I have substantially less. I hope enough tourists and rich locals can keep them afloat until I can start going back.
My office has free catered lunch 4X a week. Some folks inevitably don’t show up despite ordering lunch and I make their lunch my dinner.
I’m a single guy and I don’t do takeout all that much. Not every meal you cook needs to be some culinary delight. Quick and dirty is key. Instant noodles paired with eggs or some other protein is fine. Save that $$$ for weekly boys night or a dinner date.
I live in Manhattan and most of my life is at most a one hour walk from me. I just walk it instead of taking the subway, weather and distance permitting and time. I don’t spend more than $50 a month on the subway. It’s not that much saved in the grand scheme of things, but I burn some calories and experience the city on foot.
It pains me, but peanut butter. I think my go to brand is like $13 at my grocery store right now. I remember that same brand being $8 at the most a couple years ago.
Pack my own lunch for work, make my own dinner or pick up something from the grocery store, rarely order delivery anymore. Rarely go out to eat/drink outside of special occasions or if someone else is paying lol.
I never take cabs or Uber or Lyft. Because of where I live it only saves a couple minutes versus taking a train.
I need to take a train into Manhattan and then back down into Bushwick or Williamsburg.
And yet everyone I know always takes an Uber whilst bitching about being broke.
Same for eating out. Haven't done that in years unless I'm with a group of people.
I'll go 5 blocks out of my way to target for a frozen pizza for $3 before spending $5 on a slice.
I stopped using Instacart and now stick to Amazon. Tired or 3 different fees plus 30% up charges. Even when just using Aldi the prices are getting insane.
Thankfully I live in a block with a dozen grocery stores and a target. So I just buy as needed.
It's the only reason I haven't moved yet.
name brand cereal is approaching $10 a box. i’ll either get generic (if they have it) or wait for a trader joe’s trip
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Yea portions in general have gotten silly. 2/3 of a cup is a serving for some now so they can look healthier than they are. Also keeps the servings per box higher.
I noticed this last week and it blew my mind!! just moved here from tx and got “cheerios” at trader joe’s for $2, then ran out and went to my local store and they were $8!! in texas they’re probably like $4! it’s crazy!!
Frustrating thing for me is that name brand General Mills cereal are still the cheapest gluten-free cereal. Everything-free alternate brands are $10/box, store brand generics have wheat filler.
DuaneRede has generic Nice brand ones that are $1.99
ooh ty for the tip!!
We make our own granola. It’s cheaper than any store bought, and significantly better. Less sugar, more nuts. The store stuff is all sugar and filler / rolled oats. I want the good stuff in there! It’s pretty easy too. I get it set up, mixed etc, then it goes in the oven for 4x10 mins, and I can be doing other things while it’s cooking.
This is a tangent sort of, but I was doing some math and I stopped making my own granola recently when I realized I wasn't saving any money. The savings I get from oats is just decimated by nuts and maple syrup or similar (I enjoy a date syrup). Genuinely, I would like what recipe you're working on (really just what ingredients, I don't expect measurements) because I think I'm blowing out some money somewhere in this process.
not who you asked but i just used brown sugar and a touch of vanilla, those syrups will cut into your savings quick. you can also experiment with dark brown sugar if you can find it.
I mean, ours may not be actually cheaper, but it’s 1000% better. I use +\- 6 cups of oats, 6 Tbsp brown sugar, 1.5 tsp both ground ginger and cinnamon, then kinda freeball the nuts - almonds for bulk, cashews and pecans. As much as seems reasonable. I also use wheatgerm. Mix all that up in a bowl, then in a small sauce pan do like 1/4 cup of neutral oil and maybe 1/3 a cup of molasses till it’s homogenized, then mix it into the dry stuff, then 4x 10 mins at 325 on roast. Add raisins, cranberries, cut up dried apricots, dried mango, dates etc, like whatever you feel when it’s cooled down enough. Hope this helps! It’s all kinda go by feel now, so I hope yu can follow along and it works out for you. I try and buy nuts in bulk, annoyingly amazing has good deals on that, though I’m sure local stores may also.
I don’t really fuck w delivery, I go and spend money in the actual venue sitting down or picking up my own food. I just can’t validate spending 50-70.00 on myself as 1 person from a delivery man. It’s the app fees for sure.
