Someone posed this question today and I don’t quite have an answer yet. I’ll bet it’s something from the grocery store for me.
What is something that is so expensive now that you refuse to buy it???
I ALMOST thought this when I was at a garden center today. Regular 10 inch one variety hanging baskets that were not long ago, $20-25 are now $34. The bad news with that is that I won’t buy a one variety, I like a multi-variety and those are knocking on the door of $45 or more. I won’t stop buying these but dang, I’m reducing the # I buy.
If you have plenty of $$$ and nothing will stop you from buying anything, feel free to drive on by…..
There are so many things I rarely buy these days because I refuse to pay the prices. I now buy 2nd hand books from friends of library instead of new kids’ books. The kids read them while interested & the. the parents donate to library or thrift shop—seems more ecological. I attach a card & check to the books.
Fancy drinks not just at Starbucks. We just had a Dunkin’ Donuts open, they have a green tea drink that’s so expensive I’m not going there. Starbucks also.
Panera Bread, when did that get so expensive?
Steak in a restaurant. I can make my own for a fraction of the price.
I won’t pay a ton to play golf, we belong to a course and will play others. In the fall when rates decline. I am not paying a ton to play.
I’m also having sticker shock on renting an Airbnb in PA in December. Who wants to vacation in PA in December? I could take my family on a cruise for what some of these places want for a random weekend.
At the end of the day, I’m a middle class girl from the Midwest who while not cheap is happy to save a buck and not overpay.
When I go shopping once a week, I bring back cheeseburgers for my husband and whatever kids are home, because they are really good and cooked fresh for 2.99. Not only do I hate to cook after shopping and putting everything away, but I couldn’t make that burger (with fries, no less) at that cost.
There are very few premade things I can pick up for myself due to allergies, so I usually pick myself up a lobster that they’ll steam in-store. I justify it because it’s less than picking up a Big Mac (not that I could eat that). Very often in my area, lobster is under $8.00/lb (I remember when my kids were in preschool, they were 3.99/lb and I’d let them get one as an afterschool snack if we stopped at the store). I’ve stopped lately because my limit is $12/lb. I just refuse to pay more. They’ve been up around $15 lately, and I just came back from the store, and they were $16. I kind of know the seasons and when they will be more expensive (which is still under $12). For a while, they were more expensive because they were exporting them. Right now it’s because of fuel, and I don’t see it coming down anytime soon.
Agree on the steak. I like a rib eye and one of local meat stores have them for not too bad a price - it’s still a splurge (price wise and nutrition wise) but every now and then I’ll do it.
Re: coffee, 2 of my kids have moved to just getting drip at a coffee shop - so much more affordable and they seem good with that over flavored drinks.
Yes, beverages while dining out—I just refuse to buy them. They’re so overpriced and water is better for us anyway. Even “happy hour” drink prices seem high to me, a teetotaler.
I mainly keep to my rule about thinking hard about anything over $25, regardless of whether it’s food, clothing, drugs, etc. If I see a disconnect between price and my definition of value, I don’t buy it. OTOH, if it’s something I absolutely need or really want, I don’t care about the price (lobster, for instance). I won‘t spend $50 on a pair of shoes, but I thought nothing of buying a cabin to enjoy half the year.
Unless it’s to socialize, we don’t go out to restaurants as we don’t see the food/drink value there. But, we don’t shrink from buying pricey food items (like steak, artichokes, and Blanton’s) to enjoy at home.
Never coffee from a shop, but we have fancy coffee/machines at home.
Part of the reason I don’t travel is I don’t see any value for that outlay.
I buy these little creamer potatoes at Costco. They went up to a price I’ve never seen so I bought red potatoes instead that were cheaper.
I buy organic fruit when possible to pacify my better half but if org strawberries are $13.99 at Costco and regular $3.99, I go regular. Maybe $8.99 is my limit.
Ice cream - I’ll find what’s on sale. Once a year Costco has Yasso bars and I load up.
