I keep my money in a bank bank and ~30% of it has disappeared in the last few years!
when a "99 cents!" bag of chips is now "$2.99 only!" and the price of fuel doesn't correlate to anything except oil company P&E charts...
Just remember, The "$6 burger" was both making fun of the fact that restaurants charged $6 for a hamburger, as well as less than $6 for the entire meal (usually ~$4 al a carte). That food place ceased offering the $6 burger when the meal went over $8, and that was over a decade ago.
I got quoted out $1000 for 200 feet of garden hose from a hose supplier last week. meanwhile the state government has only given ~6% pay increase in the last decade to civil employees. in the last 12 years i've reduced my electricity usage by 60% by both moving high power stuff to a cheaper facility and buying more energy efficient appliances and such. My electric bill is the exact same (plus or minus 10%) as it was 12 years ago.
I could go on comparing what things used to cost to what they cost now (if you can even get them at all), and my spreadsheet says the "inflation" numbers we're given either are flat out lies or otherwise so misunderstand what people spend money on monthly that it may as well be a lie. Compare a 198X Ford Mustang 6 cylinder base model to any year model you please. Then convince me that moving from metal to plastic and computerizing everything so the wires can be much smaller somehow justifies the price hike, there.
p.s. don't do this with rent or mortgages unless you want to cry.
I know it's not really your point, but what kind of hose? I bought 100' of 3/4" "contractor" hose from Tractor Supply this last winter for $79. Even the in-ground stuff doesn't cost that much.
ETA iirc home depot has 75' for $30 for, uh, passable garden hose. I understand we can buy cheap stuff but even the cheap stuff is more expensive than it used to be.
The 1985 Ford Mustang was an amazing feat of engineering - for its time. We're 40 years past that though, and cars are more expensive for a lot more reasons than just plastic. Nevermind the plastic, the metal used in today's cars didn't exist as little as 10 years ago, never mind 40.
3000 miles unless synthetic then 5 or 6 (same as my 2012 lexus with a simlar sized engine), 17-18MPG (same as my lexus), and "if you have a wrench and a Haynes you're halfway done".
hope this clears up some things.
eta: the 0-60 i am not sure, i'm sure my car with a 4.6 liter is faster and isn't governed at the same speed as the 1985 mustang, but it's not an order of magnitude faster or anything - the mustangs with large engines were always "fast" and relatively safe. I've owned 3 from the 90s and wrecked two and walked away with nary a bruise from insurance totals.
also if i drive intending to "Hypermilage" i can get nearly 30MPG out of my lexus, but i could get ~30 in a Mitsubishi Evo X and a F-550, too. Daily driving is <20MPG on all those. For reference on a 1.6L i can get nearly 80MPG on certain roads, and always above 65MPG. It annoys everyone around me though, so i tend to only do it if i am driving across country, which is the boringest thing ever.
Hope that clears up why cars are more expensive today.
BLS official inflation: $100 in Jan 2010 had the purchasing power of $144.94 today. That works out to 2.6%/yr by my math. So that's the "official" number that we want to disprove
Gallon of gas: $2.77 in 2010, $3.20 in Jan 24. 15% increase, 1% annualized
Honda Civic [not doing Mustang because it's harder to find data and as a luxury vehicle the comparison isn't as clean]: $16,205 in 2010, 24,000 today. 50% increase, 2.8% annualized
Big Mac: $3.73 in 2010, $5.69 today. 52% increase, 3% annualized
I live in an HCOL area, and did in 2010, so both of these sets of numbers feel a little low to me, but they mostly match my experience. As far as I can tell inflation mostly matches what the government reports, with some sectors coming in under and theoretically balancing out those that come in over (the classics of education, medicine, and housing). Those sectors that are outpacing are a real problem! But I think the consumer goods shadow-inflation people complain about is not borne out by data.
CPI: https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm?mf_ct_camp...
Gas prices: https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=e...
Civic: https://www.kbb.com/honda/civic/2010/ (original MSRP in Pricing section) and same URL ending in 2024
Big Mac 2010: http://www.maxi-pedia.com/big+mac+index+2010
Big Mac 2024: https://www.statista.com/statistics/274326/big-mac-index-glo...
McDonald's subsidizes their food with drinks; regardless, though, inflation (in last decade only) on McChicken is 199%, mcdouble 169%, medium fries 138%; taco bell: 5-layer 132%; popeye's mashed potatoes 134%. See? onion-picking the big mac as the basis makes inflation "look better"
My car insurance is double what it was in 2014. My electric bill is easily 60% more expensive than it was in 2014, i said that already. That's more than double the 2.6% BLS numbers.
we can go around all day, but citing the government for numbers about inflation seems counter-productive.
anyone else notice how few fireworks were going off prior to july 4th? or after? Is that normal?
Without having some data to compare I cannot differentiate between (1) you are correct, (2) you are misremembering, or (3) you've experienced the inflation you claim, but for particular reasons (eg, you got a nicer car, or, your area had an influx of high earners).
Also, a small nit: by my calculations 60% growth over 10 years is 4.8% annualized - outpacing CPI yes, but not more than double.