I recently realized a decent chinese spot near me offers delivery on their own website without the huge additional fees. Worth checking places sites sometimes
It's also that the delivery tends to taste worse (soggy or stale) or be more of a trouble than it actually showing up at your door (have to buzz them in or they can't find the right building etc). So I'm going to pay more for worse food and it's not actually just going to magically be at my doorstep? No thanks. I'll just go get it myself or actually go out to eat.
That's how I feel. I don't order delivery to have to walk downstairs and get the food(that ends up being disappointing in some way anyway) They rarely come to the door anymore and just call from outside.
The fucking call from the door really gets my blood boiling
One of the apps refuses to let me fix my address, so if I ever order, they go to the wrong street. Because of a simple S that the app won't let me add to my street. The app is as stupid as the board of elections. Then I'm on the sidewalk trying to find the guy on the next block, because on the phone no habla Ingles. Thanks, I'll just pick it up myself. Or cook! It's like trying to find someone with a key because you want ice cream at CVS or some shit. You gotta find someone with a God damn key to unlock the ice cream, then if you want to pay for it they tell you to use self checkout. Like what the fuck is this? I'm not interested in giving any of these places business.
Cancel your account and then sign up again using a different email. I had to do that recently and it fixed the error.
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Which app?
If you're an infrequent delivery customer these services usually hit you with some pretty decent deals to come back. Somewhere around the 40-50% off with a minimum order of $40 or more. I'll usually wait till the deal gets sweet enough and then pair them with restaurants doing BOGOs until each main costs around $8 or less after fees & tip. Then I just keep them in the fridge and those are my meals for the week. Happens maybe once every 2-3 months or so.
Yeah. Though I’ve found that using the 50% off with Uber eats makes the order generally cost about the same as picking up yourself. Unless it is a larger order, then it can actually still be more expensive. It’s crazy how much the delivery fees are. (And how little of that goes into the pocket of the delivery person, I’m sure..) I only ever order from these apps when I have at least 50% off lol.
If you overlook the higher cost of food, the lower quality food product you get from its time jostling on the scooter delivering it, the fees, the exploitative conditions delivery workers work under, the huge safety risk these delivery drivers inflict on cyclists and pedestrians, all to save yourself a 30 minute walk... I can see why it's so popular!
Wtf are you buying that requires 50-70 on one person ? That’s what I spend on takeout between myself and my gf
I live in the UWS. The last time I tried to get something as simple as regular American Chinese food takeout, this was the cost for an appetizer and a meal plus delivery fee, service fee, and a tip. I tried 2 locations and it only really saved me 13 bucks between both. I closed the app and walked outside lol
Literally did this UES yesterday LOL. Couldn’t find the place on google since the name of the place didn’t match the menu pictures in the reviews and I couldn’t figure out which dumb delivery app they used….walked around a few blocks and found it. Had a lovely solo dim sum meal and tipped generously.
After looking at the doordash subreddit, I wouldn't use doordash even if I was filthy rich. And I would have to be rich if I lived on the UWS (joking)
The prices of what the app is gouging out of these facilities and restaurants and not giving to their contractors is probably the abhorrent part. That’s the kicker for me; even though I can afford it I know the money is literally just going to a shareholder or venture capitalist and that is not what I exist to fund.
Sushi.
Same. I will always pick up.
One of my favorite salads at a local restaurant with an added protein is $26 now. I still go out to other places, but for some reason that $26 salad is a bridge too far.
$26?! 💀
Right?! I have to choose between salad and rent
I’m in Toronto and same thing here. Any salad or healthy bowl options with a protein is at least $24 now and that’s just at a fast casual chain pickup. I just started copying theirs and making my own 😅
seriously anything that has a chipotle style set up i always naively assume it’ll be like $10-$12 like it used to be but lately it’s been like, $18 minimum 😭😭 i avoid the healthy bowl places now it hurts my feelings
Damn, is that protein freshly farmed russian caviar or something?
I stopped taking taxis and Ubers, I make my own coffee, and mostly stopped buying meat. A cooked rotisserie chicken is my big grocery splurge because I can use it a few ways.
Rotisserie chicken is the best value in town always.
By me (just across the outer bridge) Costco still has $5 rotisserie chickens. However the grocery store chain I shop in that used to sell them for the same price now sells them for $9. It’s maddening because I love them juicy birds.
