I'm a little surprised to see this perspective on a tech website, because technology has gotten wildly cheaper and better over the past 20 years, and there are a number of free, excellent services that just didn't exist 20 years ago.

Like, internet speeds are far faster than they used to be, cheap phones are much better than expensive phones were a decade ago, TVs used to be an expensive status symbol 15 years ago — and look at them now.

Video games basically didn't index with inflation for years, and it's easy to pick up great older games at cheap prices on sale.

YouTube is free and an incredible resource for learning, entertainment, and brainrot.

Google Maps provides free GPS services, which are incredibly valuable. You even have FreeVee-style streaming services that don't require a subscription.