I'd say really...
To me, "back in the day" means a really long time ago when prices were really cheap compared to today... Of course for me, that means a pack of Marlboro's were around .50 a pack.... a gallon of gasoline was somewhere between .25-.30 cents a gallon...
Currently that same pack of Marlboro's is about $5 bucks here and the gas, starts somewhere close to $3.50 ( recently down from around $3.75 )
SO YES.... REALLY!!!!
Oh, my... Good old days. I feel like an old fogey-ess. LOL When I started smoking, a pack of Mores (yes, I stared with those stinky cigar-smelling thingies) was something slightly over 2 bucks. Honestly don't remember what the gas was back then - I didn't drive until I turned 25. This was 1978, and I was 17. My girlfriend, who smoked like a chimney already at that age, talked me into it, and seeing how I had just come to this country from Russia, and was depressed out of my wits by my introduction into the wonderful world of the senior year in Teaneck High, NJ, I succumbed just for the hell of it. The worst decision in my life. The second worst was marrying a weak-willed amoral doink. Truly, judgement is often lacking at that age.
Now a pack of premium cigarettes (I smoked Capris before I stared vaping - still have one or two every two weeks or so) costs 11 bucks around here, which was *the* reason I quit smoking. I honestly gave up on my health by now. LOL
Not sure how well the money-saving thing turned out. I'm afraid to count all the cash I spend on vaping stuff. When GV calculated how much everyone spent for their discount categories, I almost fainted. But, wth, vaping is a lot more *fun* than smoking, and smells a lot better. One of the best things about it is that my house doesn't smell like stale smoke, and my dog doesn't have asthma attacks any more.
P.S.: Oh, and my dog, in addition to breathing better, also *smells* better. I am one of those strange people to whom the smell of a clean and healthy dog is actually pleasant. But doggie smell with stale smoke mixed it (fur traps smells like you wouldn't believe)? Not so much. My dog (a German Shepherd) sleeps with her .... on a pillow right next to my head. It was like sleeping with my nose into an ashtray.