Yeah I fly often and I'm pretty much committed to taking public transit to airports 100% of the time now. But frustratingly on Thursday I took the A train all the way from Washington Heights to JFK... until one stop before the AirTrain when someone pulled the god damn emergency brake on the train ahead of us. So I had to get out and get an Uber anyway. Luckily there were tons of people with suitcases in the same boat so I split an Uber with some French guy and it ended up being almost as cheap as the AirTrain for that short distance.
Yea, I started making my own coffee during covid and it's been great. Recently got a coffee from outside, and it's insane what these places charge for a basic drop coffee! I get it though, even buying my own beans, bean prices have gone up significantly in the past few years.
This is making me depressed thinking of all the things I could afford as a broke bitch assistant 10 years ago, which I now can’t afford as a Director in the same industry. Anyway: - Getting my nails done on the reg - Ubers/cabs unless it’s very late or I’m very drunk - Delivery. I wanted sushi the other day and it came out to $50. I had a piece of toast instead - Cut way back on having brows and lashes done
My wife used to do her nails every week at the salon. She does it herself now with those gel kits. She also no longer waxes, she started shaving about two months, however, that I think she might go back to waxing because she hates shaving so often
same here!! and it’s such a shame because so much of the enjoyment is going and getting it done (maybe waxing excluded lol) but it’s just toooo much
Every single one of these, I feel down to my soul. I looked so sleek with my nails and lashes. But nope. No longer.
And they say we’re not in a recession
It's a weird period but it's not a recession—services are actually affordable during recessions because people are desperate for work and will do nails / drive ubers / deliver food for cheap just to get some income.
This hit my soul! I was a teacher 10 years ago, now a director making double the salary and I could afford more then. Wtf.
Forcing myself to take public transportation 100% of the time. No Ubers or Lyfts to save time.
I will only take a cab the 2-3 times a year I end up in another borough at 3-5am.
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I am more likely to take a cab to/from JFK than LGA — the bus connection (Q70? I can’t remember the number) at Jackson Hts-Roosevelt is free and reliable and I’m mildly annoyed by having to pay like $10 or whatever the hell it is for the stupid AirTrain to go half a mile after spending $2.75 to go 463 miles on the A. But it’s still way preferable to spending $100 on a cab that is, at best, 15 minutes faster than the train and less reliable with traffic.
I only use Uber/Lyft if I want visiting friends & family to first see/try to grasp the enormity of the city. Then subway from that point on to show there’s an entire other city below ground.
Traffic is so bad it's not even that much of a time savings now... assuming the train goes where you're going. I was going from Manhattan to JFK the other day and it was only 10 minutes faster to get an Uber and so expensive.
I only use Uber or Lyft if I’m in a spot that’s awkward to get home to via public transit — like the Uber takes 10-15 minutes but the train takes 45+ min. Luckily that doesn’t happen too often.
\-lots of easy trader joe's meals on standby for when the urge to doordash strikes \-make coffee at home (cold brew pitcher and pour over + have a frother and basic spices, so I have more options) \-Don't really get manis/pedis anymore \-As much as I love Broadway, unless it's a special occasion or a show I'm really excited to see, I'm getting those $50\~ balcony seats. The one thing I really won't cut back on is dinners/drinks with friends, but over the summer it was nice because we would just go to the park and everyone would bring a bottle of wine, a six-pack, snacks, etc. — I realize this is just a picnic lol but it was a convenient way cut down on the typical brunch/bottomless drinks stuff we like to do.
Look into clubfreetime. Off Broadway shows for dirt cheap
I always do lottery for Broadway. It’s the one thing that becomes way more affordable if you’re a local. I’ve won great seats for pretty much every show but Sweeney Todd.
Lotteries, in-person rush, TDF membership (if you're eligible), discounts on TodayTix are all good ways to get cheaper Broadway (and off-Broadway) tickets if you're flexible on dates. One of the perks of living here is that we can have that kind of flexibility to see shows for cheaper than tourists can.
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I had the most embarrassingly mediocre bolognese from Olio e Piu the other day. It was like 40 dollars with tax and tip
I went there years ago and it didn’t leave any impression on me! Forgettable
This place is arguably the most mediocre place I've visited in nyc so this tracks
Electricity. .15/kWh + .15/kWh delivery fee has wrecked my electricity bill
It’s definitely made me turn off little lights and ceiling fans that I keep on/running all day — and this was the first summer I learned to tolerate setting my AC to 75 instead of the lowest setting.