Prime steaks at a restaurant unless there’s a deal. We once did Tomahawk Tuesday at Flemings 2 for $135 and it became two meals. Now SK Steakhouse has a 3 course $49 deal but the reviews are ehhhhh
Hotels - it’s a place to sleep. I don’t need a Ritz Carlton. Even on a vaca, $200 a night makes me ill.
Most of my work travel had pretty limited options for hotels (corporate travel company made the bookings. You had a little latitude but not much. If there was an indoor pool, I’d pick that over most other amenities). The options were clean, safe, conveniently located, but not luxurious except for conferences and retreats.
Since Covid, most of my travel is personal (family, friends, vacation). And I’ve found that NOT splurging on a hotel is very satisfying. Clean and convenient. Ask for a room away from the elevator bank (quieter at night) and nowhere near the ice machine (it clanks 24/7) and I’m good. And my best hack- no matter what the official policy is for the hotel courtesy van, if you ask nicely ahead of time, the driver will likely take you ANYWHERE, within reason. Cab to the airport? No need. Courtesy van. Drop off to a mall because I forgot to pack a nightgown and it’s too cold to sleep in a t-shirt? No problem- tell the driver “can you pick me up right here in front of Macy’s in an hour?”.
There are so many incredible things to spend money on when you travel, but in my book, a fancy hotel is not one of them!!!
I still bought them, but I noticed when I went to Costco this week that Organic blueberries here are now $12.99. Last I recall they were $8.99. That seemed like a big jump to me, but I did buy 2 cartons of them.
Starbucks (chai latte - I don’t drink coffee), which was already only a once or twice a month treat. After the latest price increase I decided no more. I do support local coffee shops (if they have chai latte) as a once a week or so treat or if I’m traveling.
Yeah, I have a very tough time paying a lot of hotels. S & my friend booked all our hotels for Scandinavia and Tokyo using points & awards. They did it for “fun,” and because they refused to pay the rates that are being charged. The hotels and overnight ferry cover our trip multiple weeks. They got several CCs and got points bonuses for signed up for new cards, etc. We got a bunch of cards when we had to pay out of pocket for D’s very expensive surgery with an organization which does NOT participate with Medicare! We are going to be filing itemized deductions for that year because we spent SO much on medical in 2025.
I will pay whatever is required for medical expenses but really expect insurer to cover what they contracted to cover and will fight until they properly process and pay all they are supposed to!
I generally refuse to pay full-price for most clothing. I tend to buy on sale and generally am NOT in an rush to do much to my wardrobe.
I’m super cheap about clothing. Also furniture pieces.
I gripe about the increased cost of food but I’m still going to buy what I enjoy eating. We have started buying some more things at Sam’s and freezing them when the prices at our regular market more than doubled.
I also gripe about travel costs but we still pay what it is. I love a nice hotel and we are lucky that H travels a ton so we always have points. Not sure I’d feel the same way if we were paying out of pocket every time.
What we call “chicken” lobsters are .75 lb (You can’t take them smaller than that. It’s actually measured by the length of the body, but you’re not going to find anything under .75 lb, nor would it be worth eating). Sometimes all you can find at the grocery store are smaller lobsters (1-1 1/4 lb) because restaurants tend to snatch up the larger sizes. Every once in awhile you can find a 2+ pounder. I’ve gotten a few 2.77-3 lbs. The good thing is when those are available, lobster is usually pretty cheap. Some places charge a premium for larger sizes, but my grocery store doesn’t.
For me, 1 1/4 lb is a good meal, but I prefer 1 3/4. I do get bigger ones if they have them and make lobster rolls for the next day.
As long as it’s clean, I’ll stay at a budget hotel if we are traveling for some reason (school visits, taking care of some kind of business, etc.)
If we are traveling for pleasure, my rule is that I want to stay somewhere nicer than our own bedroom. Which is pretty nice, so it bumps us into “deluxe” territory. But, I’m also pretty cheap, so the only way for this to work is for my husband to book and not tell me what it cost. However, DH has no idea what “nice” means and would be happy to sleep in a hostel, so this also doesn’t work very well and then he gets mad at me for complaining. Thus, we don’t travel much.
