Top 10 Things You Could Buy for $1 in the 90s
#10: A McDonald’s Hamburger
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These days walking into McDonald’s hungry with a dollar means you’re leaving McDonald’s still hungry. But stroll hungrily into a Mickey D’s back in the 90s with a dollar and you could actually leave a little less hungry and with some change in your pocket. In 1990 that change would be a whole quarter as McDonald’s hamburgers were going for 75 cents a pop at the start of the decade. And while prices rose over the next ten years, in 2000 you only needed 89 cents to chow down on a hamburger from the Golden Arches. Some of you might even remember the time they ran a special 29-cent hamburger promotion back in the 90s.
#9: Ten Ears of Corn
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So, imagine it's New Year's 1999. The last day of the century, and you’re having nine people over to celebrate Y2K with good drinks, Prince music, and corn on the cob. Unfortunately, the alcohol is going to cost you more than a dollar - even back then. But 10 ears of corn, well that you could pick up for 99 cents at the grocery store in 1999. Although, we would’ve suggested spending at least two bucks for 20 ears - because who eats just one ear of corn on the cob, right?
#8: Four Stamps
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These days, four stamps could last us four years given the number of letters we send via the OG snail mail. But back in the 1990s before email, texting, and DMing were the preferred methods of communication, people still sent letters. And in 1990, a first-class US postage stamp cost 25 cents. The good news is that you can still get one stamp for under a dollar. Assuming you aren’t familiar with the cost these days - as of January 22nd, 2023, a first-class US postage stamp will set you back 63 cents.
#7: Two Crazy Bones Toys
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If you were a kid or the parent of a kid in the late 90s, you probably remember Crazy Bones. Originally produced in Spain starting in 1996, these little plastic figures hit US shores in 1998 and became one of the biggest fads of the decade. With everyone from McDonald’s to the Toronto Blue Jays getting in on the Crazy Bones craze. If you have some today they could be worth anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred, but back in the 90s, you could usually get a pack of four for two bucks. This means, if you and a friend each had a dollar, you could go halfsies and get two each.
#6: One Pound of Apples
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They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Well, in the 1990s, you could avoid the doctor for a pound’s worth of days for under one dollar. In 1990, a whole pound of yummy apples would run you about 72 cents. Whereas in 1992, one source quotes Red Delicious apples going for 99 cents a pound. The exact number of apples per pound obviously varies depending on type and size. But regardless, we’re pretty sure you would have had enough to keep the doctor away and have a few to give to your teacher as well.
#5: One Pound of Hot Dogs
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Picture it, it’s 1994. It’s lunchtime, you have one dollar in your pocket and you love hot dogs. These days you might be lucky to get one dog for that price, but in 1994, you could feed yourself and your friends and still have a penny left over for good luck. Back in the mid-90s when Bart and Lisa were singing the Armour Hot Dogs song you could purchase a whole one-pound package of said dogs for only 99 cents at the grocery store. That makes us happier than Benjamin Bratt and Sandra Bullock in “Demolition Man.” Oh ya, if you had another 99 cents, you could also pick up a pound of Farmland bacon to go with those hot dogs. Yummmmmm!
#4: One Dozen Eggs
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Whether you prefer them scrambled, sunny-side up, or raw a la Rocky Balboa, most of us have purchased a package of one dozen eggs many times in our lives. And for most of the 90s, you could do so for less than one dollar. In 1990, 12 eggs were going for $1.01, but by 1991 that price had dropped to 99 cents. Over the next four years, the price fluctuated between a low of 86 cents and a high of 92 cents before hitting $1.11 in 1996. However, egg lovers closed out the final year of the decade - and the century - at 96 cents per dozen. Maybe that’s what Prince was so excited about when he told us to party like it’s 1999?
#3: Ballpoint Pen Ink Refill
Let us tell you about a time, not all that long ago, when people wrote on paper instead of texting or emailing. It was the 90s, and one of the most popular writing tools they used were ballpoint pens. Not only did they use these pens, they used them so much that they would use up all the ink in them. But thankfully, there was a simple solution. Purchase ink refills. And in 1995, one such refill could be purchased for one dollar. To be honest, you could get a Bic pen for 25 cents in the 90s, so most of us ended up just tossing the old one away. Not the most environmentally-friendly move of course.
#2: A Bottle of Coca-Cola
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In the 1990s, the slogan of the Coca-Cola company was “Always Coca-Cola.” And in 1993, you could always buy a 2L bottle of the stuff for one little dollar. Yup, that’s 50 cents per liter of the dark fizzy goodness. Prefer your Coke in cans? Well, in 1996 you could pick up a thirst-quenching six-pack of coke for just 99 cents. We’ll do the math for you - that’s just 16 and a half cents per can! We’re pretty sure a sip of Coke will cost you more than that these days.
#1: One Gallon of Gas
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Yes, eventually we’ll all be driving electric cars or, if “Back to the Future” was right, cars that run on garbage. But until then, the price of gas is still going to have a large influence on our wallets - just as it did back in the 1990s. Although, when it comes to gassing up your car, a dollar literally went a lot farther in the 90s than it does today. Since the 2010s, we would all rejoice to see the price of a gallon of gas drop below $2. Whereas it spent pretty much the entire decade of the 1990s under two bucks and it even dropped below a dollar a few times - the lowest being 96.2 cents in February of 1999.
