You might not know what it means, so let me enlighten you. Sandwich inflation, that's what sandflation means and I've just been subjected to it in the most brutal and unsatisfying way.
I was out doing stuff and with a heavy day of work at home ahead of me decided to grab a toasted sandwich and coffee at the mall instead of making it myself at home. A bit of a treat? Yeah maybe, it's always nice to have someone else do the cooking now and then.
I ordered and it arrived soon after.
The coffee was ok, just ok, and the sandwich? Let's just call it suboptimal. I don't eat a lot bread or carbs usually so was sort of looking forward to the roasted chicken, cheese, avocado and sundried tomato toasted sandwich but it let me down in a major way.
Fucken terrible.
Furthermore, the fucken terrible-toasted-sandwich-debacle cost me $24.85 (AUD) which is just under $18USD. That's a lot I reckon.
Australia is the highest taxed country in the world and the government is doing a really good job at making the cost of living skyrocket. You'll not understand unless you live here, but the Albanese Labour Government are bending Australians over and fucking them up the ass. Yep, that's the professional terminology for what they're doing.
Mother fucken cunts.
Anyway, inflation rises and wages and salaries don't keep up and it's all fucked when a person can't buy a single toasted sandwich and small coffee for a reasonable price.
If you live in a first-world country I'd like to hear about how things are in your country. Feel free to comment if you want to.
(No, the image is not the sandwich I refer to in this post, it was one I had a while back and it was legit).
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Image(s) in this post are my own
18 USD for a sandwich is expensive indeed. On 1st July the government here reduced the VAT rate on restaurant food from 13.5% to 9%, so a sandwich would cost you around 10-12 euro or 12 USD. I reckon that's still exorbitant though.
It's been alarming to watch the rise in the cost of living, quality drop and prices rise and of course, shrinkflation. No signs of slowing though, here at least. It's very costly to live well here.
18$ is quite insane, not expensive but a theft
I can relate to ice creams, they used to cost 2-2,20€ until a few years ago, now they cost 3,50€ and they are even fucking smaller! 2 bites and they are gone
A pizza Margherita above the average quality is 8€, used to be 4,50€
The good old days man, I fucken miss them. Government motherfuckers get away with whatever they fucken like while the average punter on the street has to suck on it. Cunts.
I say we revolt, string up the government and start over.
I remember when I was a kid, a candy was like 0,05$, now with this you won't even buy the plastic of it, it's insane, and they dint give a shit as long as they earn with taxes
I also say there's no peaceful solution
Agreed, massive action is what's required, people all pulling in the same direction at the same time.
The other day, with my ankle barely recovered enough to operate the gas pedal, I chauffeured my dad to an appointment. I stopped at a local fast food chain for some chicken tenders and French fries, and was rather appalled at the price. And it's a local chain, not McDonald's, so I can't help but imagine how tight their margins are. Everyone is feeling the squeeze, unless you're already on the upward arm of the K-shaped economy with a massive reserve of real estate, stocks, etc. supported by easy credit and subsidized business.
I spent twenty years of my life being a commercial real estate agent and property developer and I recall, towards the end of my career there, saying many times that a world of pain was coming and the smart people are making changes. Many of my clients, high-end people, were making those changes and I also. Small things mostly, just a shift of habits and mindset, more diligence towards planning and all.
The pain hit, and keep on hitting, and were we are. The above was only a few years in the past, I was on Hive at the time, and in that time things have changed so much and not just for the mum-and-dad punter but for businesses and companies which of course impacts individuals massively. (Your, everyone feeling the squeeze comment.)
It's showing no signs of letting up either and that's a little daunting because where does it go form here? Where to people go from here? The big questions I guess, no answers as no one knows.
It's like watching a crypto bubble headed for a rugpull, but no one imagines a government central bank could fail despite a long history of disasters. The money supply is being inflated by every country, leading to the Cantillon effect driving the wealth gap, and costs squeezing the productive class long before we see new money. And now we have yet another pointless war restricting oil and adding price shocks to the chain of production in every industry getting hit with impacts stemming from energy costs on top of the inflated money supply.
Our only hope is local, decentralized community efforts outside the political system. We must stop asking permission and I stead take initiative. But so many have been seemingly trained out of that mindset. The task is daunting.
Your last paragraph; what do you think the chances/likelihood of that occuring enough for it to catch on/make a difference?
I see glimmers of hope. Hate for Flock's invasive surveillance system seems to grows as the public becomes more aware. Vandalism and sabotage are happening as people take matters into their own hands. However, both parties are also trying to entrench public support behind their propaganda campaigns for central planning and state power, too. Trnsions are high, and I also fear the worst will try to do very violence to their own ends instead of overthrowing the system entirely.
It's a troublesome time, of that there's no doubt, and I think we're in for a rocky road with ever action and reaction possible on the cards. I think there'll be a lot of victims.
That sucks. It seems like it's hard to get a decent sandwich anywhere these days. I did find one at a place called Papa Kelsey's. I ordered their Italian sandwich "whole" thinking it was a 12" sandwich for $22 and it ended up being a 16" instead.
I was pleasantly surprised at it, but it's sadly not the norm anymore.
!BBH
!PIZZA
!ALIVE
There's the rare gems like you mention for sure and I know a place or two as well but generally that's the exception. America and Australia run fairly lineball. I mean, some of the shops/brands are different but it's basically the same place (less Mexicans here) so I think, the exchange rate considered, the financial climate is the same or a similar temperature. (even though you fucken people use Fahrenheit and we use Celcius.)
