Does everything seem more expensive to you?

[lemming]

I was going to come in here and complain about the high prices of appliances. But I went to Google instead and found this
US Inflation Rate for Appliances

According to them I'm wrong-and should be saving 20% by having waited to buy.
I guess I'm looking at upgrades from my old stuff ( I will be feeling really rich if I have an icemaker and water in the door)

Anyway that website gives you a chance to see their stats on lots of categories- what goes up and whats gone down. Household food is UP-so I'm not completely crazy.

 

[GregLee]

Oh yeah, everything. Probably as you age, the impression is magnified. I'm pretty old (69), so for a hair cut, I'm thinking of a basic figure of 75 cents. A price of $20 or so (or whatever it is now) seems so ridiculous to me, that I haven't been able to pay for a hair cut for decades (I cut my own hair). For a car, I'm thinking around $1000 -- more than that? -- it's a problem.

 

[Amethyst]

I've whined in several threads about the zooming cost of having anyone do anything. In my neck of the woods, it's now over $100 for a repairman to come and look at an appliance, over and above the cost of any repair.

The cost of having the WaPo delivered (something husband insists on, and will not be swayed) has more than doubled in 4 years. From $22 to $53, and no end in sight to the inflation.

(No wonder we try to compensate with "free estimates" from contractors...interviewed seven different roofers before we made our choice ).

Amethyst

 

[73ss454]

Since I retired in 06 I've been tracking expenses and I can actually see the ravages of inflation, amazing.

 

[W2R]

Yes! There does seem to be quite a bit of inflation in the past few years. Seems like every time I try to estimate the price of something in advance, the real price is 50% greater.

On the other hand, everyone needs money in this economic climate, so there are some bargains to be had as well.

The inflation graphing at that link is fun to play with.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Bi-flation has been observed by many. The net CPI index remains modest but things that you buy are going up. yet things you own (like your house) has been going down. The price of service-oriented items you spend money on seems to be going down. The net CPI number doesn't really tell the story.

A new form of inflation is increasingly described in the blogosphere. It better explains the pricing paradox Mr. Bernanke has failed to embrace.
It's called "biflation."
Everything you already own -- a house, a car, a stock portfolio -- has rapidly declined in value. Everything you actually need to buy -- food, gasoline, medicine, education -- is going up.

Regarding appliances, I suspect that the price of high-end units are coming down. It's the moderate level appliances that seem to be going up. So if you are shopping for moderate level appliances they may indeed be more costly even though the average price can be tracked downward.

 

[SecondCor521]

I think things should cost what they did when I graduated high school. $12K for a nice mid-grade Oldsmobile. Never mind that they don't make Oldsmobiles anymore .

Objectively, my spending has been flat over the past 4.5 years, but that's because I've actively worked on cutting back or economizing in certain areas. The two categories that have increased for me recently have been utilities and groceries. Two factors that affect my grocery budget is that I am buying more convenience foods these days, and that I am shopping more often at a nearer but somewhat more expensive grocery store.

2Cor521

 

[Nords]

We've been buying a weekly $9.95 Costco takeout pizza for over eight years now. Looks like it's the same size, too.

 

[Badger]

We've been buying a weekly $9.95 Costco takeout pizza for over eight years now. Looks like it's the same size, too.

Costco pizza Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Shopping there also means hot dog and soft drink for lunch at $1.61 (I included tax) Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm too. Now if they would just have a $.50 beer life would be complete.

Cheers!

 

[pimpmyretirement]

I track the price of food I buy when grocery shopping. I am regularly bumping things up by 10 or 20% lately, even at Aldi.

 

[dtbach]

Price of food is definitely going up a lot faster than reported inflation. Main culprit is turning food (i.e. corn) into fuel. As the price of corn goes up, so does just about all food items (cereals, meats [pigs like corn ya know], milk [cows like corn ya know] and just about anything that has corn sweetening in it [a very big list].

Burning food just doesn't seem like a great idea. . . .

 

[ziggy29]

The problem is that for folks of modest means or lifestyles, the published inflation rate is usually a cruel joke. Between the impact of "substitution" and the fact that the rise in food, energy, health care and other essential expenses is masked by a drop in the price of cruise vacations and big-screen TVs, the cost of "living the basics" is probably running 2-3x more inflation than the published CPI over the last 2-3 years.

 

[arebelspy]

The problem is that for folks of modest means or lifestyles, the published inflation rate is usually a cruel joke. Between the impact of "substitution" and the fact that the rise in food, energy, health care and other essential expenses is masked by a drop in the price of cruise vacations and big-screen TVs, the cost of "living the basics" is probably running 2-3x more inflation than the published CPI over the last 2-3 years.

So you're saying the best way to beat inflation is to spend more on vacations and big-screen TVs, so the average price of my spending isn't increasing as much?

 

[Amethyst]

In the last 3 years we have gone from buying maybe 30% of our groceries at BJs, to buying 75% there, because grocery store prices have increased so much. The big-box prices have increased, too, yet the volume discounts have partly made up for it. Fortunately, we have room to store big-box-sized packages, and the discipline to plan our shopping trips.

Amethyst

 

[pimpmyretirement]

I have been trying to feed myself on $4 a day since the start of the year. I am eating things like rice, pasta, brocolli, lettuce, onions, beans, etc. No meat and little corn, yet prices still go up. This is more than corn being burned for fuel.

