14 Comments

New York City is the worst at this. You can’t walk one block without handing someone a twenty. At least you get lots of pretzels and halal food though!

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Don't forget the tax they charge every time you yell, "I'm walkin here!"

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Here's one small tip I've learned: Don't go grocery shopping when you're hungry. I have made some insane impulse buys over the years because my stomach said, "I know it's not on the list, but look at it, doesn't it look delicious? So many cheeses in it! Life is so short. We owe it to ourselves to try it."

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But life IS short, and there ARE so many cheeses, and you DON'T know which one will be your new favorite so you gotta splurge SOMETIMES!

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Oh, Will, just wait. When you own your own home, it'll work quite differently. Every time a repairman comes in to your house it'll cost you $1000. The plus side of that is that you won't be able to afford to go out so, in a weird way, you'll be saving twenty bucks. Not fair? You bet.

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I would love to have those problems! My entire generation would KILL to be able to buy a house and pay a repairman as opposed to a landlord!

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Great one, Will. My father, in the early days of his country house, used to say that every trip to the store was $500 — so you’re way ahead of him. What alarms me is the frightening up-creep over the years of the cost figure I consider to be no big deal; where once I was concerned about things that cost the better part of ten dollars, now I look with equanimity upon anything under a hundred bucks and expenditures in the low three figures are starting to lose their sting.

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The price creep really is crazy! I feel the same way, used to be $10 felt like a lot for a meal and now I'm shocked if I can get something to eat and drink for under $20! Inflation is a hell of a thing!

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As long as you don't start ironically charging $20 for this Substack, we won't have a problem ;)

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What if I start charging that... unironically?

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Nick, it's worth more than $20!

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Dave, I was thinking the same thing!!

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Sometimes, just waking up in the morning costs me 20$

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Comic books are 5 bucks now!! 'Nuff said.

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