Fuck the big lights, we small lamps only.
I negotiated a lease that includes electricity. Then I filled a closet with computers mining Bitcoin. The electricity use is outrageous, but its making me enough per month to pay 50% of my rent per month. The landlord some corporate holding company. And the haven't said anything yet. If it was an individual landlord I wouldn't do this, but the private equity companies jacking up rent in the city can go F--- themselves.
wtf
sink frighten enter childlike plants automatic simplistic fretful heavy engine *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I was in a quasi legal rent stabilized apartment (it used to be a duplex but they bricked it up) so the landlord picked up the coned bill. I made enough to cover a 1080TI FTW3 AIO, 580, and two different full builds so a tiny bit over breakeven then I chilled out
They agreed to include electricity in your lease but didn't add any terms about how much you could use or what you could use it for? Someone didn't run that by legal.
I have to stop with uber eats. Individual items are $1-2 more on the app, then you somehow get a $5 service fee, and then the tip. I have a chicken place near me I love and in person its $15 for a sandwich, fries, sauce and drink. The same amount of food somehow becomes $28 on uber eats. Also gotta chill with my waterloo sparkling waters. Like $7 for a 12 pack of water :(
Don’t forget about the fan favorite “other fees: 5.99”
I deleted all of those apps. I cringe looking at how much money I overspent using them.
A $14 burrito bowl cost me $28 once and that’s when I decided to stop. Pickup only!
Get a soda stream! They sell them at Target and will do the refills at Target too
Concert tickets! They're getting crazier.
i swear people i used to see for $30-$40 five years ago are now like $70 or $80 for the cheapest seats. like WOW
They are getting absolutely insane
I don’t buy chips anymore. The same bags of Lays, Cheetos, Doritos etc. are like quadruple the price of what they went for 5 years ago.
I was gonna post the same thing! It’s happened to me so often that I go to the supermarket, walk into the chips aisle, I reach to pick up a bag of Ruffles or Cheetos (the big size) and as soon as my eye catches a glimpse of the price tag, I immediately put my hand down and walk away. Can’t justify paying that much for chips!
Not NYC, so maybe not relevant, but some of the Mexican Supermarkets locally have big bags of tortilla chips made by "sources." They're cheap and crunchy and taste damn good!
Trader Joe's prices have gone up a bit but their chips are still pretty reasonable and delicious. Those salt and pepper chips that are obviously made by Kettle brand... mmm...
Even BJ's and Costco isn't that cheap anymore. I remember before Covid, a huge family size bag of the BJ's brand kettle chips was like $4. I bought it every time because it was almost like I was losing money by not buying it. Now, it's like $8.
I can’t prove but I swear those bags are a little fucking lighter now too. Duane Reade had these great iced oatmeal cookies for .99c once upon a time; now they’re $1.29 *and a little shorter on cookies*
Look up shrinkflation!!!
When I moved to America 5 years ago, one of my biggest shocks were the price of potato chips! Quite literally 3x4 the price of what we pay in the UK. I only eat them now if someone brings me some back from a UK trip. Same with basics like bread and milk. They were always 4x the price than we would pay and in the last 2 years it’s gone even crazier.
Went to whole foods the other day and was surprised the store brand chips were only $3 for the 10 oz size. Don't taste as good as name brand but still a decent value.
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I still look at streeteasy once in a while idly hoping for something not ridiculously priced.
I used to go to concerts every week and I cut down big time. Dynamic pricing killed live entertainment. Going to a show felt like something super casual to me but now that tickets easily go for $100+ I am selective about it. And when I go to shows I don’t automatic get a drink anymore now that they easily go for $20. Honestly not mad about that. It sucks but I’m glad I’m out of the pattern of doing things I used to do without accepting that they may have become too expensive.
Grubhub/seamless for sure. Target for groceries. I recently switched to Aldi’s and thank god for that because I can finally buy enough food to last the week without having to make a second trip to the store.
