Quote:
Originally Posted by ckissick
I'm glad I was alive when people could still afford to have fun.
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Last time I was skiing at Lake Tahoe, I looked out at the crowds and realized that each person I saw represented nearly a $1K investment in just equipment and a one-day lift ticket. Of course, if you own your own gear, its cost can be spread out over a few seasons. But even if you rent your skis you can easily drop about $200 for a day on the slopes, not including the cost of food, your own cold-weather gear and getting yourself to the mountain. Lots of new-looking skis and trendy 'outfits' around though. I don't know how so many folks are able to manage it...especially when you're taking your family w/couple kids to the slopes for a weekend of skiing.
And as already mentioned, concerts and theme parks are crazy expensive now as well.
The strange thing is that, despite the high costs, all of these activities are still jam-packed with people. Last time I was at D-land it was wall-to-wall people on an off-peak day at $99 per head for everyone over 3 years old. And that doesn't include food, lodging, souvenirs or admission to CA Adventure either! Hotels in popular resort areas are the same way. $500-$700 per night is not uncommon at some of the nicer places here in the US. And again, these resorts fill up fast and reservations need to be made well in advance or you're SOL.
I can imagine that a lot of these trips and outings just get put on the ol' credit card and are paid off over time. I guess that's why the average CC balance is nearly $17K and more than half of Americans have less than $1K in savings.