Well, expensive relative to worthless fiat? Or expensive relative to the entertainment value you derive from them?

I have expensive chores... relative to the joy I gain from them (almost negative!).
I have both. Expensive chores, but i am a maniac at keeping the cost as low as possible, and expensive hobbies, while "entertainment" is not quite the thing i gain from them (compared to a round of Players Unknown Battleground, for example), but they keep my interest high (on intervals, though), for various reasons (don't ask).
I'm a money-grubbing maniac with my already-comparatively low costs of living for a family of 5 (compared to a typical local single person, and I base that off national numbers). But they still seem expensive to me because of the time I sink into them (can't be helped). As you say, the end game, whether we realise it or not, is to keep our interest in going on.
Won't ask, if you won't

Well, expensive relative to worthless fiat? Or expensive relative to the entertainment value you derive from them?

I have expensive chores... relative to the joy I gain from them (almost negative!).
It is amazing how much those of us who had done most of our bitcoin accumulating prior to 2021 were greatly saved by our having had mostly accumulated our bitcoin prior to then (if we might even use $8k-ish as our average cost per BTC).. and if we had accumulated any kind of bitcoin stash, that bitcoin has largely 15x'd in value in the past 5-ish years, even though fiat based prices might have doubled or maybe a bit more than doubled in some cases in the same time period.. Sure there are some items that might have had tripled in price during that time, but our trusty cornz have more than held their own in the whole scheme of things during the past 5-ish years (again presuming that we had mostly done a large majority of our stashing prior to 2021).
Indeed. I've probably spoken a bit about how I had to liquidate roughly just prior in that 2021 ATH but I had already 10x and up whatever I'd DCA'd in the few short years I started freelancing for BTC. And, as you say, even if you accumulated post-2021, today's situation still helps defeat fiat inflation. My kids' stash has tripled in averaged value (I stopped adding to it in early 2024 as I think they're old enough now to do something for it on their own). More than held their own, I'd say!