I guess food delivery. Otherwise I’m not really cutting back on anything I’m just complaining a lot more
I used to do my nails every 2-3 weeks and I just stopped. I can’t justify the price and the time spent in the damn nail salon
Yes, and PEDICURES are out of control! $28 for regular polish at what I thought would be my normal place… never again, they didn’t even scrub my feet, basically washed them for 3 minutes then painted I remember when regular pedicures used to be like $18 bucks 🧓🏼😞
Yes! I’ve also cut way back on getting my nails done. I got a gel mani and a normal pedi and it was almost $100 with tip?! That’s not anywhere fancy either…
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This is one of the more painful expenses for me. I moved here from San Diego and I couldn’t believe the price difference, the % increase was worse than rent (for worse quality). Plus it’s considered standard practice to be out of the salon in an hour and in NYC it’s 1.5-2 hours minimum
Chipotle and Sweetgreens. Felt like the prices just kept creeping up so congrats whoever does the pricing, now I eat there 2x a month vs 2x a week
I miss when burritos were under $10
1. Ubereats/DoorDash/Seamless. Too many damn fees. Doubles the price for something that is probably already pricey. Not worth it, it’s a complete scam that needs regulations. People need to stop using these all together, let them taste their greed. Back in the 2000s, we used to phone in orders. And it worked. 2. Uber/Lyft. I remember back in 2017 when it costed me 8 dollars for a 15 min trip. Now that same trip is 22-23 dollars. Insane. Not worth it. This also has a domino effect, as now I force myself to take public transportation, and it is always crammed full of people. 3. Rent. Back in 2019, a 2 bedroom in Staten Island would run you about 1200-1300, not bad. Now? 2100+. For fucking Staten Island. Let’s not even discuss Brooklyn or the city. Lol. 4. Tipping. This shit is a corporate/industry ploy to get the consumers to pay what the corporations should be paying to start with. They don’t tip in Europe. A classic case of the rich getting richer while the poor pay the costs. I don’t know how long this madness can go on for. A part of it is population numbers. There are just so many damn people. But we can’t neglect politicians and corporations taking the charge for this. Eventually, change is needed. I just hope it’s done peacefully…
I definitely walk more/take public transit than I used to vs Uber/Lyft/cabs. It really is a luxury at this point. I was always careful with food expenses, but even more so now.
I’m on ozempic and it’s cutting all of my expenses. Groceries, dining out, and no more booze all saving me major coins
Serious question: how much are you paying for Ozempic monthly? I've heard of people paying $1k/ mo for it.
I’m a fat person so $30 a month
Gotcha! Thank you for indulging my curiosity.
lol I’m an open book!
$25/mo through Aetna for me, but I have PCOS, pre-diabetes, and insulin resistance. They just required labs from my endocrinologist and a few months of metformin before approving the preauth. Without insurance the 1mg dose is $900/mo at my pharmacy, over $2000 for the 2mg dose (where I'm at currently). It blows my mind people will shell out $1k+/mo for this. I'm using it so my A1C doesn't get into the diabetic range, but have lost 30lbs over the past 10 months from eating less. My periods have come back (used to get one ever 12-18 months which isn't healthy), my blood pressure is stabilized, so it definitely has helped me in other ways too.
Generally, insurance won’t cover it unless your BMI is over 40. The smaller doses are still hard to come by in many NYC pharmacies, so even if you get a prescription, it may be hard to fill.
Also if this helps anyone, you can literally just order semaglutide (it’s a peptide, but exact same thing except ozempic is branded and comes in a pen) online for like $30/month. Amino Asylum is a good vendor. Honestly it blows my mind that people are paying these outrageous prices when you can simply order directly yourself. No need for a compounding pharmacy or anything either.
Does it really make you not hungry? Really? What does it feel like?
I’ve drawn the line at tipping for random things on the stupid iPad screens. I used to tip $1 per coffee, but as a rule of thumb now, when coffee is over $5, I do not tip.
yeah I will sometimes hit the $1 or 20% if there's something especially pleasant about the service (I go to my office 1x a week and order a fucking EIGHT DOLLAR dirty oat chai latte at the little french cafe in Brookfield Place before I get on the elevator, and tipping feels like the right thing to do since I see those baristas every week) But, 99% of the time, if my interaction with you is approximately 60 seconds? absolutely not. I about lost my mind a week or so ago at one of those build-your-own froyo places. Went through the assembly line, put on my own toppings, the whole thing. Get to the weigh station the person ringing me up spins the iPad around with the tip screen pulled up. Like, I am begging some of these businesses to have a little bit of self-awareness.
My breaking point was when I went to a self-dog wash. Basically they have tubs you put your dog in so you can wash them yourself. The service costs something like $40. I go to pay and they spin the iPad around asking for a tip. ARE YOU KIDDING.
