What item did you not realize was expensive until you became an adult?

I always had some idea, because my mom would complain about how expensive everything was, and often told us how much she sacrificed for us (even things we didn't want) and how unhappy that made her.

But I don't think I realized as a kid how difficult it is to live off of a minimum wage job (what you actually get paid vs what you have to spend for shelter, thrift store clothing, food, water, electricity, healthcare, etc), that often involves bosses that take advantage of you, with precious little OSHA rights that most people in minimum wage jobs never even know about, the debt people go into due to medical bills...and how close so many fucking people -at least in America- are to being homeless.