It is No Longer Free
For many of today’s youth, it is difficult to relate, but growing up, there were things that were free, that you have to pay for today.
1. Drink Refills – some places still offer this, but many restaurants are charging for a drink refill.
2. School Sports – It used to be free to join a school sports team, your parent might have had to pay a couple of dollars for a uniform, but that was all. Believe it or not, some public schools have “pay-for-play” teams. According to a 2020 study by Ohio University, parents fork out over $671 annually for high school athletics.
3. Using a Credit Card – Back in the day, a business didn’t care if you paid them with cash, check, or credit card, as long as you paid them. But it seems like today, many businesses are passing their credit card fees onto the consumer. In case you weren’t aware, banks charge a business a transaction fee to accept credit cards. It can range from a few cents per transaction to a few dollars per transaction. In order to cover the cost, a business works the fees into your payment. They can legally charge a surcharge of no more than 5% of the purchase price and must be transparent in these fees to the consumer. Interesting that it is illegal in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Texas to charge a surcharge. To get around this, some businesses will apply a discount if you use cash.
4. Rental Cars – I haven’t been hit with this one personally, but several rental car companies will charge you a fee if you return the car early. Dollar and Thrifty both charge a fee to amend the rental agreement if you return the vehicle early. Hertz, Alamo, Sixt, and Thrifty are all reported to charge a fee for early returns. Enterprise states that they do not charge early return fees. You can also expect to pay a fee if you reserve a car for a full week (you get a cheaper rate for a full week) and then return the car early. In this case, most rental companies will charge you the daily rate, not the weekly rate.
5. Air – When I was growing up, there were still full-service gas stations. For those of you that don’t know what a full-service gas station is, it is a gas station that has employees that will come out, wash your windows, pump your gas and check your tire pressure and oil level. Today it is difficult to find a gas station that still has free air. The only state that offers anything close to the free service is New Jersey and some parts of Oregon, where it is illegal for you to actually pump your own gas.
6. Airlines – This is an industry that has changed greatly over the years. Back in the day, you paid for a seat and that was all you had to pay. Today, on some airlines, you have to pay for a drink, snacks, meals, a blanket and pillow, headphones for the movie, and even the ability to select your seat. The good thing is currently most airlines are allowing you to bring a drink, food, headphones, and a pillow with a blanket. But I’m sure they will figure out a way to apply a fee or tax to that in the near future. Most airlines charge you for your luggage as well. I recently flew for work and had a $70 baggage fee one-way for two bags.
7. Hotels – This is another industry that like airlines, has changed over the years. It used to be free to go swimming, but some hotel chains change for you to use the pool, even as a guest. Some hotels are charging for extra towels, and the ability to use the hotel Wifi internet. Wait until they figure out how to pay for maid service.
8. Parks – In many locations you now have to pay a fee to go to a park, usually National and State parks charge, but I’m sure that there are some cities that are doing it as well. It really sucks that I have to pay to be outdoors now.
9. Restaurants – Some restaurants are getting creative with tips. They are adding fees like a “kitchen staff appreciation fee”, or a “fuel surcharge”. Many restaurants (mostly fast food) are starting to charge for extras like additional dipping sauces or more ketchup packets. The funny thing is there are still restaurants that apply the Five Guys policy (where they dump a ton of extra french fries in your bag) to ketchup. I went to a McDonald’s recently for fries and got 13 ketchup packets thrown into the bag, and I didn’t even ask for ketchup. Some restaurants are even charging for a cup of water, and some are charging for the cup and for the water.
10. Recycling – This one kills me as I have to pay for the privilege of being able to help the environment and recycle. In some localities, you have to pay upwards of $50 a month to recycle. So people actually use this to their advantage and have a side hustle. They have discovered that in many localities you can get paid to recycle items like: scrap metal, bottles, cans, car batteries, ink cartridges, cell phones, consumer electronics, junk cars, wine corks, cardboard boxes, cooking oil, clothing, and household items, and books. If this interests you, then go to Intuit.com or ThePennyHorder.com and see if your locality offers any of these services.