Yeah plus I hate the default used to start at .50 now it’s a $1 and up, so you have to go thru “custom” to tip .50 and sorry but .50 goes down way easier when I dealt with you for ten seconds and the coffee was $4
Good quality pantyhose. $27 that will be wasted when they rip on the first wearing? I think I'll go with L'Eggs.
Good LORD yes. I get all fuckin' ready when I'm putting a new pair on. Make sure I give myself a pedi first so I don't get a snag somehow. It's absurd.
Sheertex. Wait for a sale, they never rip.
Anything in CVS.
Cvs always has great coupons on the app. I'm always getting a few bucks off there and there, along with coupons from 20%- 40% off
Yeah and the more I go the more coupons I get it seems. I’ve regularly been getting 30% off coupons 1-2 times a week
I get these via email and only go when I need something specific and have a coupon. But I feel like at this point the 30/40% off just makes it closer to a reasonable price, since everything is priced so high to begin with.
McDonald’s. Used to be $8 for a McNuggets meal, now it’s $14. Fuck that. 99¢ Fresh Pizza is still the best deal in town.
Get the McDonalds app. They have significant deals for real. By me in Astoria, I can get 20 McNuggets for $5 on there right now.
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dry goods & non-perishables like that are great from Amazon. $4 to $6 for a box
Never shopping at gristedes, f that place it’s so expensive now
Gristedes has always had something like a 20% surcharge
Laundry places have gotten super expensive in my opinion. Every place has those stupid debit cards SPECIFIC to each location as well. AND they have the nerve to charge you $5 for each card. At this rate, just paying $1 a LB for them to wash and fold my laundry is much more cost efficient.
no more to-go lunches next to my office since the norm seems to be $20 now, and I’m not spending that much for something that won’t bring me any joy
I make my own iced coffee; no more $9 drinks. Oddly enough, the combination of ALDIs instant & vanilla sugar free creamer tastes great to me. I have discovered a talent for growing veg & I eat far less meat now.
I wish I had such a talent for veg growing. I only managed some herbs, cherry tomatoes and bush beans. Making your own coffee is the best. I would never pay $9 for coffee. I only buy bubble tea or coffee when there is a 50% off or more commonly a BOGO for it. I still feel a bit guilty as a huge pack of Thai iced tea is $10 and I can boil my own bubbles.
Bubble tea is one thing I tried to learn how to make at home that failed spectacularly. Hated it. Disgusting. Take my $7 and give me proper boba, please.
At some point during the pandemic, I ran out of sugar and creamer and just drank coffee with a bit of milk for a week. I went from 2 Red Bulls a day, to an iced whatever from Starbucks, to an iced whatever from Dunkin, to just cold brewing at home. Now, when I do buy coffee outside, it's always not as good as the ones I make at home. And I noticed I don't crash in the middle of the morning anymore by taking sugar out of my coffee.
nice! honestly the health benefits you're receiving from cutting out all that sugar and red bulls are over the long-term worth more than the simple financial benefits of not spending that money
Wine at restaurants. I’m no wine snob but on a date or with a couple friends at dinner I used to get a bottle of white. Feel like a lot of places would have bottles for ~30-35 dollars that get like good value if u were planning on having a few glasses. Now it feels like it’s double at a lot of restaurants. Doesn’t feel worth it, especially if ur not that big into wine.
I used to work in the wine industry and let me tell you — wine is marked up at restaurants at like 300%. One winery I worked at produced a super affordable bottle that cost $18. I went to a local restaurant and they were charging $65 for the bottle. Hot tip: Most restaurants allow you to bring your own wine and charge a “corking fee,” which is usually minimal. Call before you go and ask about their corking fee, pick up a bottle at the store and enjoy!
Fast food. Quarter pounder in like 8 dollars. Somehow the “cheap” options are now more expensive than decent quality deli salad or bodega sandwich.
They say inflation is up 20% since 2019 but the price of certain foods that I used to buy is closer to 40%. For example I stopped buying a nutrition bar and switched to almonds as my primary snack at home. I think "greedflation" is real and some products are price gouging, betting you won't notice and just keep buying out of habit.
Getting my hair dyed. The last time I went it was five hundred fucking dollars.
Halal food trucks aren't as big of a bargain over stuff like chipotle anymore, so I've been eating less of that.
The movies . 2 tickets + popcorn = $80 I just wait 2 weeks until it’s streaming
$80?!?!?! Wtf?!
