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You ever feel like you're getting less bang for your buck these days? Subscriptions, travel, entertainment. It has gotten so expensive, some people are opting out completely. It has gotten so dire, one man resorted to putting his Costco hot dog on payments. We're praying for him. So today we're reacting to BuzzFeed's list of things that used to be worth the money but now feel like a complete ripoff. But first, let's give Deleteme a shout out for sponsoring this channel. They're worth every penny. All right, number one, fast food. It's only marginally cheaper than going to a restaurant or in food. If you're Dave Ramsey. Restaurant. Yeah. Fast food used to be a cheap option when you didn't feel like cooking. Adult lives have gotten so much busier. Cooking at home has become more of a luxury time required. Fast food chains have caught onto this and you now pay for a convenience meal instead of a cheat meal. That is true. I mean, fast food is for convenience. And you will pay a premium for convenience. I mean, think about it this way. The Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal used to cost around $5.39. The today it's about $11.99. That is 122% inflation. Or as I like to call it, Mcflation. You can use that McDonald's, but it makes you look bad. So just know that going into it. So nowadays you're paying restaurant money to eat in your car. So it is convenient, but it's not cheap. And I know this firsthand. It's not just a McDonald's issue. If you go to any fast food place, you'll be shocked that a meal now costs 12, 13, 14, 15 bucks, which. Which is insane. Even the kids meal at Chick Fil A, which I like to frequent with my toddler. I mean, we can't get out of there for less than 20 bucks for the two of us. Even with kids meals, it's not fair. Another comment says the irony is that Netflix was close to killing piracy for good. Why pirate when you could watch whatever you want for eight bucks a month? Then every content creator wanted their own piece of the pie. Netflix got greedy. Now we're back to where we started. I think that's a little bit narrow and short sighted. I mean, Netflix started creating original content which cost them a lot of money to. And so they go, all right, we're gonna invest in this. We can. We gotta raise the prices. They're paying big money to license movies and shows outside of that. So I understand why they raise prices. Stop defending them. I mean, they were also bleeding money for a long time. I don't even know if they're profitable today. But standard with ads. 9 bucks a month premium with no ads, extra members added to it, 27. Which is pretty wild. So if you can't handle ads interrupting your Emily in Paris binge festival, it's probably worth the splurge. So, like any subscription, how often are you using it and do you feel like that value is there? Whether it's 8 bucks a month or 27 bucks a month. Next up, a trip to Vegas. All right. Used to be a great value for the money. Everything was cheap. Rooms were dirt cheap. And buffets were like $7.99 a person. Really? And cocktails were free if you were gambling. And resort fees didn't exist. Now Vegas is just a giant ripoff. Nothing there is cheap anymore. What a shame. All right, listen, man, if that buffet was $7.99, I question how your small intestine's doing today. I can't imagine that was good. I'm trying to think of like the 90s, like when I first went to Vegas with my family. We stayed at a place called Excalibur, which when I was like nine, was the coolest place I'd ever seen. Now I realize it's about the dumpiest hotel on the strip, but there was a buffet there. I don't remember if we got to eat there, but I think we probably did. And it was probably $7.99. Cause my dad's pretty frugal. But yeah, I've been to Vegas more recently. Is it expensive? Yeah, but I don't think anybody went to Vegas because it was cheap. I mean, you're spending a lot of money to gamble. You got the hotels, the food, the shows. You got a budget for Vegas. And there was 50 plus casino buffets a few years ago. Now only eight remain. And I don't know if that's just because people post Covid think buffets are gross or what, but buffet dinners cost anywhere from 20 bucks to 100 bucks per person. So you're already losing money on the trip, and now you wanna gamble on top of the buffet? Make it make sense. Next we've got going to the movie theater. Again, if you're Dave Ramsey, that's how you wanna say it. I say theater, but I'm a northern Yankee, so what do I know? You can easily have a huge flat screen TV and surround sound system at home for less than 500 bucks. And most movies are available on streaming within a month of release. I took my daughter to watch Lilo and Stitch in the theater last month and two tickets plus refreshments were about $60 and and three weeks later that movie is already on Disney. That is true. The gap between theater and when I can watch it at home is a lot shorter. And so I do find if I don't