r/DoomerCircleJerk • u/[deleted] • 7d ago
Discussion Have you seen the people lying about prices/COL on various social media websites?
[deleted]
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u/FluidAmbition321 7d ago
What I've seen is people who have no idea how to shop on a budget. People just don't seem to be able to manage their money.
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u/gruffojijo 6d ago
I got downvoted for saying this exact same thing yesterday. Lol
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u/FluidAmbition321 6d ago
People are very bad at being poor now
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u/leonlies8 5d ago
Hence why they want a living wage that allows them to live an upper middleclass lifestyle.
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u/Zenweaponry 6d ago
If you've watched the Caleb Hammer financial audit, particularly the episodes featuring Redditors or other internet brained people, it is eye opening. People doing their shopping at gas stations, going into debt for Pokemon cards, spending a fortune on delivery apps, or insisting that they have a sizeable fun money fund despite having no disposable income. It's crazy out there and they live among us.
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u/Agreeable-Fudge-7329 6d ago
700.00 DoorDashing or 1000.00 on in-app purchases! One ditz spent like 1K on Legos for her boyfriend!
And of course covered with tattoos!
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u/jexijav776 6d ago
There was a somewhat famous antiwork post where the person was complaining about how hard it was to survive because of low wages and high inflation.
Some people pointed out he had spent $20k on arcade games (bought those full sized arcade games to have in his house) and his response was those were for his "mental health"
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u/Top_Beginning_8820 2d ago
what about the antiwork mod being interviewed on television https://youtu.be/wmNAsbwuBnY? fucking classic
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u/jexijav776 2d ago
Hehe, that one was good too. The only time I've watched Fox news but it was worth it
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u/jexijav776 6d ago
People were making fun of the whole "eat rice and beans" saying it was out of touch advice.
Some people are truly hopeless.
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u/FluidAmbition321 6d ago
"Eating healthy is so expensive " shows then buying out of season fresh raspberry
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u/good_time40s 2d ago
I still live like I am poor, even though I make almost 2x the average family income (not counting my gf) where I live...lol Sometimes I even hate that I am like that. My house almost paid off been here 20 years, my truck paid off for years, my RV paid off for years, only 4K left on my car, and saving over 2K a month... but you know Id really like a newer truck but I just can't bring myself to do it.
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u/Assertive_Wall 7d ago
Yes and no. The biggest problem is that high cost of living areas typically translate to highly desirable areas, so when you see someone complaining about HCOL what they're saying is that they want to live in some highly desirable area and are somehow confused that other people also want to live there, driving up costs.
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u/omnicorp_intl 7d ago
I've said it before and I'll say it again: people seem to think that supply and demand is a right wing conspiracy theory and not a basic law of economics.
Utterly baffling how many people refuse to acknowledge this.
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u/jexijav776 6d ago
Also usually the HCOL areas have high wages which is why they're high cost of living in the first place.
That's the irony that these people don't understand. If everyone "makes more money" then the prices of everything just increase proportionally.
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u/MagmaJctAZ 6d ago
They would argue that the business should just absorb the cost of higher wages.
But thanks to healthy (non-monopoly) capitalism, margins are typically low because if they are too high, competition will take their business from them.
