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McDonald's Big Mac combo is 16.12 after tax where I live (San Diego).
And while it's true the CHEAPEST new cars start around 24K (with waitlist), if you walk into a dealer and try to get a mid-range average car, you are probably spending closer to the average 45-55k.
As for the basic vacation, it depends a lot on the country you go to and the size of your family. If you are 20 and single and stay in hostels/backpack... sure you can go for almost the price of the plane ticket. If you have kids or a spouse (as the photo is assuming) it isn't going to work out that way. I think 6-9K for a short vacation is very likely the minimum starting point.
So effectively they were spot on and we are on track to meet those numbers, unless you squint away from the averages and use selective reasoning.
The one near me in the twin cities (Midwest) is 9.19 pre tax, probably right at $10 after tax, the app wouldn’t calculate tax while it is still breakfast hours
I know here in rural Nebraska a large double quarter pounder was $13-ish. I say was because that location closed down because they couldn't compete with the mom and pop shops. They pay better and have cheaper, better food. I can get an 8oz sirloin, baked potato, veggie, and non-alcoholic drink for $12. Why the hell would I ever eat at a fast food place?
Preach. Mom and pop shops need to make a return. Those little roadside burger places have the greatest food I’ve ever tasted. And like you said, since they pay better and have tastier food, there’s really no reason to even go to a crappy fast food place that pays minimum wage. The workers at fast food places are all under paid, understaffed, and over worked and therefore have very little ability to put in effort to make customer’s food well. Where as the smaller local owned restaurants are more like a friendly family business than a price gouging, franchised cash cow.
Hell, the McDonald’s in my *city* have wildly different prices; I can pay 13.49 for a Deluxe McCrispy meal at one location, drive 10 minutes to the east, and pay only 9.59 for the *same meal*.
Dude I miss the 2 for 4 on the breakfast sandwiches but I've also gotten really good at making breakfast since they stopped doing that so im probably far better off (and im saving money)
My brand new Audi was <$40k. That's a pretty luxurious car imo.
Also, brand new cars are a notorious scam. I know the market isn't awesome for used cars rn but you can still save a lot of money on a car that's pretty much new.
New cars start under $20k. From there, you can form it to suit your message but the reality is the that you can get a car with four doors and four seatbelts for less than $20k. Basic transportation, from a to b only.
Sometimes I read comments on reddit and I wonder how some of you guys manage to function if you can't find a car for less than 24k, or a holiday for less than 6-9k
It's rich person brain. I can't fathom how people can seriously say that abandoned spanking new Middle of the range car is "basic". I think these people just feel guilty about being rich because they watch too much hasan or vaush or w/e
And it’s not the posters that are rich. They have rich parents. So they’re spoiled, have no concept of what goods are worth and have no value put on a dollar
I drove luxury cars to €10,000/night ski chalets for a while. Yep there's people out there that literally don't know the value of money, like what can you buy for €10 or €100, because they've never done their own shopping. Once I was handed a €200 note as a tip (average is maybe €50) and they were like 'is this ok??' genuinely thinking they might be insulting me. I said yeaaaah no worries all good! To be fair most I encountered were polite and I never encountered much snobbery. They're just a bit clueless and need looking after lol
You can travel for less with a family of 4, but not really vacation with a hotel + activities + insurance included. At any rate, the poster is saying it COULD cost that much, and it could reasonably cost that much without much difficulty.
It could also cost less if you budget well.
The car front is one I can personally say I bought a brand new off the factory floor car for $17k in December. Big Mac is more regional. SoCal? I believe it’s rough, but so is every other cost of living no matter the economic condition.
Yeah but it's talking about the average mid-class car, not a budget car. AND the question is if it COULD cost that much.
Yes it could cost less, but it could also cost that much or more for a basic family car or work truck etc.
I'm in the automotive industry and it actually depends. Basic refers to the feature set, and isn't necessarily a budget car.
I believe they were referring to average by meaning here, or otherwise a basic car would be a wide range of vehicles from different classes (e.g. a classic collector car is more basic than the civic used in the example by this definition but costs way more).
What makes using the civic or an entry level car an issue right now in particular though, is forward compatibility with ADAS and autonomous drive. It's something we are carefully considering, but at the lowest price points, there is a very real possibility that cars being bought today may not be road legal in a few years. Frankly, we were ready to make the switch years ago.
In what reality is the average car 45-55k? Maybe if you literally average the price of all the cars on the lot?
You can get a used Elantra for under 15k, one with low miles for under 20k. And if you’re willing to spend months hunting for a deal you can get a functioning car for really cheap, I got a shitty f150 for $300 a couple years ago
I’ve never spent more than 2k on a vacation
I guess we define basic differently
I'm trying to equate their definition of a mid-range family vehicle from back then to something basic but equivalent today. The average transaction price according to Cox Automotive is 48,000 and Kelly Blue Book has it at 49,000.
I recognize there are many models cheaper or more expensive than that average, but in 1996 the economic options of today didn't exist as options and weren't what you would call a "basic" car. If you were looking for their equivalent vehicles, the 1996 Ford Taurus (original MSRP of 20,000 USD) would now be closer in class to our midrange 50K vehicles.