I really enjoy finding those little stand-outs as you mention, the same when customer service exceeds expectation (rare these days) so I show my appreciation; gratitude is the currency mostly but often a tip. (Tipping is not required or often done in Australia)
Thanks for commenting and adding to the discussion.
It's sad that good sandwich places have become the exception. Oh well. I guess we're better off appreciating what we have.
Prices are going up here in the Netherlands too. Inflation and maybe even worse; shrinkflation are happening here as well.
Salaries are indexed as well, but they don't seem to increase as fast to compensate for the increased prices.
People complain, but the bars and restaurants are still full. A lot of people still can afford it, but there is a limit. At some point people will say; this is enough.
The first to notice this are the festivals. We have quite a few very popular festivals in The Netherlands of which the tickets were sold out year after year having trouble selling their tickets now because people find it too expensive. Because of the 'increased costs' they raised ticket prices year after year. You could say this is a legit reason, because the costs for the organizers has increased.
But I have looked up the price increase over the past 10 years of one of the most popular two day festival; Lowlands.
Between 2016 and 2025, the price increased from €185 to €349. That is an increase of €164. That is 89% increase in 10 years! And the inflation was 'only' 34%.
And than you don't even have food and drinks yet, which, at a festival are very expensive too. You could buy quite some sandwiches from that ;)
It's weird, the same here with people spending, they just keep doing it. However at the same time people are dropping things like insurances, investments and savings, a sharp decline in all, so that's where some of the money is coming from.
I think most first-world countries are in decline.
It's getting ridiculous. It's almost impossible to go out for a decent meal at a a reasonable price anymore. Even for just my wife and I you have to plan on spending close to $100 for a couple drinks and mediocre food.
Indeed, I agree. Here, I'd say about $125 for a couple to have a pub meal and a beer each, maybe share a dessert. I remember when that used to be $45.
Yeah, that is ridiculous. Even when my wife and I get take away from the Mexican place it costs close to $75. Of course we can usually get three meals out of it, but still...
Same here although not quite three meals. We got fish and chips last night and I got three pieces of battered fish and the smallest thing of chips and 1/4 roasted chicken. It was easily enough for the two of us, just a little more than enough, and was $46. The smallest serve of chips (they say for one person) is $7.50. I remember when it was 0.50c and that was enough chips to make a teenager feel full. Ridiculous.
We eat at home mainly, make our own food, and Mexican is one of our go-to meals. So good.
Mexican is one of our favorites too. Chips or fries over here they mainly use as filler, so you tend to get tons of them. I've been to places where I don't even try to finish them because they give you so much. We just got back from a trip where I ate quite a bit more fish than I usually do. It was amazing, but since it was all fried, probably not the healthiest for me.
I love me a good bit of fish, especially Tha I've caught myself and cooked over the fire when out camping. Yum.
I assume that Lithuania is still first-world country. Even if we seem to be going backwards sometimes. Not so long ago I read the news that someone stole 4 watermelons. The interesting part is that they apparently costed 200(?!) eur. So even if I would ever succeed selling an art piece for 400(so far I did not come close to that) I would only be getting 8 watermelons worth of money...I still find this very weird. One would think that any half decent art piece/ unique luxury item should be worth more than a few fucking watermelons.
And don't get me started about the prices of wooden briquettes...Last year I paid 430 for two pallets. This year three pallets costed 920(these prices are with delivery). But the ,,best part''? After I bought wooden briquettes this year those bastards rised prices again and again. First one pallet costed 350. Now 370...
I also heard that one our politician bought some land. and the same year sold it for 5 times bigger price... I like living in Lithuania. I would not want to live in another country. But some things here seems just insane.
It's alarming to think where it's all leading. Here, higher cost of living has led to a higher crime rate for one thing, a decline in services and quality right across the board and many many people falling into deep financial trouble. Something will break so badly eventually I think and then the true chaos will begin.
Here, too, taxes are rising, but above all new taxes are being introduced for shopkeepers and the self-employed, which often makes it impossible for them to keep their businesses going and forces them to close; that didn’t happen when I arrived eight years ago.
I’ll tell you that a fairly good café con leche costs 1.65 euros and a simple sandwich, for example one made with shredded beef, can cost around 4 euros, there are, of course, simpler options. That’s the price at a place that specialises in chocolate and churros; one day I took a photo of the menu and looked it up on my phone.
Taxes huh? I know they have to be paid, but what are they doing with them? Responsible governmental spending? Nope, not usually. And when there's no money to tax what happens? Chaos and financial apocalypse.
That's $2.72 AUD. But...here a small café latte (café con leche) at an average café starts at $5.50 and the average is $6. Medium and large sizes range up to $8.50-&9.00. Crazy.
A coffee costs that much??? That’s mad!!!
Well, supposedly, and I say ‘supposedly’, taxes go towards healthcare, roads and education. What I can tell you from my own experience, though, is that healthcare is in a worse state than when I arrived, and that the infamous AVE train crash that happened recently was down to a lack of maintenance.
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Who on earth is able to screw up a combination like that? I mean, just avocado and sundried tomatoes should've provided quite the nice flavor/fat mix.
But yes, in a sandwich, everything can go wrong. It needs to be perfectly aligned, all flavors balanced, good bread, of course.
Things here are still the same. You can get a whole lunch for $2,50 (soup, main dish). A big enough sandwich with french fries is around $5,00. Prices for ingredients have gone up, but until now, it's mostly the restaurants that swallowed that up.