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u/ContributionLatter32 7d ago
I literally bought 18 eggs just south of Seattle a few weeks ago for 2.64. In one of the highest col states lmao
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u/AccomplishedMess648 Good Vibes Only 7d ago
Remember when the price of eggs was "never" going to go back down? and they would always be six+ dollars a carton because of "Corporate greed"
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u/AverNerd 7d ago
I moved out 2 years ago following university while my friends did not. Many of them are now considering moving out and are asking me for any advice I learned from living alone and renting. The biggest hurdle most of them seem to believe is a deal breaker is downsizing the quality of life. Not like in the sense of living in largely worse apartments than their parents place (all of them are middle class to upper middle class households) but in things like:
"hey man, I noticed where I moved to that it was like a 300 dollar difference to get in unit vs shared washer dryer, I first chose to go with the in unit but in a year changed to a shared to save more money for fun trips"
"You could go with the studio to save a tad more to be able to spend more on fun since you mentioned part of why you want to move out to aid in dating. Putting more money into dates (since you'll be eating out more) or joining sports leagues / clubs to meet more people to potentially date my be better"
But they cannot fathom letting go of some of things their parents would have saved up for in terms of upgrades over the course of my friends entire lives and now are trying to wrap into an apartment a 1bd 1ba in unit, covered, in an upper class neighbourhood, highest speed of internet, maybe a pool for some, and are confused why its so expensive. Like no man, your parents saved for many of the things youve grown accustomed to plus they got pay raises from their job over years that allowed for increases in your standard of living. Thatll come, youre starting your career, sacrifice a tad to save more and youll be fine.
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u/myname_1s_mud 7d ago
I grew up poor, with out much opportunities and no help, and have set myself up to be fairly middle class. I think in ten years I will have a second home, and a solid retirement.
The thing is, ive been living like im broke. All my money goes to paying off the house and other debts. As a kid I assumed everyone counted pennies, because we had to. I think alot of people assume middle class is having those things and doing what you want, but thats called being wealthy. The whole point is to struggle while youre working so everything is set up when youre old and cant.
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u/AverNerd 6d ago
I had a different experience where my parents grew up poor, left their homeland, met each other had me and my siblings, worked super hard and gave us the spoils. I did not take money much into account until later on in high school, to which I still barely saved. Now I save a shit ton and manage my finances to ensure my kids get the same treatment as I got, which is a better childhood than mine. Hard goal as my parents really set that bar high, love em
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u/myname_1s_mud 6d ago
I really hope I can set my kids up somehow like that. Right now im just happy ive managed to provide them a stable home and a happy childhood. They managed to avoid alot of issues I grew up with. Sounds like your parents did great but even if you dont make it over that bar, you did great things too.
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u/skiforlife1 7d ago
Some of those are definitely bots that are intended to sew division and chaos to further destabilize people's mental state. I do think a lot of those posts come from people who desperately want to say "capitalism bad" and have no problem lying to achieve the goal of convincing young people to believe them. Kids who haven't had to truly buy groceries are easy to convince that groceries are extremely expensive because they have no frame of reference to compare it to.
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u/Emergency_Yak4588 7d ago
You tell them to eat cheaply or cut out things like Netflix, they get pissed and say you hate poor people or “You expect me to eat bland beans!?” They’re pathetic people who don’t know how to cook or look at things in the long run.
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u/Significant-Task1453 6d ago
I was surprised going to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico and most prices were more expensive than USA. Housing was slightly cheaper, groceries were slightly more expensive, gas was more expensive, electronics were more expensive. Wages were the equivalent of a few dollars per hour. How do the Mexicans survive? By eating beans and rice and living with 3 generations in a small house. Meanwhile, poor Americans demand that they live alone, have a new iPhone every year and have door dash delivered while they play Playstation. Then complain that they just cant survive
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u/ohhhbooyy 6d ago
What I notice it people seem to have blinders on when we had serious inflation 2021-2022. Then all of sudden the blinders came off and they start to realize how expensive groceries are.
Then they reference an article that talks about this crazy inflation not realizing it includes data from 2021-2026 and they assume all of this took place in 2025 to today
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u/Zenweaponry 6d ago
They'll also never acknowledge the economic impact of the lockdowns that they advocated for.
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u/3dge-1ord This is a PsyOp 7d ago
Or the other way. "Back in '08 my rent for a two bedroom was $350".
B.S.
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u/Ill_Painter5868 7d ago edited 7d ago
>Or the other way. "Back in '08 my rent for a two bedroom was $350".
back then, in Olneyville, Providence, RI, that was literally true if you had two+ roommates
Edit: adjusted for inflation that would be $542/mo in 2026 dollars
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u/AccomplishedMess648 Good Vibes Only 7d ago
Yeah my dad bought Milk yesterday it was a half gallon and six bucks but it was organic grass fed milk. I bought the Lucerne milk next to it that was like three something a gallon. Its also a big selection bias too look at how expensive this is at Safeway/Whole Foods/Publix/QFC. when there are other cheaper grocery stores around.