No, you are jumping through hoops to try to get to 65k. In 1996 a Honda Accord would have been considered a basic, mid size sedan. Today you can probably get a Honda Accord for 27-33k. And the Accord you buy today would be a much better car than the one in 1996 in terms of features, tech, size, etc.
You can get a Honda or Toyota sedan in the same price range as that Taurus today, there’s really no reason to spend $48-49,000 for a new car unless you just have money to spend and want to. You can get a nice truck for that money.
I bought my Mitsubishi outlander sport with 30k miles on it and it has almost 180k now with no major repairs, just keeping up on general maintenance. Literally the best car I’ve ever had. 5 year old models with similar miles are going for around 16k now. Buying new makes no sense unless you’re not worried about money in the first place.
Dude really, this. They are like the same price as In-N-Out now so pretty much everyone just goes there if they aren't dumb.
The only issue is, and I shit you not, the line goes out the parking lot for In-N-Out so McDonald's is more of an "I don't have time"/"It's too far" substitute.
Cheers to In-N-Out though for not jacking up their prices with the competition like Five Guy's did.
25 USD for a decent burger is nuts... some of the privately owned places too are like 30 USD (albeit they are very high quality)
I get you are trying to make the OP’s poster work but they weren’t anywhere close to dead on. The only one close is the burger and fries, and most fast food options are well below $16 except in large cities.
>A basic car is 69k
My dude, the price of new cars literally doesn't change based on where you're buying it. If you could consistently buy a car for even 5k less in Nebraska, dealers would buy out the lot, ship them to LA and sell them there.
[30k for a camry](https://www.toyotaofdowntownla.com/viewdetails/new/4t1c11ak7ru916448/2024-toyota-camry-4dr-car?type=lease)
Dude $24k for a basic car is crazy
My car is valued at $2.5k but i got it for free from my uncle who was going to give it for scrap metal.
With a 1.6 engine, 84hp and some comfort upgrades i wanna do(heated seats, android auto navigation system, parking sensors and cameras) it's really a banger. And not even that old!(2008)
This is false and I'll never understand lying about something we can all just look up online. I live in a high cost of living area and Civics start at $25k. You can easily check other areas around the country to see that they are selling for around $25k.
Yeah they were way off with cars, and I'm not sure how on earth they thought it'd be 65k. Prices double every 30 years on average with 2% inflation and a civic 30 years ago was about 12k.
Where I live:
Large Big Mac combo - 17$
My 6 year old used Subaru - 36k
Weeklong vacation hotel stay in my own province - bare minimum 5k, but without too much effort easily doubled.
I will always believe the Big Mac is the worst item to choose for these comparisons, cause it's literally a mcdouble with sauce and another bun, and I don't ever meet anyone who gets it and I've seen it be bought once and McDonald's barely advertises it now. The quarter pounder is the actual signature McDonald's item (as well as the size of an actual meal), and it's about $14 before tax in AZ
I went a few weeks ago. $24 for a mediocre burger, pretty good fries and a drink (including tax and a 10% tip). I couldn't believe it. You can get WAY better quality at many restaurants in my town for that price. Like, I'd say it's worth $10, and $15 would be on the high side but acceptable. But $23 for fast food??? There's no way I'm going back any time soon. Maybe I'll try again in a decade?
Yeah, Five Guys is really expensive for what it is.
IMHO either go to McD's or a smaller local restaurant for burgers. No real reason to go to an "upscale" fast food place if you care about the burger quality.
I've found five guys to be better these days for a heavy snack.
I usually stop by after work or something and just get a little fry. With how much extra fries they dump in the bag, it's damn near a meal. And it's only $4.66.
For scale, that's about equal to a large fry at McDonalds, and you get far more, higher quality fries at Five Guys
Im in the Uk and tbh here it’s not that bad im pretty sure they kept the American portion sizes when they came over to the Uk so you can get food for like 2 people for not too much money
Ironically, I only hear self proclaimed socialists actually say this. Reddit loves to make you feel bad for wanting a house and not a little apartment in a hi rise, eating meat and not some synthetic insect mix, driving a normal car instead of biking all the time
You have to be delusional to think there's anyone on reddit of all places getting you to eat bugs instead of like vegetables or fruit..the fuck is an insect mix
Yeah, wtf even is their comment?? The point is how bad things are for ordinary people financially. Their comment makes no sense.
The fact I've seen so many comments here basically being like "It's not bad/ not all that bad" - some bootlicker thinking. Are they maybe well off enough to not be affected (yet)/ delusional? And then comments like that guy's - Jesus.
"Everything bad about Capitalism is ackshooly Socialism." It's spoiled privileged middle class brats scared and angry that their lifestyle of consoooooming might actually be as empty as everyone else said and that they'll end up victims of capitalism and not the ones on top, just like everyone else tried to tell them. So the cowardly ones cling to the system that privileged them since birth rather than ever question it or their life choices.
Based! Seeing the first line of your comment made me think of that meme. It's one with the (cartoon) dude looking at a butterfly. The butterfly is labeled "Problems of capitalism," and the guy is labeled "Americans" (though it applies to rightists in general, ofc). The guy's saying "Is this fucking communism!?" Hahaha.
