The "That cost how much??" game!

[Iowajes]

Looking at prices pigs are cheap.

Expect pork prices to go up. The farmer's have been having trouble with a virus killing off the pigs.

 

[Eastern]

We thought it would be great to put in a patio there. had three guys come and give us a quote for a brick paver patio (I don't want a slab). We had used an online calculator that supposedly quotes based on your zipcode- we were expecting $3k-5k.

Nope, the estimates were between $14,000 and $16,000.

We decided a picnic table on the grass would work just fine, and did some DIY flower beds along the house wall (where the sod didn't take) for $150. We'll put in hostas, which grow in shade.

Don't get me started on landscapers. DH and I do everything ourselves. I can't imagine how much $$ we've saved over the past 10 years at this house.

 

[ctinct]

Deli meat and cheese. My daughter is starting her summer job next week, and asked for roast beef to make sandwiches. $14.00 a lb.!

 

[mrsabbott]

Gas prices always get me.. Bessie is a gas hog and it can easily cost us almost $100 to fill her up!

Anything home improvement related.. I wanted to get new pulls for my kitchen cabinets and drawers.. YIKES!! Paint is insanely expensive also.. And FLOORING! Ugh!

Car repairs.. school pictures.. food.. going to the movies.. ticket prices to the parks.. parking fees.. it all blows me away!

 

[barkley]

I know the pain. I'm an ER nurse. We have crazy high healthcare in this country. Plus my DH checked in at work one night. We just got the $2600 bill. Insurance only covered $736.

the only thing that gives me some solace on the insane amount we pay for insurance is when we get our monthly prescriptions and look at our co-pay vs. the no insurance/cash price I picked up 2 scrips last week and paid $5 each, the cash price for the 2 combined would have been over $550

before dd moves out in a couple of months I have to print out and review with her what her university's mandatory bare bones coverage is so she will know, depending on what's happening with her if she should go to their contracted provider or call us to take her to our contracted preferred provider (fortunately she will live locally to us).

 

[havaneselover]

Deli meat and cheese. My daughter is starting her summer job next week, and asked for roast beef to make sandwiches. $14.00 a lb.!

When boars head turkey was costing $10/lb I had to switch to the prepackages stuff at Costco. It's not as good but I deal since it's a third the cost.

 

[Alexle2007]

An oil change cost me $37.76. From a place we take 5 cars to be repaired (when needed). And the mgr (who did not ring me up) is a friend of our family.

Whatever happened to the $25 oil change?

That's cheap! I took my SUV in for an oil change at my sister and BIL's shop, $103! Of course, it needs synthetic oil.

 

[eliza61]

A can of paint is $43?!?! Seriously?? It amazes me the amount of people sticking their hands into your wallet daily!! Health insurance - over $20K for family coverage! And it still costs a fortune if anyone is admitted to a hospital. Property taxes (for our average, not so spectular NJ home) - just raised to $15K. Guess I should be happy - most of my friends are paying $18-20K. Every time I go to the grocery store - nothing is under $1 anymore! Years ago, we used to joke and say you couldn't go to Costco and spend less than $100. Now, the average trip is over $200. Whenever I think Costco is getting expensive, I go to Target or a grocery store and realize how much a bargain Costco is (relatively speaking). These prices keep creeping up and the product sizes keep trending down. 15 years ago gas was 85 cents a gallon. Now it is $3.85 a gallon!! So tired of dropping $50 filling the tank!! The price of Disney resorts and park tickets keep going up and up! Thank God we stayed at the Polynesian 5 years ago - now the price is sooooo high I could not justify ever staying there (same goes for Grand Floridan and the Contemporary). Same for some of the Disney restaurants. Airline travel is also out of control! Buying airline tickets is like playing the stock market since the prices keep changing. Also, the fees the airlines are charging on top of the airfares are getting obnoxious. There must be a rule from the FAA preventing the airlines for charging to use the bathroom on the plane. I wanted to get a new minivan to replace our 10 year old Honda Pilot. My husband saw the prices and FLIPPED OUT! The minivan prices have been so inflated by adding 12 cup holders, built in coolers, DVD systems, navigation, power doors and CENTRAL VACUUMING Don't get me wrong - central vacuuming might be useful in a minivan but all these features really jack up the price! Whenever I try to look at minivans, my husband wanders over to the similarly priced 2 seater convertible sports cars. Aghh. When I tell him we don't !

