What adult purchase really shocked you once you saw the price tag?

[AmbsPhillps]

like when you became an adult , what things surprised you with by the cost

Now - a new roof! 20k to buy something that's basically the same as before... Although without the leaks

How big is your roof? We paid 5k for new roof, gutters, sofits etc. (3 bed semi)

I remember when going to uni, it wasn't so much the price of cheese that shocked me, but that I had no idea how much it cost at all. No prepackaged cheese, and prices only displayed per kg and I could only remember that my mum used to buy half a pound of cheese. I couldn't risk buying it without knowing the cost.

Curtains for a loft conversion. Not much change from £2,000

Decent bin liners!

Thing is a new roof isn't really that expensive- if you turn it into a monthly cost it's pretty reasonable- 20k for something that lasts 80 years is like £250/year which is about £20/month.

Your mobile phone is (generally) more expensive than that.

So to my add-on: mobile phones! I always thought getting the latest iPhone for around £50/month wasn't too bad. Then I thought about it and realised that if I converted everything else to a monthly cost the only things that cost more than a mobile phone is my mortgage, my car, council tax and a few other household bills. It's obscene!!

A new high quality mattress from JL cost me around £1,100- but if that's good for 8 years (minimum) it's about £140/year. If someone said you could have a high quality orthopaedic mattress for £10/month, for something that you use around 1/3 of your living hours it's pretty reasonable!

Friend got a quote for a new roof for her house (similar to ours, in the same conservation area) and it was £38,000 Strike that, she got three quotes and they were all in the same ball park!

She'd "only" have to pay half of it as the cost would be shared with her downstairs neighbour (she's in an upper conversion).

....they're just going to patch again rather than replace the roof

House is like one of these (picture taken of the rainbow when we were out on our walk - neither of our houses )

They were not available until relatively recently but:

Anything branded Dyson.

Other than that : dentistry, the vets, the opticians.

@justpoweringthrough

Decent bin liners!

Yes to this as well!

Roofs, yes!
Any job that occurs above floor level.
Scaffolding.

Stamp Duty!

Funerals
Carpets
Dentistry
Houses. I'm in the SE so not cheap.
Vet's bills (nearly £700 for the cat to have it's teeth out - although she did lose all of them poor thing. Gum disease)
And the costs of moving - solicitor, estate agent, other fees, etc.

Cherries!

We got our front wall re-rendered recently - over £300.

We've got so many big, but necessary purchases to make in the next few months as everything in the house is literally falling apart - new curtains, blinds, dining chairs, sofa/armchairs = £££

Re: sofa/armchair we bought them cheaply second hand about 15 years ago. They are good quality and really comfortable, so considered reupholstery, but have been quoted £2,500 for sofa and 2 armchairs. I know we could buy new for that, but I am worried that whatever we buy won't be anywhere near as good quality and will fall apart.

I got a posh mattress second hand for £30 and a topper for £10.

I think something you sleep on for a third of your life is worth spending on. The £500 we spent on our mattress three years ago is already 50p a day. I get that that's still not cheap, but given it still should last us another 5 years at least, it's reasonable IMO.

Plastering
Curtains
Fences

And council tax - £2200pa to have a bin emptied twice a month, clear the drains twice a year and provide a library hmm

And pay for street lighting, schools, social services, road maintenance, subsidising rural bus routes, health and safety checks on restaurants and takeaways, maintaining cemeteries.... The list of things your council tax pays for goes on and on.

Mirrors. Big mirrors are bloody expensive.

@Hiddenmnetter

Thing is a new roof isn't really that expensive- if you turn it into a monthly cost it's pretty reasonable- 20k for something that lasts 80 years is like £250/year which is about £20/month.

Your mobile phone is (generally) more expensive than that.

So to my add-on: mobile phones! I always thought getting the latest iPhone for around £50/month wasn't too bad. Then I thought about it and realised that if I converted everything else to a monthly cost the only things that cost more than a mobile phone is my mortgage, my car, council tax and a few other household bills. It's obscene!!

A new high quality mattress from JL cost me around £1,100- but if that's good for 8 years (minimum) it's about £140/year. If someone said you could have a high quality orthopaedic mattress for £10/month, for something that you use around 1/3 of your living hours it's pretty reasonable!

Yes, but who is going to live in the same house for 80 years to get the full "benefit" from a new roof, which will presumably need repairs over that time anyway.

And even with this calculation, £20/month is still quite a lot of money.

Going out to eat as a family.

On a side note, when I was pregnant, I went into a shop and saw a really lovely babygrow, a £38 babygrow. I walked out the shop

Children

Rent
Furniture and flat screen tvs

Lamps, lamp bulbs and chargers. My youngest children are constantly breaking then so I am forever spending money on them .

Cheese and microwaves.

On behalf of my DC I would say prawns...he made his lunch sandwiches using a whole bag...£10.00 a time.

Buggies
Pushchairs
Kids clothing and shoes

Printers ink and childcare.

Curtains and blinds. As a first time buyer I Innocently got some blinds priced up in John Lewis and had to act like I was going to consider them at £700 for two.