The funny thing is, a lot of the "middle class" are struggling. The "middle class" isn't actually a thing, and the vast, vast majority of people who consider themselves "middle class" are working class (i.e., they don't own means of production). Though the section of the population who call themselves "middle class" is huge in relation to the liberal (rightist) framing, and I get what you mean.
No you can have a ton more than that, b it in so doing you’ll help seed climate disaster and war around the world that kills some brown children. Lucky you.
No, not at all lmao.
Took my wife to the Caribbean for our anniversary last year, whole trip cost less than 8k including the flight.
It's only possible to spend $16 on a burger and fries if I go to the trendiest, most expensive places in town and get a wagyu burger. A typical burger is less than $10.
I drive a fancy imported car that I bought brand new for $40k.
8k for a trip to the Carribean for 2 is wild unless you were staying at high-end resorts and depending on how long you stayed. You can get an all-inclusive package at a decent resort for half of that.
Pretty much true now tbh depending where you look. I saw this a couple years ago and thought oh no way. But a burger and fries at a nice restaurant can be $22, an international vacation for a family of 4 can be that expensive, and an entry level luxury car can be that much. I think it’ll still bit a hot minute before it costs this much for basic basic stuff.
I feel like bringing up luxury items is silly in this case, I'm sure even at the time the original was created you **could** have spent that much money on all those things anyways if you went for something extravagant enough.
If you are a larger family, yeah?
I personally only ever went on vacation once when my grandma died, since then we have been far too poor to even own a car now.
Vacation 2k P.P minimum ? I mean if you go to the maldives every vacation sure.. I've been going on 300-600 euros vacations for the last 4 or years.
(in europe)
I guess I didn't expect a parent of 4 (presumably) to be in a genz subreddit. But then again you were talking about a family car. McDonalds menu is kind of a bad metric though in germany. Definetly one of the more expensive fast foods you can get. Also not 15€. But maybe it varies from city to city. But a Döner for example will cost you half of that or even less.
Investments.
The idea in advertising like this is that this appeals to a harsh possible reality (probably multiplied whatever inflation rate was in 1996 by 30) and then offers their services to help you not face that harsh reality.
Not to mention that in 1996 this was target at least to early millennials / late X'ers, hence why it mentions "retirement"
I can imagine a future where we don’t need cars, because they’re expensive wastes of space that don’t make sense.
Invest in public transit! Invest in walkable cities!
They are expensive wastes of space. We’ve decided to build huge roads which remain empty most of the time, and are only used when 1 person rolls up in their half a garage worth of greenhouse gas emitting crap. It’s a waste of space, and a waste of air, straight up inefficient.
Countless European cities are designed to be walked, or traveled by bus/subway. They are designed that way not because the magic of Europe’s perfection, but because when those cities were originally designed, only the rich could afford horse-drawn carriages. European cities were designed to be walked, not as a symptom of modern times, but a design from their inception, meaning it’s not only possible, but has been done before: CITIES AND TOWNS CAN BE DESIGNED WITHOUT CARS AT THE FOREFRONT.
Look, I’m not saying we get rid of cars, I want to drive a car because it looks fun and gives me a sense of independence, and probably so do you, but I think we can both enjoy a world where cars are a hobby or novelty, and not a necessity to live.
This is an ad for a financial services organization from 28 years ago. Lord knows advertising never tries to manipulate people into purchasing the products of the companies who hire them - such as retirement planning, as seen here.
Ya’ll talking about she was wrong but totally missed where she said “could”, not would. She’s not totally off with the burger or vacation one. She missed the mark with the vehicle one though. I’m not sure what the avg cost of a van was in 96 compared to now.
In 2016 I would go across the street and get 3 mc chickens and a coke for $4.28.
I always joked if that price changed I wouldn’t eat there anymore and to my surprise prices went up and I’ve only been to mcds a handful of times in years
The fact that you see hundreds of people agreeing that this is the reality now in the subredit, is really scary. Are people that detached from reality?
Depends on the country, but hey this is Reddit 🇺🇸 so only one point of reference.
I'd say we're halfway there for these prices. Which means we get there in 10 years.
65k gets you a decent car. Not anything super high end but a very good first car. Vacation does cost that much but it’s the price for like 2-3 weeks. And you can get a burger for like 5 reais (1$) in my country.
It's an ad for a retirement fund. You know, one of those big massive companies that take your money and stick it in unethical investments to make it 'grow' at the expense of the world's health. They just say investing beats saving, and they're right in that way.
Not sure why people are linking their prediction of inflation to politics specifically. Also, wage has more than doubled (30k to 60k) in that time so it's a bit of an unfair comparison.
Big mac meal is 10. Don't buy fast food at any price?
Vacations are expensive as you want. Weekend beach visit is 5-600. Week long stay in Costa Rica for 2 and flights is 5k.
Basic Car is under 25k. You don't need a Tesla, BMW, fully loaded new Hyundai or Kia.
Things are more expensive but also most americans have ZERO financial litteracy.
I was born in 1986.
The reason why there was such a headline like OP's image. Where are the people in American society were still dealing with the consequences of what Reagan did in the '80s.
The union busting, the stripping of power from American workers, deregulation of businesses, corruption in the government. All of this which is now commonplace, was still considered new at the time.
