The Real Cost of Wiping Your Butt

The Real Cost of Wiping Your Butt Invested Instead $36 Spent $36 Invested Instead $889 Spent $442 Invested Instead $1,351 Spent $843 Invested Instead $1,684 Spent $1,250 Invested Instead $4,513 Spent $1,654 Invested Instead $7,117 Spent $2,055 Invested Instead $18,798 Spent $2,461 Invested Instead $19,904 Spent $2,506 1/1/93 3/1/93 5/1/93 6/1/93 3/1/97 11/1/98 5/1/01 3/1/04 5/1/01 7/1/09 9/1/09 11/1/14 3/1/20 8/1/25 4/1/26 $0 $20 $40 $60 $100 $500 $1000 $1,000 $2,000 $4,000 $8,000 $15,000 $20,000

A black-background animated line chart tracks the cost of wiping your butt from 1993 through 2026. The red line shows money spent on toilet paper, while the green line shows how much that money would be worth if it had been invested instead. The joke is that an ordinary recurring expense supposedly cost nearly $20,000 in missed investment gains, making toilet paper feel absurdly expensive in hindsight.

• @jeppa420 / 36307 2026-05-25