Inflation has dealt a huge blow to our quality of life. We now pay more for less enjoyable experiences with some products and services than we enjoyed decades ago. There are countless examples, but here are 17 products that are getting worse but now cost a lot more.
Refrigerators
Modern refrigerators boast improved insulation and “LED lighting,” among other technological innovations, to justify their higher price tags. However, this doesn’t beat the durability we enjoyed with their counterparts from the 20th century. These were built with metal to last and engineered to be easily repairable.
Clothes
Due to mass production, worsened by the need to increase profit margins, we now get less durable and less comfortable clothes made from synthetic materials like elastane and polycrepe. Worse still, The Guardian points out that, especially in women’s clothing, we don’t even get functional pockets anymore!
Video Games
Awesome graphics in video games today have sadly replaced the immersion of stories and player interactions. The gaming experience that got a median rating of 3.5/5 in 2014 is considered 2.95/5 on average today, yet the cost of new releases now stands at a whopping $70.
Houses
Even homes are giving us a run for our money. We have living spaces that are 20% smaller compared to houses built in the 1950s. These 1950 homes cost an average of $93,000 (adjusted to inflation) compared to our modern median prices of $412,000!
Air Travel
Air travel these days is nothing to write home about. Ticket prices have risen by 25% between 2023 and 2024, yet passengers have to deal with delayed flights, missing bags, and disgruntled airline employees more than ever. That just doesn’t seem fair.
Fast Food
Inflation is ravaging fast-food restaurants, and it has forced them to serve us smaller portion sizes made with fewer ingredients. The New York Post calls this “shrinkflation,” and while most restaurants choose to keep the same price, there are many cases where food items are being increased in price, too.
Food Delivery
Ordering delivery from fast food joints adds even more salt to the injury. In addition to the already inflated prices of food items on delivery apps, we now have to deal with more hidden fees, more negligent drivers, and delivery speeds that aren’t always reliable. It just doesn’t seem worth it.
Cinema Movies
Catching a movie at the cinema is also becoming a painful experience despite its rising costs. Cinemas haven’t recovered from the effects of the pandemic, and streaming services are now everyone’s go-to. Frustratingly, this has caused cinemas to increase ticket prices and cut down on expenses to stay afloat.
Cable TV
The monopoly cable companies once held in entertainment caused a decline in the quality of programs and customer service, even when prices kept increasing. With less revenue going their way today, cable TV services have gotten even worse, and prices remain increasingly higher than the more preferred streaming services.
Streaming Services
Many Americans are starting to consider streaming services a waste of money. A Business Insider story shares how streaming is starting to feel like cable, increasing prices while offering an almost infinite amount of content, yet with “nothing good to watch.” They’re even starting to force advertisements despite us paying them!
Furniture
We all benefit from the affordable prices of furniture mass-produced from materials like MDF, rubberwood, and particle board. This is fine if you’re on a budget, but these materials now dominate the furniture market, making it impossible to get affordable pieces that are reliable enough to last a lifetime.
Ice Cream
Your favorite ice cream brands aren’t what they used to be. Shrinkflation has gotten the better of them, and ice cream makers are making a buck from it! Unilever was exposed in mid-2023 for reducing its volume of ice cream products, accompanying this with price hikes. How does that work out!?
Public Transport
As the years pass, fewer Americans are opting for public transportation as their daily transit to work, and the results are depressing for those who still rely on them. We now see transit systems charging more for tickets to maintain operable revenue and passengers having to endure longer wait times at stops.
Potato Chips
They may still be as crispy as ever, but the price of your bags of potato chips rose by over 45% between 2020 and 2023, and if you haven’t noticed, there’s even more air in them today. Shrinkflation has also caused producers to use lower-quality ingredients in their products, making them even less valuable.
Soap Products
Bars and bottles of soap have gotten smaller, and manufacturers now use ingredients that are either cheaper, disguising them as providing a “cleaner” lather. Because they require more production processes, the prices of soap have risen dramatically, which has been made even worse by inflation.
Toilet Paper
Over the past few decades, brands like Charmin have shrunk their toilet paper by over 90%, and CNN explains how P&G cut rolls by 10% while simultaneously raising prices.
Sadly, the only increase we have seen is in the size of the cardboard tubes. Is nothing sacred!?
Vacation Packages
Finally, you’ve probably noticed that vacation packages have skyrocketed in price while becoming less worthwhile. They used to be a great budget travel option, but the prices of the most popular destination packages have soared by 30%. Sadly, this forces us to buy lower-tiered options for slightly higher prices.
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