GagBase Logo Explore

Thanks Inflation!

This two-panel meme uses content related to the 1990 film *Home Alone* to joke about massive inflation and skyrocketing US housing prices. The top panel features a still of the main character Kevin McCallister walking in the snow carrying two plastic grocery bags, overlaid with text: 'A kid in 1990 / Carrying $19.83 worth of groceries / Walking back to his home that's worth $5.5 million today'. The bottom panel is a full screenshot of a real, sold (closed) Zillow real estate listing for the actual filming location house from *Home Alone*, confirming it sold for $5,500,000, with property details: 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 9126 square feet, located at 671 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka, IL. The meme contrasts the low cost of basic groceries in 1990 with the extreme appreciation of the home's value to highlight how much prices have risen over 30+ years due to inflation and red-hot housing market growth.
Make

Text content

A kid in 1990
Carrying $19.83 worth of groceries
Walking back to his home that's worth $5.5 million today
$5,500,000
671 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka, IL 60093
5 beds
6 baths
9,126 sqft
Get a cash offer in 3 minutes

Overview

This two-panel meme uses content related to the 1990 film Home Alone to joke about massive inflation and skyrocketing US housing prices. The top panel features a still of the main character Kevin McCallister walking in the snow carrying two plastic grocery bags, overlaid with text: 'A kid in 1990 / Carrying $19.83 worth of groceries / Walking back to his home that's worth $5.5 million today'. The bottom panel is a full screenshot of a real, sold (closed) Zillow real estate listing for the actual filming location house from Home Alone, confirming it sold for $5,500,000, with property details: 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 9126 square feet, located at 671 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka, IL. The meme contrasts the low cost of basic groceries in 1990 with the extreme appreciation of the home's value to highlight how much prices have risen over 30+ years due to inflation and red-hot housing market growth.

Origin notes

This meme originated on Reddit with the original title 'Thanks Inflation!'. It leverages the fame of the iconic Home Alone movie house, which sold for $5.5 million in a recent real estate transaction, to create a relatable joke about rising inflation and housing costs in the United States. The image combines an official still from the 1990 Home Alone film with an authentic screenshot of the Zillow property listing for the home.

Similar memes

A meme consisting of a text overlay and a nighttime photograph of the iconic McAllister house from the movie 'Home Alone'. The text humorously questions the financial means of Kevin McAllister's father, wondering how he could afford both the large, well-decorated house and a vacation to Paris for nine people, a observation often made by viewers as they grow older and more aware of financial realities.

Kevin McAllister's Dad's Finances: The Real Home Alone Mystery

A meme consisting of a text o…

This meme features an older baby boomer-aged man standing in front of a large, upscale suburban house, with a classic blue Corvette sports car parked in the driveway. Two humorous, sarcastic text captions are overlaid on the image, attributed to the man: the first reads "What do you mean you can't afford a house? Just work harder", followed by the second line "Back in my day, I bought this house with a 100$ down-payment and a Klondike bar!". The joke mocks the common out-of-touch attitude of older generations who often dismiss younger people's struggles with skyrocketing housing costs that are disconnected from modern wage levels, using the absurd addition of a Klondike ice cream bar as part of the down payment to exaggerate how much cheaper housing was in past decades for comedic effect. The original source title "Booming personality" is a pun on "Boomer", referencing the generation the man in the image represents.

Boomer Out of Touch Housing Affordability Meme

This meme features an older b…

A photograph of the Blackstone building, a large commercial structure with a prominent 'Blackstone' sign, surrounded by trees decorated with white lights. A person is visible walking in front of the building. Overlaid in bold yellow uppercase text is a critical message accusing Blackstone of acquiring 274,000 homes and investing $1 trillion to convert homeownership into 'subscription housing,' allegedly aiming to create a generation that rents rather than owns property. The text contrasts familial aspirations for homeownership ('white picket fences') with Wall Street's purported goal of permanent tenancy.

Generations of renters

A photograph of the Blackston…

The meme combines a screenshot from the 1992 film 'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York' with overlaid text where key information is blanked out, mimicking redacted documents. The top text reads: 'In Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Kevin meets [blanked out text] in the [blanked out text] of the [blanked out text]. This is [blanked out text]'. Below the text, the screenshot shows Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin) in a grand hotel lobby, wearing a green coat and a knit hat, looking upwards. A large black rectangle is overlaid on the right side of the image, obscuring part of the scene, reinforcing the censorship theme. The humor and implication reference the 'Epstein files' (notorious for heavy redaction), drawing a parallel between the censored text in the meme and secretive, redacted information in real-world documents.

