Montanans are well aware of the high cost of, well, everything these days. We've all seen housing prices increase, whether it's homes that most people can't afford or rent that we can't afford either. Of course, don't forget that we're paying 5 dollars a gallon for gas, and a trip to the grocery store costs more than it ever has.

It makes you long for the "good ole days", doesn't it?

The other day, I was on social media and came across a meme that got me thinking. It was one of those "Which One Would You Chose" memes and the options were interesting. So for the purpose of our little experiment, I will give you a couple of options and you can only pick one of them.

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Ready?  Here we go. Here are your three options:

2 Bedroom Apartment for 500 Dollars A Month

We all know how expensive housing is here in Montana.  My wife and I have a 2-bedroom apartment and we pay a whole lot more than 500 dollars a month. So, option number one is a nice 2 bedroom apartment and the cost of rent will be 500 dollars per month. Heck, we'll even throw in water and trash as well. So, what is option number two?

Home For Rent Sign
Kseniya Ragozina
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1 Dollar A Gallon Gas

Back in the day when I started driving, you could get a gallon of gas for right around a buck or so. Those were the days. My buddies and I would scavenge through all of the furniture in our parents' houses looking for spare change so we could put a couple of bucks in and go cruising around town. Of course, nowadays, a buck doesn't get you much gas at all, in fact, I'm not even sure you could mow a small yard with the amount of gas that would buy. So, option number two is 1 dollar a gallon of gas. Finally, we have option number three.

Gas prices at the pump
Karimala
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4 Year College Degree For 25 Grand

We all know that college can be very expensive. However, according to Admissionsly.com, Montana ranks as one of the best states for affordable college tuition. Still, when you throw in all the other things required, like housing, books, food, etc., a degree can hit 100 grand sooner than you would think. So, option number three is a 4-year college degree for 25 grand.

Graduation Hat and Diploma Front View Isolated on White Background.
Michael Burrell
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Personally, I'm going to go with the 500 bucks for the 2-bedroom apartment. The money that I would save per month would certainly be greater than the dollar a gallon of gas, and I wasn't always the best student, so a 4-year degree would probably take me about 8 years.

What about you? Which option would you choose?

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

LOOK: Things from the year you were born that don't exist anymore

The iconic (and at times silly) toys, technologies, and electronics have been usurped since their grand entrance, either by advances in technology or breakthroughs in common sense. See how many things on this list trigger childhood memories—and which ones were here and gone so fast you missed them entirely.

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