In general, I live in America and lately I have been hearing more and more often from Americans that living in the USA is becoming prohibitively expensive. In addition to this, the other day I came across a post on the Internet where Americans discussed what things suddenly moved from the category of “any homeless person can afford it” to the category of “well, maybe I'll buy it someday”

Fried chicken wings

The fact is that until the 90s, chicken wings were not considered meat at all. Butcher shops simply threw them away or gave them to someone very cheaply, like giblets. In the 90s, many fast food chains realized that it was possible to buy such meat for cheap and earn money from it. So since the 90s, for a long time the price of wings has been around 10-30 cents per wing. These are the prices that many Americans remember, who in college took a couple of beers and a bucket of wings for 2-3 dollars.   Of course, I did not catch this, but even 5 years ago I often took chicken wings at a price of $6 for 8 pieces (80 cents per piece). Now 8 wings cost $15 (almost $2 per wing)

Bowling

Bowling has always been considered the entertainment of the working class, and therefore was very cheap. Think of any American movie from the 80s-90s. Where does a guy relax with friends after work? Of course, in the bowling alley. You pay a couple of dollars for the game, take a beer at the bar for five and have a pretty good evening. Currently, a bowling trip for two can cost around $50-100. Fortunately, there are still places in the «bumblefuck» of America where prices have not changed much since the 90s. I've found bowling for $5 myself. Unfortunately, not only the prices, but everything else has not changed since the 90s — old balloons, worn-out interior, worn and smelly shoes for rent.

Movie tickets

It's exactly the same story as with bowling. It was $1-2 for a ticket, it became $15-25 + a bucket of popcorn with cola will cost the same amount.

Concert tickets

As some Americans recall, in the 90s it was possible to deliver newspapers after school on a bike and easily earn money for a concert of your favorite band, and more than once a month. Now concert tickets have become a real luxury. Firstly, ticket sales are essentially handled by one company that has monopolized the market. Secondly, prices have already soared for everything. That year, I took Pink tickets at a price of $200 per ticket somewhere at the back of the hall. The first rows cost $1500-3000 each. Seriously, even if Pink sings sitting on my lap, well, that's $500 maximum (After all, she's not young anymore). And if you only knew how much tickets for Taylor Swift cost. Google it for fun. Many Americans fly to her concerts in other countries, because even with a flight and a hotel, it is twice cheaper than going to her concert in the USA.

Tacos

In the old days, there were vans on every corner where Latinos sold tacos for $0.5 — $1. Now one taco costs $5 Since I love tacos, I sincerely do not understand why I should take 3 tacos for $20 (with taxes and tips) in some trailer when I can take them for the same price in a restaurant.

Thrift Stores

An era has passed when a used thing could be bought many times cheaper. Now, with the development of the Internet, a crowd of online resellers has appeared, which buys up everything that is of at least some value and resells it at a margin. eBay has turned from an online flea market of used items into a trading platform for resale and online stores. Thrift shops and second-hand shops have begun to inflate prices, as a crowd of overbought people runs in there in search of rarities. If earlier, in the absence of money, it was necessary to go only to the second-hand store, now it does not hurt to compare prices first. Perhaps a new thing in the same Walmart will cost just a little more than a used one in Goodwill (this is a chain of second-hand stores)

Real estate

There's nothing to discuss here. American grandfathers bought houses for a «bag of corn», and now they cost millions of dollars. For old times' sake, local grandfathers continue to tell their grandchildren, “Work hard and then you can also buy yourself a house, like I did in my youth!“. No. No one will be able to buy a house just by working. After all, you are the one who fucked up our economy.

Apparently, an entire era is coming to an end. The America that we saw in childhood in American films is gradually changing. An ordinary American will no longer be able to drive to school in a Chevrolet Camaro, and after college buy himself a two-story house, 2 cars and start a family of 3-4 children. Now it's more like middle-class life.