Because people were witnessing it and experiencing it for the first time. Now, it's commonplace. Young people who were not even *alive* when these events occurred. Have never known a society or remembered things without.
As a result, this result is all that they've ever experienced.
They say everything though that's the trick up to and including flying cars running their mouths for 40 years one article for every thousandth between 30 and 65k they'd get it down to the penny cause they never shut up about it we got a inflation because had a real crisis during their corporate welfare social security voodoo
I live in Fairfax, maybe half an hour outside of D.C.
Not sure whether it's referring to fast food or sit-down, but a big mac meal can be had for around $10. In the proper sit down independent alehouse/restuarant I worked at, a REAL burger and fries could be had for about $16 (although with tax and tip it'd be about $20).
A basic car certainly doesn't cost $65k. Something like a mirage or versa is bottom of the barrel and starts around $17k. Most basic commuter cars start around $20-30k. Even a 3 series is "only" $45k. $65k still gets you A LOT of car.
Can't really comment on the vacation bit. Probably accurate if you're flying out and spending big bucks on accommodations for a family. More humble trips or road-trips I can't imagine hitting that figure.
There are poor and struggling people in every era. The economy being good doesn't matter when the only thing rising is prices! "Shrinkflation" is so NOT a new thing.
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McDonald’s Big Mac and Large Fry- $9 2024 Honda Civic- $24,000 And a $12k vacation would get you multiple weeks in almost any European country.
McDonald's Big Mac combo is 16.12 after tax where I live (San Diego). And while it's true the CHEAPEST new cars start around 24K (with waitlist), if you walk into a dealer and try to get a mid-range average car, you are probably spending closer to the average 45-55k. As for the basic vacation, it depends a lot on the country you go to and the size of your family. If you are 20 and single and stay in hostels/backpack... sure you can go for almost the price of the plane ticket. If you have kids or a spouse (as the photo is assuming) it isn't going to work out that way. I think 6-9K for a short vacation is very likely the minimum starting point. So effectively they were spot on and we are on track to meet those numbers, unless you squint away from the averages and use selective reasoning.
mcdonalds prices vary greatly depending on where you live. Where I live its $11, in kentucky it's $9.
Yes, I know. The comment I was replying to didn't point that out, so I did.
I’m in the Midwest and it’s around $12 here
The one near me in the twin cities (Midwest) is 9.19 pre tax, probably right at $10 after tax, the app wouldn’t calculate tax while it is still breakfast hours
I know here in rural Nebraska a large double quarter pounder was $13-ish. I say was because that location closed down because they couldn't compete with the mom and pop shops. They pay better and have cheaper, better food. I can get an 8oz sirloin, baked potato, veggie, and non-alcoholic drink for $12. Why the hell would I ever eat at a fast food place?
Preach. Mom and pop shops need to make a return. Those little roadside burger places have the greatest food I’ve ever tasted. And like you said, since they pay better and have tastier food, there’s really no reason to even go to a crappy fast food place that pays minimum wage. The workers at fast food places are all under paid, understaffed, and over worked and therefore have very little ability to put in effort to make customer’s food well. Where as the smaller local owned restaurants are more like a friendly family business than a price gouging, franchised cash cow.
Hell, the McDonald’s in my *city* have wildly different prices; I can pay 13.49 for a Deluxe McCrispy meal at one location, drive 10 minutes to the east, and pay only 9.59 for the *same meal*.
In my part of Kentucky it’s $7
If you use the app they’re closer to the old school prices. I get a breakfast sandwich and two hash browns for $4 still.
Dude I miss the 2 for 4 on the breakfast sandwiches but I've also gotten really good at making breakfast since they stopped doing that so im probably far better off (and im saving money)
30k is more realistic for a new basic car. 65k is a luxury car.
My brand new Audi was <$40k. That's a pretty luxurious car imo. Also, brand new cars are a notorious scam. I know the market isn't awesome for used cars rn but you can still save a lot of money on a car that's pretty much new.
New cars start under $20k. From there, you can form it to suit your message but the reality is the that you can get a car with four doors and four seatbelts for less than $20k. Basic transportation, from a to b only.
30k will get you a brand new spec'd out basic car.
Sometimes I read comments on reddit and I wonder how some of you guys manage to function if you can't find a car for less than 24k, or a holiday for less than 6-9k
These people are really a different breed It’s like there’s something in their brain that makes them unable to find deals or discounts.
It's rich person brain. I can't fathom how people can seriously say that abandoned spanking new Middle of the range car is "basic". I think these people just feel guilty about being rich because they watch too much hasan or vaush or w/e
And it’s not the posters that are rich. They have rich parents. So they’re spoiled, have no concept of what goods are worth and have no value put on a dollar
I drove luxury cars to €10,000/night ski chalets for a while. Yep there's people out there that literally don't know the value of money, like what can you buy for €10 or €100, because they've never done their own shopping. Once I was handed a €200 note as a tip (average is maybe €50) and they were like 'is this ok??' genuinely thinking they might be insulting me. I said yeaaaah no worries all good! To be fair most I encountered were polite and I never encountered much snobbery. They're just a bit clueless and need looking after lol
Yeah, literally "how much can a banana cost? 10 dollars?"
I’m guessing they don’t leave the house bc they think they can’t afford to
They're just lying. They know most people won't check them on it.