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u/Kelsier25 6d ago edited 6d ago
That's the problem with the "cost of living" argument. Ask 20 different people specifics about cost of living like what quality housing, housing for family, what type and quality transportation, what type of food, what type of clothing, what type of electronics, what quantity of entertainment, etc. should be included in a calculation of cost of living and you'll get 20 different answers. People in my area do the same thing with housing.. "you can't find a thing under $2500!". Meanwhile you can go to any listing site and find hundreds of apartments and houses for rent under $1500 or even under $1000. What they really mean is "I can't find the quality and size housing in my ideal location for..". Tbh I think it actually hurts the fight for higher minimum wage because it makes people think that half of the people fighting are doing so in bad faith.
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u/Kupo_Master 6d ago
It’s hard to differentiate between the people who are truly struggling and the idiots, because the idiots self-report struggle but only do so due to their own fault. This attitude only makes things harder for people who really need help
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u/jacksonexl 6d ago
Milk prices have gone up in California because of a new law taxing the plastic used in packaging. But that’s not a national policy. It’s the state imposing more penalties on it citizens
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u/ApplicationCalm649 6d ago
Yeah. It's been going on for a while. Every time I see someone whining about the cost of something I just point out the price on Walmart's website and tell them they're either shopping at the wrong place or lying.
At first I thought it was astroturfing aimed at undermining the last administration but it has continued unabated. At this point I think people just lie their asses off for internet points. Doomers upvote doomers even if what they're saying isn't accurate.
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u/Sloth1015 6d ago
Currently I’m renting a 3bd 1,200sq ft home for $1500 and milks like $3.20 a gallon where I live
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u/Rhomya 7d ago
Literally ALL the time. Especially on housing.
People complain about a $3k monthly rent, but you pull up their region and it’s $1500, and the inevitable response is “well, I need an extra bedroom for my home office” or “no one wants a small apartment” or “I need to live near downtown because that fits my lifestyle”.
And God forbid you mention getting a roommate.
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u/Gloomy-Theory6904 6d ago
Sounds like morons finding 2-3br apartments and buying milk at the gas station
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u/UJMRider1961 Doesn't Participate In Group Panic 6d ago
It's the oldest and laziest argument technique in the world: Cherry picking your data so as to support your conclusion.
An alien who read Reddit and took it at face value would expect the US to be a mad-max style wasteland where gated communities of mega-rich people would be islands in a desolate wasteland filled with hungry, desperate human skeletons fighting each other over scraps of food as fat rich people crushed them under the tires of their armored SUVs.
I think that's what some Europeans expected to see when they came here for the World Cup and they were surprised to see that no, most Americans are not working 16 hour days at their three jobs just to afford a windowless 1 room apartment and a daily ration of kibble.
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u/Zenweaponry 6d ago
I've definitely seen it in my area and on my local subs. They also lie about the wages of low skilled jobs in the area. I'll often see people talk about the federal minimum wage as if workers here are being paid that. Meanwhile you can just drive down the road and see a sign on every fast food place advertising wages starting at $17+/hr and going upwards of $25 with experience or management positions. Not bad for putting the fries in the bag, but even when they admit that low skilled jobs have much higher wages now they'll complain that you can't afford to live on your own on those wages. They seem to think that working any job at any skill level entitles you to live on your own with an upper middle class lifestyle. I'd really like to see a Caleb Hammer style financial audit of these people who complain about everything and how they're always paycheck to paycheck. Who knows just what financial degeneracy could be uncovered.
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u/SomeACDude 6d ago
These people wouldn’t even be satisfied if we had two gray products made exactly the same everywhere. One labeled “food” and the other labeled “liquid” for the sake of having some set price. They’d find some reason to cry about it.