Epstein Files Be Like: Censored Home Alone 2 Scene

The meme combines a screensho…

A two-panel vertical collage contrasting scenes labeled '1992' (top) and '2025' (bottom). The top panel shows three people—two adults and a child—in a 1990s urban outdoor setting with cars, buildings, and American flags, all dressed in winter coats and scarves. The bottom panel shows three older men sitting at a table with a large Christmas tree in the background, holding coffee cups, suggesting a nostalgic reunion 33 years later. The collage emphasizes the passage of time and potential character/actor reunions.

1992 vs 2025: Nostalgic Character Reunion

A two-panel vertical collage …

The meme features a top text caption that reads 'Boomers when you tell them you can't afford their home they bought for $40,000 in 1984 for $600,000 in 2022', paired with a screenshot of an enraged, yelling middle-aged animated male character from Pixar's *The Incredibles*, who is adjusting his glasses while appearing incredulous and furious. The joke highlights the common generational disconnect around housing affordability, where baby boomers often fail to recognize that real estate prices have risen exponentially faster than wages since they purchased their homes, leading to frustration for younger generations who cannot afford the same housing at current market rates.

Boomers React Incredulously to Young People Not Being Able to Afford Inflated Home Prices

The meme features a top text …

This 3-panel reaction meme pairs text about generational financial regret with a popular template of Michael Scott from *The Office (US)* looking progressively more upset. The top text states "When you realize you should've bought a house in 2008 instead of being in 9th grade". The first panel shows Michael Scott sitting on a park swing with a sad, dejected expression. The second panel shows him swinging backward blankly, still looking unhappy. The third panel shows him sitting on a park bench holding his face in his hands in apparent despair. The joke highlights the frustration of millennial and younger Gen Z adults who were too young in 2008 to take advantage of far lower housing prices, and now face unaffordable real estate markets as adults, leading to absurd retroactive regret for a choice they could not possibly have made as middle schoolers.

Retroactive Regret For Not Buying a House in 2008 As a 9th Grader Meme

This 3-panel reaction meme pa…

A meme image depicting a man standing in front of a small, single-story brick house with a gray roof and white-framed windows. The man, wearing a dark puffer jacket and glasses, stands on a grassy area with scattered leaves and a concrete pathway leading to the house's front door. Overlaid white text on the image presents an absurd financial scenario: 'Buy a house for 35k Rent for 2.5 million per room. 4 rooms. Thats 120 million a year'. The joke hinges on the unrealistic premise of renting rooms at exorbitant prices ($2.5 million per room annually) to generate an astronomically high annual income ($120 million), contrasting the low house purchase cost ($35k) with the absurdly inflated rental rates for comedic effect.

Its that simple

A meme image depicting a man …

This is a reaction meme that uses the iconic screenshot of Leonardo DiCaprio laughing from the 2012 film *Django Unchained*. The text overlay at the top reads "Netflix making $2.8 Billion just for walking away." The meme humorously reacts to a reported business event where Netflix earned an enormous sum of money through the simple action of exiting a deal or project. The visual joke pairs the absurdly large profit figure with DiCaprio's incredulous, mocking laughing expression, conveying disbelief and amusement at the idea of gaining such massive wealth with minimal effort. It taps into the relatable feeling of shock at unexpected, easy financial success in corporate contexts.

Netflix Makes $2.8B Just Walking Away (Leo Laughing Meme)

This is a reaction meme that …

A meme consisting of a photograph of a homeless individual sitting outdoors amid camping equipment (including a blue tarp, black crates, and bundled items) while using a Dell laptop. Above the image is a text overlay: 'Me viewing houses worth 6 million and be like, "No, I don't like the kitchen!"'. The humor arises from the stark contrast between the person's apparent homeless situation and their hypothetical, picky critique of expensive real estate, satirizing aspirational housing tastes and wealth inequality.

Homeless Person Critiquing 6 Million Dollar Houses' Kitchens

A meme consisting of a photog…

A two-panel collage blending nostalgic and real-life elements. The top panel shows three adult men sitting outdoors at a wooden table with a Christmas tree in the background; the table holds two coffee cups, a lit star-shaped candle, and a small potted plant. The men wear casual sweaters and jackets, appearing relaxed. The bottom panel is a scene from the 1990 film 'Home Alone,' depicting a young boy in a red sweater leaning against a wall, interacting with two men—one with a visibly bruised face and another wearing a headband with a white feather, both displaying intense expressions.

Home Alone Cast Christmas Reunion Collage

A two-panel collage blending …

The meme consists of three main sections: a top text block presenting a factual claim about Fuggerei, Germany, stating the town has kept rent unchanged since 1520 at 88 cents per year; a central image of a yellow, ivy-covered historic building with steep roofs, likely depicting Fuggerei; and a bottom comment from user Harshit (@FishnCHIPS_69) humorously contrasting 16th-century landlords with modern capitalism. The layout combines informative text with a visual element and social commentary.

German Town with 500-Year-Old Rent: 88 Cents a Year

The meme consists of three ma…