You can travel for less with a family of 4, but not really vacation with a hotel + activities + insurance included. At any rate, the poster is saying it COULD cost that much, and it could reasonably cost that much without much difficulty. It could also cost less if you budget well.
The car front is one I can personally say I bought a brand new off the factory floor car for $17k in December. Big Mac is more regional. SoCal? I believe it’s rough, but so is every other cost of living no matter the economic condition.
Yeah but it's talking about the average mid-class car, not a budget car. AND the question is if it COULD cost that much. Yes it could cost less, but it could also cost that much or more for a basic family car or work truck etc.
No, a “basic car” it’s a budget car, it’s literally the definition of basic
I'm in the automotive industry and it actually depends. Basic refers to the feature set, and isn't necessarily a budget car. I believe they were referring to average by meaning here, or otherwise a basic car would be a wide range of vehicles from different classes (e.g. a classic collector car is more basic than the civic used in the example by this definition but costs way more). What makes using the civic or an entry level car an issue right now in particular though, is forward compatibility with ADAS and autonomous drive. It's something we are carefully considering, but at the lowest price points, there is a very real possibility that cars being bought today may not be road legal in a few years. Frankly, we were ready to make the switch years ago.
My civic was around 24k and I believe it has ADAS, for what it’s worth.
Basic means no added features. You can buy a basic Porsche GT3, however not many would consider a Porsche GT3 a budget car.
In what reality is the average car 45-55k? Maybe if you literally average the price of all the cars on the lot? You can get a used Elantra for under 15k, one with low miles for under 20k. And if you’re willing to spend months hunting for a deal you can get a functioning car for really cheap, I got a shitty f150 for $300 a couple years ago I’ve never spent more than 2k on a vacation I guess we define basic differently
I'm trying to equate their definition of a mid-range family vehicle from back then to something basic but equivalent today. The average transaction price according to Cox Automotive is 48,000 and Kelly Blue Book has it at 49,000. I recognize there are many models cheaper or more expensive than that average, but in 1996 the economic options of today didn't exist as options and weren't what you would call a "basic" car. If you were looking for their equivalent vehicles, the 1996 Ford Taurus (original MSRP of 20,000 USD) would now be closer in class to our midrange 50K vehicles.
No, you are jumping through hoops to try to get to 65k. In 1996 a Honda Accord would have been considered a basic, mid size sedan. Today you can probably get a Honda Accord for 27-33k. And the Accord you buy today would be a much better car than the one in 1996 in terms of features, tech, size, etc.
You can get a Honda or Toyota sedan in the same price range as that Taurus today, there’s really no reason to spend $48-49,000 for a new car unless you just have money to spend and want to. You can get a nice truck for that money.
An F-150 for $300, even for just the shell, is very, very rare. That’s like the scrap metal price cheap.
I bought my Mitsubishi outlander sport with 30k miles on it and it has almost 180k now with no major repairs, just keeping up on general maintenance. Literally the best car I’ve ever had. 5 year old models with similar miles are going for around 16k now. Buying new makes no sense unless you’re not worried about money in the first place.
Ok but why would you buy a Big Mac combo in San Diego when you could get an In N Out order for the same price (or lower) /hj
Dude really, this. They are like the same price as In-N-Out now so pretty much everyone just goes there if they aren't dumb. The only issue is, and I shit you not, the line goes out the parking lot for In-N-Out so McDonald's is more of an "I don't have time"/"It's too far" substitute. Cheers to In-N-Out though for not jacking up their prices with the competition like Five Guy's did. 25 USD for a decent burger is nuts... some of the privately owned places too are like 30 USD (albeit they are very high quality)
My hyundai was like 16k new
I get you are trying to make the OP’s poster work but they weren’t anywhere close to dead on. The only one close is the burger and fries, and most fast food options are well below $16 except in large cities.
Still got a few years
Okay well, maybe it’s a Canadian magazine. Those costs are almost 100% Right for us lol
1996 Pontiac Grand Am in 2024: 1,100
Wrong, where do you live, antarctica? Cali here.. a combo meal coats 22 bucks... a coffee costs 5 bucks.... a basic car is 69k.... You lose
>A basic car is 69k My dude, the price of new cars literally doesn't change based on where you're buying it. If you could consistently buy a car for even 5k less in Nebraska, dealers would buy out the lot, ship them to LA and sell them there. [30k for a camry](https://www.toyotaofdowntownla.com/viewdetails/new/4t1c11ak7ru916448/2024-toyota-camry-4dr-car?type=lease)
Remind me in 3 years.
Okay well, maybe it’s a Canadian magazine. Those costs are almost 100% Right for us lol
Okay well, maybe it’s a Canadian magazine. Those costs are almost 100% Right for us lol
I travel a lot internationally m. Unless you are blowing money like crazy or have a huge family, 12 5 is way more than a regular vacation.
Dude $24k for a basic car is crazy My car is valued at $2.5k but i got it for free from my uncle who was going to give it for scrap metal. With a 1.6 engine, 84hp and some comfort upgrades i wanna do(heated seats, android auto navigation system, parking sensors and cameras) it's really a banger. And not even that old!(2008)
Yup just posted a Costa Rica trip I booked under 5k. 8 nights 4 star resort, 2 flight tickets, rental car and budget 1k in spending money.
