To ask, what's one item that you didn't realise was expensive until you became an adult?

[AvocadoHo]

Mine is toilet roll and cheese! 🙈

My family don’t let me forget that when I first found out how much a sofa cost I was planning to make my own out of chicken wire and paper mache..

Dishwasher tablets. The decent gel ones.

I jumped on this thread hoping for an aha moment but nothing has convinced me yet. Cheese?!

Houses are expensive.

Petrol
Insurance
Utilities
Rent.

Basically all the boring invisible stuff that was costing my parents £££ while I was swanning around being a teenage prima donna.

Artichokes

Good, higher welfare meat from the butchers. My face spoke for itself when our Christmas turkey was over £100

I was coming on to say cheese. I remember going to the supermarket as a student and being shocked at the price.

Also council tax

Omg yes to cheese! Remember being so shocked when I was first doing food shopping at university. Also fruit!

Hehe @FizzyPink great minds think alike!

Decent shoes.
Butter.
Fish ☺️

Bedding
Curtains
Garden furniture
Cherries
School shoes

Fishmongers fish....

Food shopping unless you live on bagged freezer food which I've done many years ago when first starting out in life after leaving home.
Now I understand why my parents used to go crazy at the sheer volume of food we hoovered up out of boredom

Tyres
Decent cheese or it's rubber like and tasteless
Definitely garden furniture and wood
Dishwasher tablets that work

Both our dc are still dc but wear adult size clothing now due to shape changing and adult sized feet,oh and eat adult size everything so basically it's a house of four adults (2 of which never turn the bloody lights or computers off)

Electricity when living with teens

Agree on cherries... Much cheaper in Germany

Food

I can remember my parents went on holiday and I had to fend for myself. I couldn't believe that my basket of food was £7.

Strawberries and Serrano ham (I didn’t grow up in the U.K. though so these things might be more expensive here).

Wardrobes.

Anything to do with house repairs.

Plumbers, electricians, fencing, garden furniture, house painting, renderers, carpets, etc etc.

My very old house is falling apart. I'd have to remortgage to sort it all out!

I second front doors!

Bin bags.

Cheap ones are a false economy.
Also see, kitchen roll, washing detergent and butter.

Running a car.

Sheds

Towels.... I was expecting maybe a full set for £10-20....not a single bath sheet.

More recently...garage doors - seems to be £1k for a simple up and over. And similarly paint - £20 for 750ml metal paint - that wouldn't be enough for the door.

Holidays

Garden plants. I now know why my parents didn't want us kicking the footballs at the flower borders

So many things!

Bed sheets, duvet sets etc
Sanitary towels
Make up
Nice fruit