desperately need to see it in theater then I can wait until it's streaming somewhere or I can rent it on a streaming service for cheaper. But I found now to rent a movie it could be like 20 bucks which is not much cheaper than going to the movies. And I do buy discount tickets. I've got a AAA so the tickets are like nine bucks a pop. So it's 18 bucks for two people. Not bad. But I would not pay. I don't like paying full price for a movie and so I don't go to the movies a lot. Maybe a couple times a year and partially because I feel like it's a ripoff. And also I bring my own snacks because the 14 year olds working there truly don't give a rip. They're not paid enough to care. And to their point here, 60 bucks means they spent a lot on concessions. They'll get you with those concessions. That's how they really make their money. Because the movie tickets around 16 bucks now. And by the way, cheapest state to go to the movies, Wyoming. Nine bucks a ticket retail. But then again you got to go to Wyoming. I don't know. Wyoming had a two headed cow and movie memberships like we've got at our local AMC that can run 25, 30 bucks a person per month. So that's 600 bucks a year for a couple before purchasing popcorn. Or you could bundle your Disney plus or Hulu HBO Max for like 20 bucks a month. Be on your couch eating your snacks and your PJs without wondering who sat on that chair before you. Ew. You ever think about that? Don't think too hard. Pretty gross. Next we've got Ticketmaster. Now this one, just saying the word Ticketmaster out loud feels like a cuss word. When it started, it was cool. For a small fee you could buy concert tickets from outlets instead of at the box office. Who calls it? This is a boomer writing this. I used to go to the box office to get my tickets to see Earth, Wind and Fire. Then suddenly you had to pay the fee even when you went to the box office. Now it's just a fee, not small that you have to pay Regular, regardless. And for that fee, you get nothing. I love this energy, very Larry David energy, and I like it. Bring it on. Okay. But it's true. I don't go to as many concerts and comedy shows as I would like to, because when I go to buy that, you know, $60 ticket, it ends up being $90 after fees. TicketMasters fees are 20 to 40%. So think about $150 ticket becomes $200 before you even found parking. That's nearly $50 in fees for doing nothing but clicking oh, how convenient for you, Ticketmaster. And by the way, the DOJ sued Live Nation-Ticketmaster in 2024 for using monopoly power to stifle the competition and harm the consumers like us. In April 2026. Fun update. A federal jury agreed they held a monopoly and violated federal and state antitrust laws. But apparently, that still hasn't stopped people from buying $2,400 seats to Bruno Mars and Alyssa. I like Bruno as much as the next guy, but 2,400 bucks for the VIP seats up front? I don't. I just don't think it's worth it. 24 karat magic in the air. 24 karat magic. I didn't even think about that. 24k. He charges 2400 bucks for the front seats. That better come with some. Some diamonds. All right, next, let's cover this one. Any home appliance, vacuums, fridges, blenders, et cetera. Everything is made to break now, so you have to repurchase and spend more money. Ooh. I mean, you still have to buy these things. It's not like people don't buy vacuums and fridges anymore, but you try to make them work longer than you probably want to. I mean, why did your mom's avocado green fridge last so long? I mean, back in the 70s, appliances were mostly mechanical. They lasted 30 to 50 years. And today, the lifespan of major home appliances, 10 years or less. So here's one of the problems. Manufacturers stop making replacement parts after three to five years, making the repairs more expensive or impossible. Get the part. What are you going to do? Can't fix it. It's junk now. And that forces consumers to buy new appliances. And technology is also making it more prone to issues and more expensive to fix or replace. And as an example, my washer and dryer are too techy for its own good. Why do you need to play me a little song at the end? When you're done. When you're done, Just shut up and be done. I don't need the little song, I don't need a little riddle, little rhyme. And I don't need an app to pair with it to get a notification that the clothes are done. I know, I, I heard, I heard, I heard it. Stop making that very loud sound. Appreciate that though. But that also makes it more expensive to fix and replace. Cuz one little piece of technology can go wrong on a chip and now the thing's bunk. So there is a thing called planned obsolescence where companies make them to not last as long. Like the iPhone, they're sort of built to not last 30 or 40 years. So that you have to go buy the newest, latest and greatest version. And that applies to all kinds of technology and appliances. Laptops, cell phones, you name it. So I would say the smart move here is to try to use things as long as possible. Buy