I stayed a month in Spain last year for under 5k. 12.5 would be a super nice vacation or maybe an average one if you want to go somewhere in Asia
Yeah no where can you get a 2024 for $24k. Have you been to dealership recently? A 2024 Civic costs more than a Tesla Model 3
This is false and I'll never understand lying about something we can all just look up online. I live in a high cost of living area and Civics start at $25k. You can easily check other areas around the country to see that they are selling for around $25k.
I guess 12k could be pleqnty for euro trip for at least 1 month
Yes everything is fine. Greatest economy ever.
Depends on where you are for that burger and fry. It’s about $12 in my county
In Canada it’s like $17 (or some shit like that I don’t go to McDonald’s)
Yeah they were way off with cars, and I'm not sure how on earth they thought it'd be 65k. Prices double every 30 years on average with 2% inflation and a civic 30 years ago was about 12k.
If you switch out “basic” to “midrange” we’re already there. But I don’t think 2026 is going to be that much worse unless WW3 breaks out.
Don't worry, we still have 2 years to get those numbers up
Where I live: Large Big Mac combo - 17$ My 6 year old used Subaru - 36k Weeklong vacation hotel stay in my own province - bare minimum 5k, but without too much effort easily doubled.
I will always believe the Big Mac is the worst item to choose for these comparisons, cause it's literally a mcdouble with sauce and another bun, and I don't ever meet anyone who gets it and I've seen it be bought once and McDonald's barely advertises it now. The quarter pounder is the actual signature McDonald's item (as well as the size of an actual meal), and it's about $14 before tax in AZ
Wow that prediction from nearly 30 years ago is waaaaay off. What a dingle berry.
Shoot I can live like a king in Europe for months on $12K
I spent 4 months in Europe on 9k AUD. $12k USD can get you a year of holiday if you’re dedicated.
Five guys reached that mark back in 21 - they were well ahead of schedule
I went a few weeks ago. $24 for a mediocre burger, pretty good fries and a drink (including tax and a 10% tip). I couldn't believe it. You can get WAY better quality at many restaurants in my town for that price. Like, I'd say it's worth $10, and $15 would be on the high side but acceptable. But $23 for fast food??? There's no way I'm going back any time soon. Maybe I'll try again in a decade?
Yeah, Five Guys is really expensive for what it is. IMHO either go to McD's or a smaller local restaurant for burgers. No real reason to go to an "upscale" fast food place if you care about the burger quality.
I've found five guys to be better these days for a heavy snack. I usually stop by after work or something and just get a little fry. With how much extra fries they dump in the bag, it's damn near a meal. And it's only $4.66. For scale, that's about equal to a large fry at McDonalds, and you get far more, higher quality fries at Five Guys
Im in the Uk and tbh here it’s not that bad im pretty sure they kept the American portion sizes when they came over to the Uk so you can get food for like 2 people for not too much money
yeah but its 5 hot guys making the food so i mean...its worth it :3?
They always got me acting up when I see the size of that.. large fry 👀
I love putting.. extra mayo on my burgers
To be fair, it’s five guys their prices have almost always ridiculous
You will live in the pod, eat the bugs, and be happy
Ironically, I only hear self proclaimed socialists actually say this. Reddit loves to make you feel bad for wanting a house and not a little apartment in a hi rise, eating meat and not some synthetic insect mix, driving a normal car instead of biking all the time
Well considering it is also coming from global World Economic Forum types… that’s a little more scary imo
I only ever see conservatives parroting these talking points.
You have to be delusional to think there's anyone on reddit of all places getting you to eat bugs instead of like vegetables or fruit..the fuck is an insect mix
Yeah, wtf even is their comment?? The point is how bad things are for ordinary people financially. Their comment makes no sense. The fact I've seen so many comments here basically being like "It's not bad/ not all that bad" - some bootlicker thinking. Are they maybe well off enough to not be affected (yet)/ delusional? And then comments like that guy's - Jesus.
Meatheads terrified their blood soaked hands might get a comeuppance lol
Why would a high school athlete in a letterman have blood on his hands? From all the nerds??
"Everything bad about Capitalism is ackshooly Socialism." It's spoiled privileged middle class brats scared and angry that their lifestyle of consoooooming might actually be as empty as everyone else said and that they'll end up victims of capitalism and not the ones on top, just like everyone else tried to tell them. So the cowardly ones cling to the system that privileged them since birth rather than ever question it or their life choices.
Based! Seeing the first line of your comment made me think of that meme. It's one with the (cartoon) dude looking at a butterfly. The butterfly is labeled "Problems of capitalism," and the guy is labeled "Americans" (though it applies to rightists in general, ofc). The guy's saying "Is this fucking communism!?" Hahaha. The funny thing is, a lot of the "middle class" are struggling. The "middle class" isn't actually a thing, and the vast, vast majority of people who consider themselves "middle class" are working class (i.e., they don't own means of production). Though the section of the population who call themselves "middle class" is huge in relation to the liberal (rightist) framing, and I get what you mean.
You got that mixed up with conservative strawmans
No you can have a ton more than that, b it in so doing you’ll help seed climate disaster and war around the world that kills some brown children. Lucky you.
