The Price of Existence: When Everything Becomes Too Expensive to Justify

A Viral Thread Reveals the Quiet Crisis of Modern Economics

A simple question posed on TikTok, “What’s something that’s so expensive now that it’s not even worth it to do/buy anymore?” generated thousands of responses that paint a disturbing picture of economic reality in 2024. The answers weren’t just about luxury items or frivolous spending. They revealed something far more troubling: the systematic pricing out of ordinary people from basic aspects of human life.

The Death of “Cheap and Easy”

Fast food, once the quintessential symbol of affordable convenience, emerged as the most commonly cited casualty. Comment after comment expressed shock at paying $15-$18 for a single McDonald’s meal, $40 for two people at any drive-through, or $23 for a Subway combo. One user noted the bitter irony: “It’s the same price as an actual restaurant for super shitty quality.”

This represents more than simple inflation. It signals the collapse of an entire economic tier. Fast food was designed to be the accessible option, the fallback when money was tight. When that safety net disappears, it reveals how precarious the financial situation has become for millions. As one commenter bluntly stated: “Fast food literally, I’m not paying $5 for McDonald fries, that used to be the price of a whole meal.”

The Luxury of Basic Nutrition

Beyond fast food, grocery prices dominated the conversation in ways that should alarm anyone paying attention. Users reported paying $6 for a single head of celery, $8 for a block of chocolate, $10+ for butter in New Zealand (a major dairy producer), and over $50 for salmon in Canada. Ground beef has become so expensive that families are switching to ground turkey. Steak, once a weekly staple for working-class families, is now “a rare indulgence.”

The psychological impact runs deeper than the numbers suggest. One person wrote: “I don’t even pass the meat aisle in the stores anymore.” Another: “Food. If I could live without it I would. Supermarkets are making record profits and we’re getting ground into the dirt.”

This isn’t about people wanting premium organic produce. These are comments about basic proteins, vegetables, and pantry staples becoming genuinely difficult to justify purchasing. When a bag of chips costs $6-$7 and contains “half air,” when cereal reaches $8 a box, when lettuce hits $6 and arrives brown, people aren’t just frustrated. They’re watching their ability to feed themselves and their families erode in real time.

The Death of Joy and Connection

Perhaps most heartbreaking are the comments about experiences that used to bind communities together. Concert tickets emerged as a particularly painful loss. Multiple users described tickets jumping from $25-$35 to $200+ for decent seats, with floor seats reaching $600 or more. “Concerts have been ruined by capitalism,” one user wrote, echoing a sentiment shared by thousands.

Movie theaters, bowling alleys, and sporting events all received similar mentions. The math is simple and devastating: “You used to be able to go bowling, grab a small snack, and watch a movie at the cheap theatres for around $10. Now you can’t really do any one of those things for that price.”

Skiing and snowboarding, once accessible winter recreation, now cost $150+ per day for lift tickets. Taking a family of four to the slopes has become “equivalent to an additional car payment.” One former enthusiast summed it up: “As someone that grew up snowboarding…def snowboarding” is no longer worth the cost.

These aren’t frivolous luxuries. They’re the activities that make life worth living, that create memories, that allow people to connect with others and experience something beyond survival mode. When those become inaccessible, we’re not just dealing with an affordability crisis. We’re witnessing the systematic extraction of joy from ordinary life.

The Self-Care Recession

A striking pattern emerged around personal grooming and self-care. Haircuts, once a routine expense, now cost $50-$70 for basic cuts with no styling. One woman reported paying $620 for a cut and highlights, concluding: “I’ll be staying ugly from now on idc.”

Nail salons have gone from $25 plus tip to $70 plus expected tips of 18% or more. Hair coloring that used to cost $150 now runs $350+. The response? “I’ve cut my own hair the last 4 years.” “I do and trim my own hair now.” “Let me be ugly.”

