George Kamel - Are These 6 Things REALLY Overpriced?

Episode Date: September 25, 2023

Inflation this, inflation that. The price of everything is has gone up, and consumers are wondering . . . is the cost really worth it? In this video, I’m talking about the most overpriced things people no longer want to pay for (according a reddit thread turned Buzzfeed post). Stick around until the end, because I’m giving you the money strategy that works even if the economy is inflating like your Aunt Marge at the dinner table.   Links:  Is The $4 Meal Even Possible? Budgeting For Beginners Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can't deny that Reddit is chock full of content gold. Now the reddors themselves might be full of something else. Now take the subreddit called Startled Cats, for instance. Here's the pin post. Please make sure the cats are startled. And then there's this Reddit thread that BuzzFeed turned into an article titled, Frustrated People are revealing the horribly overpriced items they no longer want to pay for since they used to cost way less. Brevity is the soul of wit.

Am I right, BuzzFeed? How do they get away with this? Okay, I'm not even the grammar police, and it's exhausting to read. their headlines. You can't keep getting away with it! So in this Reddit thread, user Just Some Troglidite asked his community, what is horribly overpriced? And boy, did just some troglodyte stir the swamp with this one.

You see, people love to talk and complain about how much things cost, and I can see where they're coming from. I mean, think about basic cable. In the 90s, cable costs like 20 bucks on average. Today, cable costs closer to $220 on average. And that just feels like a rip-off. and it is a rip-off. But setting the thrill of a good gripe aside,

I want to know whether prices are really getting out of control or if it just feels that way. So today, I'm going full Shapiro and looking at facts over feelings to determine whether prices have really gotten out of hand. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. First, let me remind you that the price of this video is still free. So to keep it that way, be sure to like, subscribe, and share this content.

Or else I'll start charging. I don't even know how to do that, but love will find a way. I'm free. Now, quick disclaimer, there are 17 of these, and time is money. So I'm just going to hand-select a few and let you know if I think they're overpriced, underpriced, or appropriately priced. Let's get started. When you think about things that are overpriced, what's the first thing that comes to mind?

Let's all say it on three. One, two, three. PrintRink, did you get it right? Because that's the first one. Here's a comment from Reddeter Upvoter 222. I swear that it would be cheaper to melt some platinum and pour it into a printer cartridge than to buy some regular printering. That checks out.

So here's what I'm seeing. If you want a black high-yield ink cartridge that prints up to 2,000 pages, that is $52. That's insane. Okay, let me do the math here. That's a two and a half cents a page. Is that worth it to you? What are you printing? Why are you printing things? Why are you 75 years old? What are you doing printing the TPS report?

Just email it, all right? Save a seal and turtle. Apparently printer ink is one of the most expensive liquids on planet Earth. I said most expensive, not most precious. That would be chick-fil-a sauce. Excuse me, um, are you chick-fil-a sauce? Cause you're my first choice. Listen to what inkjets.com says about this. A gallon of ink is more expensive than a gallon of gas

or even a pricey bottle of vintage Dom Parian champagne. Now that's just Dom Parra, wrong. And that's peak cringe, okay? So, printer ink. Overpriced. Not doing it. I'll print it work for free. Thanks, Dave.

Can I be honest? I don't own a printer. I said it, I feel so much better. Next on the list, let's talk groceries. Now here's a response from user, fresh hot poop. Never thought I'd say those three words together at work. It's so stupidly expensive to buy groceries right now. Even if I just need a small list, specifically for the dinner I'm making that evening,

it's always 50 to 75 bucks. I feel like in the past two years, groceries have skyrocketed. Well, for starters, if you're spending 50 to 75 bucks on dinner for one evening, let me help you. I've done a video on how to make a $4 meal. It's educational, it's controversial, and it's delicious, and I will link that video for you below. But listen, fresh hot poop. I'm picking up what you're putting down, okay? I hear the struggle.

I feel the strain, and I smell the fear. Is that what fear smells like? But the fact of the matter is, food prices have steadily increased since 2020. The U.S. Government Accountability Office says that in 2020, U.S. consumers saw the largest annual increase in food prices since the 1980s. And while food prices generally increased about 2% in prior years, they increased about 11% from 2021 to 2022. Ouch. And this year alone, between May of 2022 and May of 2023,

food prices rose another 7%. Now, small caveat here, 7% is average. The truth is some things cost less and some things cost more. Here's an example of foods that dropped in price from May of last year to May of this year. Bacon, down almost 10%. Citrus fruits, down about 5%. Fresh whole milk, down about 3%. Now here's some food that increased from May of last year to May of this year.

Margarine, up 22.5%. And me-ma is not having it. Fake it down or not. Frozen vegetables, up almost 19%. Salad dressing, up 14%. Other condiments, up almost 16%. And in other condiment news, ranch has officially usurbed ketchup as America's favorite condiment.

Now, a $1 billion industry. That's crazy. This condiment hands down. No argument. So groceries, appropriately priced. Controversial, I know. But listen, I go to the grocery store every week, and I feel like the prices are higher than they used to be,

but they're not out of control. I mean, I can still get in and out for under $100. Okay, it's not wild. Dang. You got cheese like me? And speaking of food, here's the next gear grinder on this list from BuzzFeed, and it's airport food. This is a hot button issue.

Okay, now here's the thing. What you get at the Chili's 2 or some other airport establishment is about 10 to 15% above the street price. Because they can do that. You're a captive audience. You can't go anywhere. And it's not just the meals that are overpriced. I mean, you've seen snacks and water and soda. All of that stuff is two to three times higher than you'd pay in your local market.