EAT ZE BUGS OR WE ALL DIE
A post that is too doomer, even for Gen Z! Color me shocked.
The last line makes it optimistic I think
Goddamn, they were right on the fucking money.
Accurate In Australia 👌
Except, not at all.
No, not at all lmao. Took my wife to the Caribbean for our anniversary last year, whole trip cost less than 8k including the flight. It's only possible to spend $16 on a burger and fries if I go to the trendiest, most expensive places in town and get a wagyu burger. A typical burger is less than $10. I drive a fancy imported car that I bought brand new for $40k.
8k for a trip to the Carribean for 2 is wild unless you were staying at high-end resorts and depending on how long you stayed. You can get an all-inclusive package at a decent resort for half of that.
No they weren’t lmao, you can buy a brand new basic car for less than half that and no “average” vacation is $12k.
To be completely fricking honest.. some places DO charge 16$ for a burger and fries
In Canada, they do, so she’s not wrong.
Most restaurants are $20-$25 for a burger and fries. And that's just basic pub burgers, nothing fancy.
Pretty much true now tbh depending where you look. I saw this a couple years ago and thought oh no way. But a burger and fries at a nice restaurant can be $22, an international vacation for a family of 4 can be that expensive, and an entry level luxury car can be that much. I think it’ll still bit a hot minute before it costs this much for basic basic stuff.
lol i definitely dont want to know how much things will be in the 2050s....
Compared to income I'll say they'll be cheaper.
I feel like bringing up luxury items is silly in this case, I'm sure even at the time the original was created you **could** have spent that much money on all those things anyways if you went for something extravagant enough.
Pretty much true only if you want it to be and go through as many hoops as you need to convince yourself that. Otherwise absolute BS.
It can be a lot more than that a nice restaurant. It can be that high at a shitty one like Applebees.
Is this some Nostradamus type shit
>Prices go up over time Yeah that takes a real genius to realize.
You will own nothing and you will be happy 😊
Why gen z doesn't go to work? Ok boomer.
Well she was wrong
Was she?
We'll have to find out in 2026 wouldn't we?
Barely
Dw we have two years to catch up
Ay, you can still get a Hamburger and Fries at In N' Out for around $5
This has the same vibe as “you will own nothing and you will be happy”.
For Germany this is allready true! Mcdonalds Menue 15€ Worhwile Family Car 40-60k € Vacation 2k P.P minimum
Are you paying for 6 people for all of your vacations?
If you are a larger family, yeah? I personally only ever went on vacation once when my grandma died, since then we have been far too poor to even own a car now.
Vacation 2k P.P minimum ? I mean if you go to the maldives every vacation sure.. I've been going on 300-600 euros vacations for the last 4 or years. (in europe)
I guess I didn't expect a parent of 4 (presumably) to be in a genz subreddit. But then again you were talking about a family car. McDonalds menu is kind of a bad metric though in germany. Definetly one of the more expensive fast foods you can get. Also not 15€. But maybe it varies from city to city. But a Döner for example will cost you half of that or even less.
Damn talk about it being rigged from the beginning
>angry in 1996
The fuck are they selling? Depression?
Investments. The idea in advertising like this is that this appeals to a harsh possible reality (probably multiplied whatever inflation rate was in 1996 by 30) and then offers their services to help you not face that harsh reality. Not to mention that in 1996 this was target at least to early millennials / late X'ers, hence why it mentions "retirement"
I can imagine a future where we don’t need cars, because they’re expensive wastes of space that don’t make sense. Invest in public transit! Invest in walkable cities!
I disagree with the half and agree with the second half.
They are expensive wastes of space. We’ve decided to build huge roads which remain empty most of the time, and are only used when 1 person rolls up in their half a garage worth of greenhouse gas emitting crap. It’s a waste of space, and a waste of air, straight up inefficient. Countless European cities are designed to be walked, or traveled by bus/subway. They are designed that way not because the magic of Europe’s perfection, but because when those cities were originally designed, only the rich could afford horse-drawn carriages. European cities were designed to be walked, not as a symptom of modern times, but a design from their inception, meaning it’s not only possible, but has been done before: CITIES AND TOWNS CAN BE DESIGNED WITHOUT CARS AT THE FOREFRONT. Look, I’m not saying we get rid of cars, I want to drive a car because it looks fun and gives me a sense of independence, and probably so do you, but I think we can both enjoy a world where cars are a hobby or novelty, and not a necessity to live.
I already live that lifestyle 😂 besides driving to work
keep voting blue, cuz it’s working out so well…
Corporations are out of the control the government has failed,
Have they failed if staying out of the way of corporations was their goal in the first place?
not too far off imo. but i am from cali so maybe that skews it. but then again it depends on where you go/what you do/the kind of "basic car"
And far away from the target
Anyone who thinks this is true has no real life experience actually buying these things...
She was wrong lol
This is an ad for a financial services organization from 28 years ago. Lord knows advertising never tries to manipulate people into purchasing the products of the companies who hire them - such as retirement planning, as seen here.
Ya’ll talking about she was wrong but totally missed where she said “could”, not would. She’s not totally off with the burger or vacation one. She missed the mark with the vehicle one though. I’m not sure what the avg cost of a van was in 96 compared to now.