This isn’t vanity. Personal grooming affects how people present themselves professionally, how they feel about themselves, and how they engage with the world. When people start using phrases like “staying ugly” and “let me be ugly,” they’re expressing resignation to a diminished existence. They’re accepting that maintaining a basic level of personal care is now a luxury they cannot afford.

The Hobby Holocaust

The comments about hobbies reveal an even deeper cultural crisis. Art supplies that cost pennies per sheet now sell for a dollar. Paint jumped from $1.29 to $6.49 in two years. One artist with 30 years of experience wrote: “It now takes $200+ worth of supplies to create a small painting, a crocheted blanket, or a piece of pottery…it becomes especially hard when those activities are also your livelihood.”

Crochet, painting, knitting, even sewing your own clothes (which should theoretically save money) have all become prohibitively expensive. “Having a hobby! You literally can’t enjoy anything. Movies, concerts, books, knitting, anything!”

This matters because hobbies aren’t just entertainment. They’re how people develop skills, express creativity, manage stress, and find meaning. When the cost of yarn, paint, fabric, and craft supplies prices people out of creative pursuits, we’re not just losing economic productivity. We’re destroying the outlets that make the grind of working life bearable.

The Canadian Crisis Multiplier

Canadian respondents were particularly vocal, and their comments deserve special attention. “In Canada it’s called going outside…can’t do anything fun anymore without spending an entire day’s worth of wages.” “Eating 3 meals a day in Canada.” One person simply wrote: “Alberta, Canada” with a photo of grocery receipts.

The repetition of “I’m in Canada” throughout the thread suggests something has gone catastrophically wrong with the Canadian economy specifically. Whether it’s salmon costing over $50, beef roasts exceeding $100, or the general cost of basic existence, Canadians are experiencing economic pressure that makes survival feel like the only achievable goal.

One Canadian summed it up with dark humor: “There’s a $100 surcharge to leave the house.”

The Systemic Reality

One comment cut through to the core: “Notice everyone’s answer…it’s basically like everything…that is so scary and sad…if you read through this comment section that’ll show you what’s going on in America right now.”

Another: “I think the list of things that aren’t too expensive is shorter.”

And perhaps most tellingly: “It seems all of the things we used to do for fulfillment, and pleasure, are only available to the wealthy these days.”

The responses to this viral question reveal more than individual frustrations. They document a systematic restructuring of economic reality where the middle and working classes are being priced out of everything beyond bare survival. Fast food, groceries, concerts, movies, hobbies, personal care, recreation, they’re all shifting from accessible to aspirational.

The Underlying Cause

While many comments blamed “capitalism” or “corporate greed,” one stood out for cutting through the noise: “All these comments blaming capitalism and corporate greed don’t have a clue. The government printing money is 100% the cause of inflation full stop.”

This matters because the analysis we accept determines the solutions we pursue. If the problem is simply corporate greed, the solution might be price controls or breaking up monopolies. But if the fundamental issue is monetary expansion and currency debasement, then the problem runs much deeper. It suggests we’re not experiencing a temporary pricing anomaly that can be fixed with better regulation. We’re living through the inevitable consequences of decades of monetary policy that has systematically eroded purchasing power.

The Human Cost

Beyond economics, these comments reveal something profoundly human: resignation. “Let me be ugly.” “I’ll die on this hill.” “Being alive honestly.” “Life, life is not worth the cost.”

These aren’t political statements. They’re expressions of exhaustion from people who are working, trying, and still finding themselves unable to afford the basic components of a dignified life. They’re cutting their own hair, skipping meals, abandoning hobbies, and giving up on experiences because the math simply doesn’t work anymore.

When thousands of people independently arrive at phrases like “being alive” and “existing” as their answer to what’s too expensive, we’re not dealing with isolated financial stress. We’re witnessing a collapse in the social contract that says if you work hard, you should be able to afford a life that includes some measure of comfort, pleasure, and human dignity.

The question posed was simple: what’s too expensive to justify anymore? The answer, repeated thousands of times in slightly different words: everything. And that answer should terrify anyone who believes a functional economy serves the people living within it.