used where and when you can and be very choosy and cautious in your research. I use sites like Consumer Reports before I buy things because I don't want to buy a washer dryer that has known issues. I want to buy the one that's going to last a long time for me. Next up, the inflated cost of online courses without real content. It used to be a new way of learning. Now it is often a marketing scam. Sad day. Yeah. These are now peddled by a lot of like social media guru dudes. And that's the sad part is they're usually like trying to get you to buy a course on how to run Airbnbs, which is how they really make their money instead of the actual Airbnb. And so it tricks you. And these are just bunch of marketing funnels with big sales pages and webinars and all these slick marketing tricks to get you to buy this course that really doesn't have a lot of value. And even then, the real product may not be the course, it's the next course. It's the Mastermind. It's the $5,000 coaching program. You need to fully implement what you just learned. And then you finally realize this was a scam all along. Let's keep it moving. With diamonds, it used to be relatively hard to find them, but now we can just make them totally worthless. Wow. Okay, I'm fighting words. I have found that for some reason, diamonds are one of the most controversial things you can talk about. From the, you know, true blood diamond to the lab grown diamond to the moissanite to the cubic zirconium. And the truth is, lab grown diamonds now look practically identical to natural diamonds in Every way. You cannot tell the difference with the naked eye. You can only tell when it's like a five carat diamond. You're like, there's no way that's a real diamond. That's probably lab grown versus natural. And get this, a study found that 45% of engagement ring purchases are now lab grown diamonds. That's a good trend that people are getting wise and going. You know what, these natural diamonds, the markup is insane and you can't tell the difference anyways. Who cares? Other than the female wearing the ring, who just knows it's natural. That makes her feel, I don't know, better than everyone else. There's really no end to this, guys. It's madness. So just get the ring you can afford in cash. I don't buy this whole three month salary thing. I think one month salary is plenty, but. But the key is, are you paying cash? Did you do the research and will she love it regardless of the amount of carrots? That's all I'm going to say about that. Don't need you to come at me in the comments. Oh good, good, good. This is going downhill quickly. Next up we have bitcoin. Another comment. Especially with the addition of stupid meme coins and all the scammy pump and dump rug pulls, it's so full of scammers it's not worth messing with again. I could have written that comment and I kind of wish I did. There's a recent film called Everyone is lying to you for Money made by Ben McKenzie, famously from the OC. I've yet to watch it, but I'm very excited because it's basically a takedown of crypto and that it's all a scam. Cryptocurrency. It's pretty stupid. Come at me in the comments all you want, but we all know the crypto market. Extremely volatile, super risky. There's nothing behind bitcoin other than some potential utility with the blockchain. And it's all based on what someone else is willing to pay for it in that moment. And you still have to then exchange it for real money to do anything with it. But why would you sell it if you think it's always going to go up? And so it just creates this endless cycle of insufferable bros trying to get you to get in on it. Like a bad mlm. Which is why I say cryptocurrency is just Mary Kay for young men. And I stand by that sick burn. In fact, I prefer Mary Kay. At least you get something out of it and you can use and maybe you get a pink Cadillac. That could be a win. So instead of putting your money into Bitcoin, I recommend storing your money somewhere safer, like Fairwinds Credit Union, a sponsor of today's video. Because unlike most banks who are perfectly happy watching your money sit there doing nothing while they profit off of it, Fairwinds actually wants you to win. The average savings account pays less than half a percent. So for example, if you got 20 grand saved, you might earn around 78 bucks a year. But with fair winds in their High Yield savings account, you'd get more like 70 $600 a year. Plus there's no surprise fees, no gimmicks, just fee, free checking, High Yield savings and the Ramsey themed debit card all in one smart bundle. So go check it out@fairwinds.org Ramsey and while everything else on this list keeps getting more expensive, your phone bill doesn't have to. That's where Boost Mobile comes in, another sponsor of today's video. You'll pay just 25 bucks a month forever on their unlimited plan. And there's no contracts, no hidden fees, no surprise charges that make you stare at your bill like it personally betrayed you. Just 25 bucks a month forever. You get