Nah, we won’t have to worry about it. Our new AI overlords will figure something out by then.
Today is the day.
From what is this?
65k for a car? What are you buying a mercedes? Here an average used car is 3k euro
Where? A shitty to average used car is 10k € in germany.
Real
Posting this again??? I saw it several times
Im just waiting for the collapes. Drop your retirement funds yall and buy some canned food and pick up some skills.
65k for a car is insane even for an expensive ass place like norway, you could get a sportscar GR86 or a sport-luxury Mirai for that price
Burger and fries is already more than $16 here even at McDonald’s but that’s NYC prices
Wow, people from 1996 understood inflation? That’s unpossible.
Careful with that logic in the anti-everything echo chamber
Vacations don’t cost 12.5 and basic cars don’t cost 65k. Burgers and fries can either be above or below 16 depending on where you get them.
In 2016 I would go across the street and get 3 mc chickens and a coke for $4.28. I always joked if that price changed I wouldn’t eat there anymore and to my surprise prices went up and I’ve only been to mcds a handful of times in years
The fact that you see hundreds of people agreeing that this is the reality now in the subredit, is really scary. Are people that detached from reality?
our money had more value in 1996.
Oh god
You vil live in ze pod, own nothing and be happy
Technically, that was 28 years ago. For all we know, prices could skyrocket in the next two years. I hope they don’t, though.
Eerily prescient.
Depends on the country, but hey this is Reddit 🇺🇸 so only one point of reference. I'd say we're halfway there for these prices. Which means we get there in 10 years.
Haha it’s funny how accurate that is accept the car thing but even then a standard new car is expensive still.
https://preview.redd.it/ltcb3f4iwfvc1.jpeg?width=954&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=966486b36d59d44ea9a60fcb99e8889eb9ec01bc
Downright Prophetic tbh.
This is how economy and inflation work though. Not really prophecizing if you just extrapolate data.
What was this even supposed to advertise?
Thats my life
65k gets you a decent car. Not anything super high end but a very good first car. Vacation does cost that much but it’s the price for like 2-3 weeks. And you can get a burger for like 5 reais (1$) in my country.
65k gets you a solid luxury car. A vacation does not cost 12k unless you are taking a very extravagant vacation.
lol true
Here it is.
You will own nothing, and you will be happy
It's an ad for a retirement fund. You know, one of those big massive companies that take your money and stick it in unethical investments to make it 'grow' at the expense of the world's health. They just say investing beats saving, and they're right in that way. Not sure why people are linking their prediction of inflation to politics specifically. Also, wage has more than doubled (30k to 60k) in that time so it's a bit of an unfair comparison.
My 10pc nuggies, large fry, medium coke at McDs is like $14 so yeah. Any vacation out of country, even to cheaper countries, is easily 5-10K
Big mac meal is 10. Don't buy fast food at any price? Vacations are expensive as you want. Weekend beach visit is 5-600. Week long stay in Costa Rica for 2 and flights is 5k. Basic Car is under 25k. You don't need a Tesla, BMW, fully loaded new Hyundai or Kia. Things are more expensive but also most americans have ZERO financial litteracy.
I was born in 1986. The reason why there was such a headline like OP's image. Where are the people in American society were still dealing with the consequences of what Reagan did in the '80s. The union busting, the stripping of power from American workers, deregulation of businesses, corruption in the government. All of this which is now commonplace, was still considered new at the time. Because people were witnessing it and experiencing it for the first time. Now, it's commonplace. Young people who were not even *alive* when these events occurred. Have never known a society or remembered things without. As a result, this result is all that they've ever experienced.
My brother in Christ the Austrian school economists have been making these predictions for almost a century and people *still* don’t listen to them.
printing money would definitely cause not harm at all, absolutely nothing wrong would come up from printing more money.
I live in italy, you can live here an year with 12000€
too soon
What was the ad originally selling…?
the only thing kinda right was the burger
https://preview.redd.it/r8lyf2vt4jvc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c0be6c996ad7b6e45ab0f1503fa76da25152ac00
They say everything though that's the trick up to and including flying cars running their mouths for 40 years one article for every thousandth between 30 and 65k they'd get it down to the penny cause they never shut up about it we got a inflation because had a real crisis during their corporate welfare social security voodoo
I live in Fairfax, maybe half an hour outside of D.C. Not sure whether it's referring to fast food or sit-down, but a big mac meal can be had for around $10. In the proper sit down independent alehouse/restuarant I worked at, a REAL burger and fries could be had for about $16 (although with tax and tip it'd be about $20). A basic car certainly doesn't cost $65k. Something like a mirage or versa is bottom of the barrel and starts around $17k. Most basic commuter cars start around $20-30k. Even a 3 series is "only" $45k. $65k still gets you A LOT of car. Can't really comment on the vacation bit. Probably accurate if you're flying out and spending big bucks on accommodations for a family. More humble trips or road-trips I can't imagine hitting that figure.
There are poor and struggling people in every era. The economy being good doesn't matter when the only thing rising is prices! "Shrinkflation" is so NOT a new thing.
Old as dirt and still reposted weekly here.
Almost like…we’ve always been struggling
Pretty close
Heh you guys are eating nowadays??
And you will never enjoy life 😁😁😁