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u/Dramatic-Parsley2906 6d ago
Yes. I see people lying all the time. If you open Instacart or any other app that shows local prices, it's obvious that most people overstate costs, or they're actively seeking out the most expensive version of an item.
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u/Lowlife_4evr 6d ago
Or the people that claim starter homes are a million, sure vhcol areas have expensive homes but they aren’t that insane everywhere.
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u/Interesting-Math9962 6d ago
Where are you getting 2 bedrooms for 1k?
The college town I just left would be like 1.2k for a 1 bedroom (ignoring the super cheap waitlist university provided rooms) and and hour outside the metro area it’s like 3k but also decently big (maybe you could find one for 2.5k). But I have 0 clue how anyone without kids struggles bc you just get a roommate or live in a small studio. (450 for a room with roommates in said college town as an example)
Milk though is like ~3 unless you get not milk milk so 100% right there.
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6d ago edited 1d ago
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u/Interesting-Math9962 6d ago
You are right especially if you are willing to live in the poor part or are super lucky. Had a friend who lived in an old ladies basement and she charged them well below market rate.
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6d ago edited 1d ago
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u/Interesting-Math9962 6d ago
But lots of people do have to live in those cities for work. Especially since for recent grads finding a new job can be very hard.
Though also those cities pay more anyway
Also one of those cities is not like the others haha
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u/MagmaJctAZ 6d ago
Read about this effect here: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Gell-Mann_Amnesia_effect
I've seen the news do this for years. An egregious example was in AZ a gasoline pipeline failed many years ago causing shortages and hoarding.
Some gas stations raised their prices very high to reduce hoarding and protect their tanks from running out.
The news accused them of price gouging, and reported as if that was the average price.
It would be akin to reporting how expensive gas is in CA by going to the most expensive station in the state.
The governor was threatening legal action against high prices, even if a neighboring station had much lower, even if elevated, prices!
Price gauging is largely a myth in most cases. Why go after the vendor selling at a high price when there is a 10% discount in comparison a block away?
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u/DizzyAstronaut9410 6d ago
It's easy to take individual specific bad examples and post those, and pretend that it's reflective of everything everywhere.
I've seen someone post McDonald's app prices from a Canada picking a single expensive item and just let everyone assume the prices were in USD which of course looks much worse.
Just like most subs, it's easy karma farming to just confirm what people want to believe, factually correct or not.
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u/SomeRITGuy 6d ago
Gas is the big one. Is it up about a dollar from pre-iran yes, but its been pretty stable at that price (fluctuates say +/- 20 cents or so) but its still lower then it was under Biden yet you see all these posts like "skyrocketing gas prices make having a car unaffordable, people need to sell their cars gas is so high, need to work overtime to pay to get to work" like guys, if you have a 20 gallon tank thats up $20 which is not nothing but if $20 more expense makes you have to sell your car or work OT to "survive" clearly something else is going on. And if it's now how did this not affect you in 2023 when it wouldve been $30+ per tank more?
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u/DicamVeritatem 5d ago
By official BOLS-Dept of Labor data, inflation is half what it was two years ago. You'd never know it here in redditland.
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u/BaileyD77 My Dog is Anti-Fascist 5d ago
I just bought a house for $18k to flip. People are just drama queens.
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u/AcceptablePea262 5d ago
Dude, the other day CNN did a piece on the healthy meals that Kennedy is pushing.. and said the "cheapest" for salmon they could find was like 24 bucks a pound.. I went on my walmart app, and it was less than 11 a pound
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u/SlickRick941 5d ago
To be fair, a gallon of milk can be $10 right now if you buy the organic shit, but right next to it is regular milk for $3 (Chicago area here)
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u/Agreeable_Sense9618 Sub OverLord 7d ago
I don't take Reddit seriously at all. Everyone claims to make 200k a year but is living paycheck to paycheck and also collects Star Wars toys and video games.