to stay in control of your budget and keep more of your money where it belongs. You can bring your unlocked phone, keep your same number and start saving today. Make the switch@boostmobile.com Ramsey $25 forever requires customers to remain active on the Boost Unlimited plan. Next on our list of things that used to be worth the money that now feel like a complete and total scam. Them fighting words. We have got food trucks. It used to be great food at relatively cheap prices, but it has completely flipped on its head. It is now mediocre food at exorbitant prices. Another commenter said I went to one outside of a sporting event so not surprised at a slight markup thinking it would save me some money. And it was 20 bucks for a small bowl of food. Might as well have paid the stadium prices inside this one. Sadly I believe to be true. And I love a good food truck. There's something about food made inside of a tiny truck that I waited in line for on a nice day that just gets me excited. And it was once a food and now they cost the same with fewer amenities. You pay sit down prices to stand on a sidewalk. And I understand why. I mean there's monthly operating costs. You got fuel, labor, supplies, the truck itself, that's not cheap. And so this is all rising due to inflation. And so these small businesses have to keep up. These are generally kind of mom and pop type shops running these food trucks. And so I'm happy to support a small business, which makes me feel better about paying 20 bucks for a small bowl of nothing. But it's just part, it's part of the experience, man. And it's kind of a, you know, captive audience. Where else are you going to go? Usually the food truck might be one of the only options to get some decent food. Speaking of food, for some reason this made the list. Hot Cheetos and other chips used to be able to get a large bag for $2.29. Now they're around six to seven bucks for a smaller bag and fewer chips. Is that true? Seven bucks for a bag of hot Cheetos. But this does speak to the idea of shrinkflation. The prices go up, the bag sizes go down. And just to fact check these guys. Cause you can say anything on the Internet. I wanna find out exactly how much hot Cheetos are they. Aren't they called Flaming? Flaming hot Cheetos. Oh, flamin hot. 3.97, 5.94 for the party size. That feels like a decent normal price. $0.39 per ounce for a party. Now I don't know if you're actually having a party or if you are just going through something and it's a solo bag, but I'm not gonna judge. So there you go. And a 14 ounce party size Doritos from Walmart used to cost 3.98. Now it's 5.94 for the same amount. And I get it. When you feel that bag, you go, wow, a lot of air in this bag. About 70% air. You open it up, you look down far enough, you'll find some chips in there, you'll find some Cheetos if you're lucky. But maybe that should dissuade you from eating all these processed foods. There's just a thought again, I don't like Cheetos as much as the next guy, but you gotta have access to a sink to wash your hands after that bad boy. Or wear gloves. Like I have Cheeto gloves that I wear. I'm sorry, what next? Let's cover dating sites. Quote, man, do they suck. Yeah, I don't think anyone disagrees with that. I feel like dating sites have now become like a gambling app, but with humans, which feels just kind of gross and exhausting. And you go through like thousands of people to maybe get a few matches to Maybe go on a date that doesn't work out. So I agree it is depressing. You're better off using your proximity. But I've heard a lot of people have success with these and they find their loved ones that they're now married to through dating apps. I feel like for some reason I've heard that Hinge is one of the better ones to actually find a mate. So that's just what I've heard. But here's the thing. All of these apps have a subscription and a premium side. And if you're casting a wide net and you're on multiple apps, that can run you 60 to 70 bucks a month. And that's not even a guaranteed date. Now, if I had a dating app, I would guarantee you a date within the first week. That's big brain thinking right there. And then I would pay the other people to go on a date with you to make it worth your money. So everyone's getting paid. It's just sort of a Ponzi scheme. You give me money, I give that money to this person to go on the date with you, and then we just continue to the cycle until maybe you find love. And the sad truth is, you are more likely to be ghosted on These app says 84% of Gen Z and Millennials reported. That's pretty sad. Next up on things that are now a total scam. Selling on ebay. The fees are nuts versus 10 years ago. I do feel like you used to hear like selling on ebay was just like a career path you could just jump onto. And it began as the ultimate digital garage sale. There was no middleman. You kept most of your money. And today ebay's fees are 13 to 15% of the total transaction. So you get the item price, the shipping, the