Hi, welcome to overpriced restaurant. How can we rob you in broad daylight today? Now, there's a lot of reasons for this beyond the airports just trying to screw us all over. The inflated price accounts for things like high rent, because airports, take a percent of total sales, high construction costs, extra security and handling and logistical costs, costly labor, higher average salaries than traditional retail jobs. So while there's a lot of reasons for this, I'm still not buying it, and I refuse to buy almost anything when I'm going through an airport unless I absolutely have to. Airport food, overpriced, and I'm sticking with it.

Now, some quick tips on this. Obviously, if you can eat before you go, do that. Don't wait to eat your meal at the airport. Another hack is bring an empty water bottle. and then refill it at one of those airport filter water bottle things if you can trust it. Or if there's a Starbucks, ask for a venty filtered water for free. And then drop that into your mechanism. There's an idea. Also, bring your own snacks. That's a way better hack than buying them there.

What do you want? Let's move on to something less depressing, hopefully, on this BuzzFeed list. Never mind. It's the housing market. Let's look at the data here. The average home price was $7. $161,000 in March of 2023. Now, most experts report on the median, which saw an annual increase of 6.3%, which left it at

$424,000, the median house price in America today. How did we get here? Where did we come from? Where did we go? And how can you get a home one day? Well, following the pandemic, home value saw rapid growth in 2020, but that started softening in 2022. Now we're back to single-digit annual growth, with even some slight declines in certain

markets. But if we put on some TLC, the Girl Band, not the Learning Channel, and go back to the 90s, you'll remember that homes typically cost about two and a half times the median household income throughout the 90s. Fast forward to 2019, and homes now cost about four times the median annual income. Is that a bummer? Yes. Is there still hope that you can get a home? Yes. Now, by 2022, homes cost about five times the median annual income, which is double the ratio of the 90s. And a lot of this comes down to supply and demand. And as we know, during the pandemic, things got a little squirrelly, and the supply went way down, demand was up,

and that caused home prices to skyrocket. So to really cool down the market, there would need to be twice as many homes for sale as there are now. And with interest rates at record lows in the past few years, most people do not want to give up their mortgage, which has a record low interest rate, which means they're not planning on selling anytime soon. And so I think it's going to be a little while

until we see homes come back onto the market and see prices return to normals. But my final take on the housing market, it's overpriced. So unless you can afford it, be patient, Grasshopper. That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it unless someone changes my mind. Oh, let me say something, honey.

Next on this exhausting yet wonderful BuzzFeed list, The Movies. Now, here's a comment about the movies from user agnostic camel with a K. Cuzz? Is that you? Keep the faith, bro. Keep the faith. Here's their comment.

Just saw Oppenheimer at 11 a.m. on a Sunday, $43 with popcorn and soda. That's how you know they're not related to me. All right, I'm not spending 43 bucks on that trash. Not the movie. The movie's great. It's the popcorn and soda I'm worried about here. Now, again, let's take this back to the 90s, the average price for a movie ticket to see Jerry McGuire in 96, $4.35.

Now in 2023, it's 10 to 15 bucks for a single adult movie ticket to see our immortal friend Tom and Mission Impossible Day. Red Reckoning Part 1. Plus, in some theaters, you pay more for a better seat selection, or a special theater like Dolby or IMAX, or one of those crazy ones. So I was recently at the movies, and my ticket alone was $15.50. And to that, I say, overpriced. Do I still go occasionally?

Yes, but it's much less occasional because of the prices. Did I use my birthday email to get a free popcorn? You bet you I did. Did I sneak a little drink in my jacket? none of your business. And I would have gotten away with it, too. You did get away with it. I did.

All right, time for the last one on this BuzzFeed list we're going to cover today. Airbnbs. Are they overpriced? I feel this one. Today, the average daily rate of an Airbnb rental is 36% higher than it was in 2019. Now, for a perspective, Marriott's average rates at the end of 2022 were 12.8% higher than 2019. And Hilton's rates only increased by 7.8% compared to 2019. And that's not even including the average Airbnb cleaning fee of $13,000. Kidding, mostly.

The average is like 50 to 80 bucks, but it sure does add up fast. However, whether it's overpriced or not really depends on your group size. You see, the average Airbnb for 6 was 33% cheaper than booking three different hotel rooms. But the average hotel was 29% cheaper than booking an Airbnb for two. So here's how the cost breakdown per person. Airbnb that fits two adults, $125,000. bucks a person per night. Airbnb that fits six adults cost you 60 bucks per person per night, whereas a hotel that fits two adults, 89 per person per night. So is Airbnb overpriced? I'm going to say

it's overpriced in general. But if you're traveling with a big group, I'm going to say it can be a great deal and a whole lot of fun to have everyone in one house if you like the people. If you don't like the people, say, hey, let's all get different hotel rooms. It'll be cheaper. Brilliant idea, right? that's a good life hack. Now look, if your budget has been derailed by high prices lately, you're not alone. But here's some tough love. Just because things cost more now doesn't mean that's what's making you broke. Look at things like your lifestyle.

Certain things cost more now. Make some adjustments. Figure out what's actually worth your money, what you actually need versus what you want, and make some changes in your budget. But don't just give up and throw your budget out the proverbial window because things are expensive. You need a budget now more than ever. For example, if you need to bump up the grocery budget, be sure to shift another category to make it work.

Maybe we eat out less. Maybe we cut out a few subscriptions to make all that work. And listen, reworking your budget or figuring it out for the first time might feel like a headache right now. But if you're feeling the pain, check out my budgeting for beginners video. I will link it below, and it's going to show you in an easy and fun way

how to make a plan for your money. Make sure to share this video with a friend who might find it interesting and let me know in the comments what you think is overpriced right now. I'll go first. I think candy corn way overpriced. But that's because I think no, human beings should spend their hard-earned dollars on them or defile their taste buds by eating them. That's it for me. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.