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! 🙈

All the hidden life costs like Insurance.

Totally agree with those who says holidays. You make do with faulty appliances all year

then splash £4000 on ten days in Majorca.

My last glasses (varifocal) were £460.00. The frames were £59.00. The rest was the lenses (especially getting them thin enough so they weren’t too thick for the frame. Another reason I go with them for 4 years min.

Driveways .... I just can’t bring myself to spend £10K ... it’s not even that big!

Loo roll

Diy

Teenage children.

Fruit. Ok. It's still cheap when it comes to basics like apples, but cheap is still expensive compared to free!
I grew up with massive garden with fruit trees and when I moved away I quickly found out that I cannot in fact, eat 3kg of cherries in one sitting, because there would be no money left for leccy 😂

It's been over 15 years and I am still not over it!

Yes to kitchen bins. Looking last week found one which looked simple and not too big etc. It was nearly 200 ?! Absolutely astonishing and monstrous.
I’d prefer to have a bin bag hanging from my waist for the rest of my life than pay that. Well . . .

@Elbels

Horse riding

Decent toilet roll.

Luckily, my mother in law keeps us stocked up (I've no idea why but she does).

Tradesmen prices. Now I know why my Df was such an avid DIYer(badger).

Bodger

Fruit.

School uniforms. Like when I lost my jumper or wrecked my shoes, what's the big deal mum, just buy me a new one 🤷🏻‍♀️ my mum was a single mum with 3 kids and we went to a grammar school, each item was probably our food budget for the month.

The running cost of almost everything compared to the purchase price.

Eg a car costing 1k cost 2k to insure, then tax, fuel, servicing, repairs.
As a teen I was completely oblivious the the ongoing costs of pretty much everything.

Soft fruit. We had a massive garden and a bramble patch. Still blows my mind that people will pay £3-4 for a tiny punnet of blackberries or raspberries.

Thrush treatment (Canesten in particular!)
Vets bills

Basically everything around the house. Furniture, carpets/floors, paint, curtains...

Don't get me started on things like windows and doors. Our French doors badly need replacing but it'd be thousands of pounds.

Spectacles. I have a complex prescription and need varifocals. My specs cost about £670 last year although to be fair it's a price that seems.to be coming down as three years previously they were £750ish and three years before that £850ish. Frames are maybe 150 so it's principally the lenses.

Children's orthodontics when they are deemed cosmetic.

Pet insurance and vet bills.

Christmas

Children and university costs

Having children!

Council Tax. It came in thr year after I left home. Relieved the landlord of the burden of paying rates and inflicted the poll tax on us. I think it was 475 each. Huge amount of our tiny salaries at the time.
Fast forward 30 odd years. Moved areas from one house to another exactly the same size. Went from a D band to an F. 3k a year. I do appreciate that it has to be paid, what it pays for etc etc.

The extra cost of a house. Ok, I knew we'd have the mortgage and home insurance and I guess the initial furnishing of it. But it actually never ends! There is always something that needs to be replaced: radiators, oil tank, bathrooms, kitchen, carpet, windows, doors, garden. Our house is a" modern" 20 years old, but it's like a money pit.

Blinds, beds, car repairs and service.

Nice toilet roll! i always said when i was a silly teenager that i would buy the posh quilted Andrex with the puppies on the roll (no idea why) but its so much money! Aldi do a perfectly good one!