I've noticed specific items that we have WAY more of than we used to, and items that are made in greater quantities than they have ever been since the 90s-early 2000s. It's become the norm now to buy this stuff regularly or semi-regularly, when it used to be that we only bought them a couple of times a decade or once/twice in a lifetime. Some of them include:

  1. CLOTHING! Probably the number one. It used to be that both of my parents' wardrobes fit in one tiny closet and dresser. Mine fit into one dresser. Now, everyone buys clothing even more than seasonally. We used to only have one nice suit/dress for weddings/funerals, one or two dress shoes, then one or two work or casual shoes, and that was it. I remember moving my wardrobe in one duffel and one cardboard box around 2005.

  2. Cosmetics/skincare. Most people really only had access to what was available at Walmart or Shopko MAYBE Sally Beauty Supply if you had one locally. And there weren't nearly as many products or lines. You had a cleanser, a moisturizer, acne treatment (if you needed it), MAYBE a sunscreen, and one set of very basic cosmetics that could fit into one makeup bag.

  3. Kitchen gadgets: There are now specialty gadgets for everything. There are fancy ice molds and cutters for specific fruits or vegetables. For most of my life, we had one set of pots/pans, knives, utensils, and that was about it. And they were older, probably from the 70s or 80s.

  4. Decor: We honestly just didn't have "decor" as a category for most of my life. A lot of our "decor" consisted of antiques from someone's barn that my parents thought looked cool. We had a couple of framed pictures and the odd 20-year-old knick-knack, but that was about it. Now we have whole stores dedicated to junky "decor."

What other categories have you noticed?