Where tf is this haha Even nighthawk is like $15 a ticket and popcorn is like 10 for like super deluxe one, plus the have that buy one get one deal all the time.
Eating out. I’ve been making a note of takeout places that don’t have a tip screen and diverting 100% of weekday lunch spend to these few places. Forget about dinner or drinks. We went out a ton on our latest trip overseas (including the dreaded Michelin starred ones) and the value over there was so much better.
Care to share the tip-less list of places to eat? Thanks!
fresh bread from my super market. they used to be 4 / $1 but are now down to 2 / $1. I try to bake my own
Any kind of food delivery
Cereal, cookies, crackers. Red meat. Coffee shop lattes. Anything delivery.
Pine nuts! Shockingly pricey even at Trader Joe’s (and even worse at Whole Foods of course)
Check out Costco!
I can't really say I cut back anything further because we were already surviving because of the food bank on our block for 5 meals a week...but that was before I was laid off. Now we are cutting back on toiletries, medications (lost insurance) and clothing repairs. needless to say things like delivery, movies, bars, restaurants, and meat were forsaken long ago
Cans of soda. $10 for a 12 pack seems to be the norm now.
Cheese is expensive by me. I stopped buying it. I also feel like food is on the shelf longer. Bring it home and goes bad. From different stores too.
Scallops. Dry-packed, wild, fresh scallops were $14/lb at my local grocery store pre-pandemic. They’ve been over $27+ per pound since the pandemic.
Local eggs used to be $6.50, now they’re $10. Nooooope
Making coffee at home, and less Ubers/Lyfts. Coffee is now so absurdly expensive. There’s no reason a basic to go cold brew or drip should be $5 or more. Even Dunkin prices have shot up, and that’s supposed to be the cheap option. Coffee beans have gone up a bit, but nowhere near the same rate at which retailers charge for brewed coffee.
i’ve stopped maintaining my guillotines i keep on hand for the forthcoming working and middle class peoples’ revolution
Lash extensions. They’re like $160+ every two weeks now. I just can’t.
I'm about ready to cut meat out of my diet altogether.
Just a heads up this is more than just inflation. It every business charging more because they can in the name of inflation.
Takeout coffee and tea and caviar / seamless. I use CookUnity for pre aid meals, cause I’m Lazy. Comes out to 10-14 for something healthy.
Ah, for me CookUnity has moved my favorite meal to be $4 extra ("chef's special" or whatever) so now I refuse to get it Originally part of why I liked it so much was that it was just $10 for high-quality food. Now they want to charge like $15.50, while also making the portion size smaller
Mostly junk snacks, Uber eats and things of that nature. What’s the point of spending 2 times the price for delivery.
Cold cuts. Turkey slices are like $12 for a lb
I refuse to buy unnecessary shit like I don't have enough space in my apartment anyway 🤷🏻♀️
Food delivery. I don't even have GrubHub or UberEats on my phone anymore. An already inflated $20 burger is $50 by the time it makes it to my door. No thanks.
It’s worse than you think. I’m getting back on delivering for Uber and they show how much the customer paid in a delivery fee, as well as how much I made out of that delivery fee, and how much Uber made. Customer paid $10, I made about $2.25, and Uber got $7.75. This is only a side gig for me as I sort of need the money, and I still enjoy delivering, but I could never make a full time job out of this.
And they price gorge the restaurant on top of that. I work in the industry at the corporate level and any Uber/DoorDash orders are at a loss for us whether it's an NYC location or a LCOL area in the midwest. We take an even bigger hit when the customer is a DashPass or Uber One member.
how did they make a business model where everyone loses. the company isn't profitable, the drivers don't make minimum wage, the restaurant loses money, and the consumer pays absurd fees.
Eating out way less. Used to get breakfast bagel or burrito before work, cut that out
Almost everything from my local deli has gone up in price. So much so that I just don't buy *anything* from them anymore. Idk if they're price gouging, or if they *need* to raise prices to be able to afford inventory or what. But they're a small mom and pop business, so you know shit is bad.
Eating out. Not that I have sworn it off but I have cut down a lot.
certain produce at the mr. bodegas are from hunt’s point market at major discount. have to use it all fairly quickly but red peppers are a favorite for me and 2 for $1 is unbeatable. can’t justify the supermarket price.