Property taxes is one of the main reason I recently moved from Jersey. My house was paid off and I was still paying 1000 a month in property taxes. Schools were not that damn good. I'm in Philly now, same size house (no yard though) and my taxes are now 137 bucks a month. Even factoring city wage tax I'm 600 bucks less.

I have so many of my friends, nearing retirement leaving Jersey. Even with no mortgage it's insane

 

[OceanAnnie]

Property taxes is one of the main reason I recently moved from Jersey. My house was paid off and I was still paying 1000 a month in property taxes. Schools were not that damn good. I'm in Philly now, same size house (no yard though) and my taxes are now 137 bucks a month. Even factoring city wage tax I'm 600 bucks less.

I have so many of my friends, nearing retirement leaving Jersey. Even with no mortgage it's insane

Holy cow. Small wonder people would leave over that.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Alexle2007-

Does that SUV really require synthetic oil? Be sure to check the owners manual. There are a limited number of vehicles that require it.

Even if it was a pure synthetic oil change, 103 sounds a bit high.

 

[Nayan]

I swear there must be some kind of sensor somewhere that goes off when I get in the car, alerting everyone to raise their prices . Food, gas, clothes, vacation, you name it, it's expensive and it seems like every week another price hike.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I swear there must be some kind of sensor somewhere that goes off when I get in the car, alerting everyone to raise their prices . Food, gas, clothes, vacation, you name it, it's expensive and it seems like every week another price hike.

Same here! I find myself pausing and thinking how much did that go up? And is this thing less than what I was getting? If it's gone up significantly I either think of an similar alternative or something altogether different. Sometimes it's the darn principle of the thing. You know how much something is worth and once it maxes out, that's it.

Of course some things you just can't do anything but pay it. Necessities.

 

[scrapquitler]

Room and Board for ONE semester for my daughter's college...$5800!

 

[angwill]

Property taxes is one of the main reason I recently moved from Jersey. My house was paid off and I was still paying 1000 a month in property taxes. Schools were not that damn good. I'm in Philly now, same size house (no yard though) and my taxes are now 137 bucks a month. Even factoring city wage tax I'm 600 bucks less.

I have so many of my friends, nearing retirement leaving Jersey. Even with no mortgage it's insane

Those NJ taxes sound like IL property taxes. It is insane.

 

[Alexle2007]

Alexle2007-

Does that SUV really require synthetic oil? Be sure to check the owners manual. There are a limited number of vehicles that require it.

Even if it was a pure synthetic oil change, 103 sounds a bit high.

Unfortunately, yes. It's a BMW and everything is expensive about it. $50 for a replacement gas tank lid. Never again! We went with a Honda when we recently bought.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

If you and your spouse want to enjoy a free steak dinner for two out in town, you might see if you guys can change the oil yourself. 5 qts of premium pure synthetic oil and a filter should come in at less than 50 dollars.

That means you two can spend a little over 53 bucks for a dinner for 2!

I admit that sometimes we take our cars to a place that has 18 dollar specials (that is about what just the materials cost for us), but when a service place charges full retail for the premium synthetic, there is serious money to be saved by doing it in your driveway.

 

[smokeyblue]

Room and Board for ONE semester for my daughter's college...$5800!

Higher eduction is beyond outrageous. There has to be a less expensive way to educate people in a meaningful way that will put them into a career . . . not into debt!

 

[tvguy]

Room and Board for ONE semester for my daughter's college...$5800!

You know, I don't even look at that as remotely expensive. Just rent and food alone here would cost you more than $1,160 a month not even factoring in tuition..

 

[My2Qtz0205]

We wanted to do cabinet refaceing and new counter tops the price quoted from home depot was $26.000!!!!! Dh and I almost fell over

Good grief. You must have a huge kitchen. We got our kitchen redone in 2008. We got all new cabinets, Silestone countertops with an undermount sink, new faucet and hardware, and a bigger garbage disposal for $14k from Home Depot.

 

[tvguy]

Good grief. You must have a huge kitchen. We got our kitchen redone in 2008. We got all new cabinets, Silestone countertops with an undermount sink, new faucet and hardware, and a bigger garbage disposal for $14k from Home Depot.

$63,000 here. But we went with Corian countertops.