I switched from a largely pre-packeged diet at the start of the year, because I was spending $400+ a month on groceries. Food had gotten so expensive.

On top of changing eating styles, where I shop has changed as well. Trips to Trader Joes and Jewel have been replaced with Aldi and Meijer.

Substitution is definitely in effect for me.

 

[Dawg52]

We've been buying a weekly $9.95 Costco takeout pizza for over eight years now. Looks like it's the same size, too.

I'm still getting my $5 large pizza from Little Caesars. Only one topping but who cares when chasing it down with a cold med or two.

 

[freebird5825]

When I was in the grocery store last week, just for fun I took note of the prices of things I am currently growing in my container garden (beans, peas, tomatoes, garlic, spinach, oregano, parsley, scallions). Needless to say, I was astounded. These prices were what I was used to seeing in wintertime in past years.
Mr B has turned me on to shopping at Aldi's and ordering meat through the wholesalers who service the Legion we go to. We have split cases of meatballs, steaks, hot link sausage with other members and have bought two 8-10 lb pork tenderloins so far. Big savings!

 

[Purron]

My standard yardstick for rising costs is Fancy Feast cat food. It's gone way up in cost. Good thing I love my kitties. Otherwise I'd have to feed them people food

 

[REWahoo]

My standard yardstick for rising costs is Fancy Feast cat food.

Your very own CPI - Cat Price Index!

 

[Purron]

Your very own CPI - Cat Price Index!

My own CPI - that's a good one REW!

DH and I share our home with 4 cats. Yeah, I know that seems like a lot to some folks, but the way we figure it, weight and time wise, they equal about one big dog.

Seriously though, for pet lovers the cost of pet food has gone up a lot. But vet bills are through the roof - much like health care for people. No wonder why so many people going through difficult times are giving up their pets. Shelters and rescue groups are overloaded. Such a sad situation

 

[DblDoc]

My own CPI - that's a good one REW!

DH and I share our home with 4 cats. Yeah, I know that seems like a lot to some folks, but the way we figure it, weight and time wise, they equal about one big dog.

Seriously though, for pet lovers the cost of pet food has gone up a lot. But vet bills are through the roof - much like health care for people. No wonder why so many people going through difficult times are giving up their pets. Shelters and rescue groups are overloaded. Such a sad situation

I've always been puzzled by people stating if they run low on retirement funds they will have to eat cat food. Have they ever looked at the price?

DD

 

[Purron]

I've always been puzzled by people stating if they run low on retirement funds they will have to eat cat food. Have they ever looked at the price?

DD

Me too. I threaten our cats with feeding them people food if times get really tuff

 

[ER Fireball]

Main culprit is turning food (i.e. corn) into fuel. As the price of corn goes up, so does just about all food items (cereals, meats [pigs like corn ya know], milk [cows like corn ya know] and just about anything that has corn sweetening in it [a very big list].

Burning food just doesn't seem like a great idea. . . .

Cost of the corn in a box of corn flakes, about 12 cents. They pay more for the box!

Cost of the corn used to make high fructose sweetener for a 2 liter bottle of soda- about 15 cents.

"Given that foods using corn as an ingredient make up less than a third of retail food spending, overall retail food prices would rise less than 1 percentage point per year above the normal rate of food price inflation when corn prices increase by 50 percent."

The price of corn is high right now, but alternative fuels is not the boogey-man. The weak dollar makes it cheaper for other countries to buy commodities from the US. Worldwide grain stocks are extremely low. Consumption of grains and feeding of livestock in third world countries is a growing market for worldwide commodities. Could be a commodity bubble? If the price of corn falls 50%, what would we expect the impact to be on food prices?

I suspect that a couple things affect the perception of the price of meat. We eat much better cuts of meat today than we did 35 years ago. The quality of meat is better. The convenience is greater.

 

[DblDoc]

Cost of the corn in a box of corn flakes, about 12 cents. They pay more for the box!

Cost of the corn used to make high fructose sweetener for a 2 liter bottle of soda- about 15 cents.

"Given that foods using corn as an ingredient make up less than a third of retail food spending, overall retail food prices would rise less than 1 percentage point per year above the normal rate of food price inflation when corn prices increase by 50 percent."

The price of corn is high right now, but alternative fuels is not the boogey-man. The weak dollar makes it cheaper for other countries to buy commodities from the US. Worldwide grain stocks are extremely low. Consumption of grains and feeding of livestock in third world countries is a growing market for worldwide commodities. Could be a commodity bubble? If the price of corn falls 50%, what would we expect the impact to be on food prices?

I suspect that a couple things affect the perception of the price of meat. We eat much better cuts of meat today than we did 35 years ago. The quality of meat is better. The convenience is greater.

That just accounts for the direct increase in corn costs. What about the increase in other food crops because growers convert from them to corn production? Growing fuels is a bad idea, on so many levels, unless you can use waste material.

DD

 

[Nords]

But vet bills are through the roof - much like health care for people. No wonder why so many people going through difficult times are giving up their pets.

I know a surgeon who's designing a better hip replacement. The tech seems good and the insertion surgery is definitely better than the status quo. But what's really exciting the investors is how easily the technique can be adapted for dogs-- and with a lot less red tape.