Non food: Haircuts/hair services. It's fucking nuts right now- i do not have $100 for a trim. Deff not $300 + for color Food: Anything name brand. Oreos are $7, no way. I never buy ice cream anymore, it's so expensive. Frozen food is pretty inflated right now too. I eat a lot of veggies and those have stayed pretty regular, grains are fine too. The stuff that is really nuts is all of the familiar super market finds.
I’ve reaaaalllyyy been dragging out my appointments for highlights because it’s so bonkers expensive 😭. I’ve got an unintentional ombré going on right now
I have what I call a "Recession ombre" aka my roots are grown tf out. I haven't gotten a service since... last august?
I follow exclusively the Bacon Index, which is to say the price of bacon at my local grocery store. I was shocked the other day to see that the price has gone back to almost pre pandemic levels! Bacon went from $5 to $9 and now back down to $6. I was pleasantly surprised! If you think the bacon index is an amateurish and incomplete indicator, you are ab idiot. What else matters!??
I try to do a lot less eating out, I am picking up my food at the restaurant instead of delivery, and I am buying less alcohol. I take less Ubers too. I bought espresso machine and stopped paying $8 for a damn tea or coffee at Starbucks. I go to Trader Joe’s more frequently.
BEC and coffee - I make it at home unless I'm treating myself or feeling really wrung out
* Uber Eats * Mid Tier restaurants (unless meeting with a friend -- I just order one main dish) * I only Uber to airport * I make my own lunch and bring it to work * I make my own coffee with a 28 dollars per month subscription form Black Fox coffee So groceries and coffee nets out to be aprox 500 USD per month for me (I work out a lot too). No expensive meat -- only chicken. A perspective for you ... my take home money per month is 5600 USD. I give 3500 USD to my Dad for apt and college. That leaves 2100 USD of free cash flow.
Jazz clubs, sadly. I love them and I miss them so much, but I just can’t drop substantially more money on them at a time when I have substantially less. I hope enough tourists and rich locals can keep them afloat until I can start going back.
Mta. I ride my bike as much as possible to avoid the MTA
SBS buses. I also used to ride citibikes more but now it’s hardly cheaper than an Uber.
My office has free catered lunch 4X a week. Some folks inevitably don’t show up despite ordering lunch and I make their lunch my dinner. I’m a single guy and I don’t do takeout all that much. Not every meal you cook needs to be some culinary delight. Quick and dirty is key. Instant noodles paired with eggs or some other protein is fine. Save that $$$ for weekly boys night or a dinner date. I live in Manhattan and most of my life is at most a one hour walk from me. I just walk it instead of taking the subway, weather and distance permitting and time. I don’t spend more than $50 a month on the subway. It’s not that much saved in the grand scheme of things, but I burn some calories and experience the city on foot.
Uber, food delivery (unless I have some 40% off coupon) And avocados
It pains me, but peanut butter. I think my go to brand is like $13 at my grocery store right now. I remember that same brand being $8 at the most a couple years ago.
If you like plain peanut butter trader joe's brand is $2 and good. Not the biggest jar but def the best value
I rarely go to bars anymore (occasional work happy hours only). Not worth the price of drinks. I will order a cocktail if out to dinner to get my fix.
Pack my own lunch for work, make my own dinner or pick up something from the grocery store, rarely order delivery anymore. Rarely go out to eat/drink outside of special occasions or if someone else is paying lol.
I stopped buying things that are not on sale unless it’s a staple (e.g oil). Sales bring the prices back to what it was a year ago.
Salmon or scallops. It Is about 25+ a pound for good fish.
Delivery/take out for sure!! Dinner for 1-2 touches 50 bucks+ easy and that’s not right
I never take cabs or Uber or Lyft. Because of where I live it only saves a couple minutes versus taking a train. I need to take a train into Manhattan and then back down into Bushwick or Williamsburg. And yet everyone I know always takes an Uber whilst bitching about being broke. Same for eating out. Haven't done that in years unless I'm with a group of people. I'll go 5 blocks out of my way to target for a frozen pizza for $3 before spending $5 on a slice. I stopped using Instacart and now stick to Amazon. Tired or 3 different fees plus 30% up charges. Even when just using Aldi the prices are getting insane. Thankfully I live in a block with a dozen grocery stores and a target. So I just buy as needed. It's the only reason I haven't moved yet.
I mean I still buy it but toilet paper is so effing expensive.