To feel ripped off

Utterly, depressingly normal.

Five guys is CRAZY expensive

Not RTFT but that does seem steep-does it depend on the area? I avoid cafes, not keen onmost of the food at most of them and don't like the model of fast food and cramped tables so I've no idea about them really, but I had a substantial dinner in a 'naice' pub last week that only came to £15 something. Soup, a coffee and a flapjack-I'd be hungry again in an hour or so. That's what makes it seem overpriced for me-it might keep you on for a while but it isn't worth it.

We went to a little farm shop and got a slice of cake each and a pot of tea for two. It came to just under £20!?! The cakes were £7 per slice 😬
Everything is so expensive now it makes it hard to support local businesses which is such a shame.

£17 for 4 birthday cards & that was with a discount because I bought 4. They are quite individual from a popular website & the postage costs didn't help much either. I paid over £4 for another card recently. When did cards become so expensive?

Sadly that actually sounds "reasonable" for nowadays. It's usually about £3.50 for a coffee, £3 for a small bake and normally about £7 for a soup!!!! So actually probably cheaper than some other places. It's no longer an option for many people...

Have you been living in a cave the last few years op?

Not unreasonable. However a stark indicator of the Cost Of Living Crisis

I allocate a tenner for lunch when I buy it. I would class that as the soup and coffee, so with the added flapjack that sounds exactly right. When I get a sandwich, coffee and packet of crisps from Pret it’s about that price.

I don’t think you’ve been ripped-off, I think you may be out of touch.

This is why we always take a picnic lunch with us if we travel anywhere. Soft drinks especially are very expensive so I just go to sainsbury and get everything to do at home to take.

Same prices round here. I just can't afford it. We took sandwiches in tin foil, an apple and a flask of coffee last time we went out to a museum. It made us feel like Roy and Hayley Cropper on a day out but I would have been £20 lighter otherwise at least.

I’m currently in a Costa. Mocha is £4, flapjack is £3, and a panini is £5 toastie £4.

Yours is comparable, OP.

Not food but today I went to the hairdressers for a wet cut.
Hair all one length, needed an inch off.
I was really looking forward to having it washed/lovely head massage. Wasn't expecting it to be dried.
Well that didn't happen. I was in and out closer to 5 minutes than 10. She did a couple of sprays with water, and trimmed the ends.
That was £25.
There were 2 stylists and no other customers.
Which probably speaks for itself.

I had a regular cappuccino, a cheese and chutney sandwich which came in a very cheap quality, small, white breadbun, and a small piece of caramel shortbread- £12.85 to take away. Would have been more to sit inside. It's ridiculous- I won't go back.
I can get a cheese and tomato toastie and a decent size cappuccino for £5.10 at my usual cafe and sit inside- which was closed today.

I paid 11.50 for two very small cups of black coffee and a teacake recently, at a small independent cafe. (I rarely eat out, this was a meet up with friends)

It seems like a lot of money to me. Good Luck to you OP if you fancied a change from bringing your own, why shouldn't you?
I very very rarely eat out any more. Anything.

I'd want the soup to be quite a big portion and for it to be chunky and preferably having plenty of both veg and chicken or beans etc. if it was just like the thin soup you get like covent garden ones then it should only be about £3. Everything is too expensive now. The greasy spoon I use charges £12 for a cappuccino and four items of cooked breakfast. And that's cheap for my area. A posh cafe would charge £20 for that.

But you had soup and a coffee! (And the flapjack but the other two are substantial on a normal day!)

@Tamrastarr
I'm quietly impressed by my daughter, who's in her twenties, and religiously takes her lunch to work. Her work pays a daily lunch allowance whether they use it or not, but she prefers to save it rather than spend it on food on the go. (She's on the road a lot of the time).
She makes wraps, salads and hearty soups that she takes in a food flask, and a flask of coffee and a large bottle of water. She's saved a fortune!

We rarely eat out anymore as it always feels like a rip off, but we occasionally go to one family run cafe where the food is all locally sourced and/or made on the premises.
I find the price of a sausage roll there quite dear, so I wouldn't buy one myself (£4), but it did taste as though I'd made it myself (my daughter had one).
The tea/ coffee is reasonably priced and the meals are really nice.
The quality of the ingredients really shines through, so as an occasional treat, I'm happy to pay it.
The fry up was £13, as was the ham, egg and chips. The ham is cooked on site and all meat products are from a local artisan butcher (free range). The poached eggs are from the free range chickens roaming around the site and were done to perfection.

The soup was homemade (French onion) with sourdough bread and lurpak butter, and it was very tasty, too. That cost £7.50.

I had an out of date cuppa soup, potato and leek I think, a boiled egg and a banana. Even that was probably over a quid.

I can't believe that that place seems to be flourishing!

For sure! Its crazy.

Sounds about right. Most people aren’t also getting a takeaway coffee and a dessert if they buy lunch at work.

Same for our local sandwich shop. I paid £10.50 for a piece of cake (4.50) and the rest a sandwich. Cheaper to go to the co op which is what I will be doing from now on