Things we used to get for free

[Racket_Man]

but we now pay BIG time for

no more free stuff at the gas station

and yes I do remember free stuff at the gas station, free tv, FREE Public school education and parks

[wolfie]

Free coffee or soda with fill-up has gone away. In the (roughly) 5 years I've been driving commercially, the last 2 chains to offer this perk (Flying J and Petro) have both dropped it (although TA/Petro has it for people who buy massive amounts of fuel in a given year). Also, I overheard some old-timers saying how it used to be standard practice to get a free meal with a tank of fuel.

[sms001]

If you had a real butcher, they would often give away ham bones and chicken wings. Was over by the time I started shopping for myself, but my mom used to make beans and chicken stock respectively out of them.

[mikoyan29]

You can still get "free" TV but with HD, the signals don't seem as strong.