I've got my eye out for some cheap #soda Coke is getting stupidly expensive for what it is. I was at Aldi the other day, and I saw some diet root beer, and bought it excitedly and took it home. I didn't realize until I tasted it that it was root beer flavored sparkling water. It literally tasted like someone poured some soda water into a glass, took a root beer flavored Dum-Dum (lollipop), and swizzled it around in the soda water and served it. Rather underwhelming. 😂 I distinctly remember circa 1993-1995 you could buy a can of soda from the vending machine at the supermarket (cold!) for 35¢ for brand-name soda and 25¢ for store-brand soda. 25¢ From 1993, that's 58¢ in 2026 money. 35¢ is 81¢ today. I don't think I've seen a can of coke for less than $2. No less than $1.50, for sure. Looking at walmart's website, a 12-pack of coke cans is $7.57, or a little over 64¢ each. Unfortunately, I don't remember how much non-chilled soda went for in the 90s. According to one website I looked at, two 12-packs of coke went for $6.98 in 1994. So I guess "wholesale" soda has kept with inflation, but I think vending machine sodas have gotten a lot more xpensive. I know for sure I bought plastic bottles of coke for $1.00 in 2010, but I think that was a subsidized price at my job.