sales tax, plus a 30 to 40 cent fee per order. And that adds up if you've got a lot of volume moving through ebay, it's a lot of time, a lot of effort. So you better be raking in the big bucks to make this worth your energy. Next we have doing rideshare gigs. I used to drive for Uber. When it first started where I live, it was okay money for the amount of effort, skill level involved. But during the year I drove, Uber gradually decreased fares and increased their cut. I went from taking home 8.5 out of a $10 fare to less than $5 and quit. A teenager stocking shelves at a grocery store literally made more money. That's true, though. When Uber and Lyft first came to the Nashville area. It was when I had a bunch of debt and so I was working on paying off that debt. And so I signed up for both. They had bonus offers. I think they gave you like 1000 bucks if you did a certain amount of rides within a certain amount of time. And so I hit both of those bonuses and I drove nights and weekends when I wasn't working. And it was decent money that actually helped me get out of debt. But I think if I started today, based on them lowering the amount I'm going to get, increasing their cut the saturation because there's Uber drivers and Lyft drivers everywhere. It's a tough gig these days, so I wouldn't recommend it as a long term gig. But in the short term, I mean, the fact that you could sign up and maybe be driving this week, not bad. And you got to factor in higher gas prices. Now you got to have extra insurance. There's wear and tear on the vehicle. There's some safety factors. So the ROI may not be there like it used to. Proceed with caution. Maybe you go for one of these, you know, Uber, E Store, Dash, Instacart, Shipt type apps where no humans are in your vehicle. That might simplify some things. Next, we've got airline tickets. You used to get meals, checked bags, decent legroom, and actual service. Now you pay double for half of that and they'll still try to upsell you on a window seat. Feels like getting scammed at 35,000ft. I like that. There's something about being high up in the air and getting skin that hurts Even more. Silver lining, though. If airlines select your seats, you may not have to sit next to your kids. Now maybe this will all improve now the Spirit's out of the game. I don't know. But US airlines made over $7 billion in revenue from baggage fees alone in 2024. Looking at you, Southwest. Oh, we're not like the other guys. Oh, really? Now I'm in boarding group 8. But you don't have to find a. I could find a seat just fine. Okay, I didn't need your help with that. And now I gotta pay 50 bucks a bag. Now we're all taking carry ons, so now everything is full in the overhead bins, which means I gotta gate check it and then go to baggage claim. Anyways, that's how I feel about it. Southwest. I'm not gonna be a sponsor of this show and neither is Spirit to a zone. But allegiant, if you're out there looking at you girl, all Right. Last but not least, we've got the school photo industry. Back before digital cameras, when it took effort to take amazing photos and and get them developed, it might make sense to splash out. I never heard that on a nice photo of your student once a year or at graduation. Now incredibly expensive prices for a printout or digital copy of a photo, often no better than can be taken on your phone. Sure, the school photo is nice, but 80 bucks for a copy hard pass. Now for two kids, it does add up. That's potentially over 1,000 bucks spent on school picks from K through 12th grade, which is a lot of money. So here's the way to think about it might make you feel better. Think of it as a fundraiser for your school. Schools often earn a flat fee or commission for packages ordered. And you know, this could be an investment toward your child's wedding photo montage or grandma's fridge. And I'm experiencing that now with an infant and a toddler. And we pay it even though it feels like paying the mafia. So overall, I agree with most of these on the list. I think they're a little bleak, a little bit angry, but I understand where they're coming from. And it just goes to show you, you gotta spend your money on where you believe it's worth it. So if today's list has shown us anything is that there are better ways to spend our money than on Shrinkflation and Subscription Creep. So if you want a foolproof plan to spend without regret, check out my book, Breaking Free from Broke. Specifically the chapter called Spending is Self Control where I share the smarter way to spend your hard earned money with no regrets. And bonus, there's an audiobook version for those of you who love to commit but still have a stack of 47 unread books on your nightstand. That's me. And hey, if this video made you equal parts angry and motivated, here's the antidote. 14 things I actually bought that are worth the money. So click here to watch that next or use the link in the description. That's it for today. Thank you guys for watching. We'll see you next time.