List of items that have a 'Negative Inflation' over the past year...........

[Cut-Throat]

Most everyone understands inflation, but equally important is the effect that technology and efficiency of production have on costs. They can drive them down sometimes. That is what this thread is about!

For example in the early 1970's the Civil engineers where I worked were purchasing Texas Instrument Calculators that could replace their slide rules. They got these calculators at a 'discount' for $450. These machines could not only add, subtract, multiply and divide, but also had tangent, cosign etc on board. Today you could buy the same machine for under $20!

You can figure out how many calculators you could buy with an ounce of gold in the early 70's and how many today if you like.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

well that's what i thought, sort of. only i used an earlier technology for a lesser price to accomplish the same task, a $10 pressurized sprayer & a bit of hose instead of leasing a $500 crane. seemed negatively inflationary to my pocket. had i not been er'd, i might not have had the golden leisure (suit) to come up with that cheaper solution.

in the spirit of the original post...

...experiencing a large decrease in costs over the past year. Either due to actual deflation or buying habits.

changing a lifestyle is a personal decision,,it may happen for many reasons just not a rise in prices...substituting items may or may not be because of prices.... inflation is only a change in the value of your dollar and what it buys

precisely as you state, my dollars. the value of what my dollars buy. so it is not just the suit or the gold, but whether i make a phone call to bloomy's and have that gold suit delivered or if i take the time to find it on syms' rack.

 

[Dawg52]

1) 40% rate reduction on auto insurance.
2) printer purchase cost much less than one 3-5 years ago.
3) digital camera - same as above.
4) golf shirts recently purchased, 15-20% less over last year.
5) lovasatin - generic cholesterol drug cost $18/mo now vs $39/mo last year.
                      (not due to a change in insurance coverage)

There may be some others but I would have to dig a little deeper to come up with more. 

 

[Andre1969]

Lessee, so far...

Car insurance went down from about $2000 per year to $1397. That's to insure a 2000 Dodge Intrepid with full coverage, and a '76 LeMans, '79 New Yorker, and '85 Silverado with liability-only. Main reason here I think is because I'm now in the 35-39 age bracket.

I've been trying to buy beer in bulk from the discount liquor store when I'm up that way. A 24-pack of Yuengling is about $14.99. At the local stores it can often run $18.99 or more. Only problem here is that when there's more in the house, we drink more!

I bought a new 10,000 BTU window air conditioner from Target for about $188 (got a 10% discount on top of that by applying for a Target card). Well, I already have three older air conditioners. Two of them are around late 90's models I think. One's big and one's little, but I don't know the BTU of either. I also have an old Chrysler Airtemp unit that's only 6,000 BTU. I have no idea how old it is, but from the weight it feels like it's Hemi-powered!

I was really amazed at how far air conditioners have come. Now compared to that old Chrysler unit, I knew it would be a big step farward. But even compared to my newer a/c's, it weighs about as much as the little one, but feels like it puts out as much, or even more than the big one! And it even has a remote control, which I'm sure will get lost immediately!

 

[BigMoneyJim]

These machines could not only add, subtract, multiply and divide, but also had tangent, cosign etc on board. Today you could buy the same machine for under $20!

Same function, not same machine. Today's machines can do all that while fitting in a credit card holder and powered by a "solar cell" that is perfectly usable under a battery-powered reading light. I kinda miss the LED displays, though. That was really cool.

 

[Andre1969]

My Granddad had an old calculator from the early 70's. It was a big, clunky thing, but I thought it was so cool the way those green LED lights lit up! It had a 10-digit display too, which I'm sure must've been rare back then.

I remember buying a calculator called a TI-55 or something like that, back in 1984. I think it was about 40 bucks. It could do alot of stuff as I recall. I have something similar to it right now on my desk at work. It's called a TI BA-III, and says "Executive Business Analyst" at the bottom. Looks almost like my old TI-55 though. I have no idea how old this sucker is...I got it in 1997 when I got enslaved into promoted into this job.

 

[justin]

inflation is only a change in the value of your dollar and what it buys...in the 1800's an ounce of gold bought a mans suit..today an ounce of gold buys a mans suit...prices really havent changed..its our purchasing power in an inflationary climate that changes...

I don't know about you, but I can easily get 4+ mens suits for one ounce of gold around here at a number of retailers. And the quality is still acceptable.

 

[Nords]

I remember buying a calculator called a TI-55 or something like that, back in 1984.  I think it was about 40 bucks.  It could do alot of stuff as I recall.

We still have a TI-55 III from college. It's outlasted every other calculator in the house.

The labels on the function keys have been rubbed away over the past couple decades so spouse and I are the only ones with the hand-eye memory to operate it. Maybe we're missing a big eBay/Antiques Roadshow opportunity?

 

[Sheryl]

I still use my TI-35 daily. But have to pull out the instruction book for some of the worn off keys that I don't use regularly.

Not much call for cosines these days.

 

[Bimmerbill]

How does Media Center perform? I am thinking of dumping my satellite and Tivo in favor of cheap cable and Media Center.

Computer - I was able to buy a new Media Center PC from Dell's refurb website for $1100.  This model which was only made 3 weeks before I bought it is still in production and costs about $2500.  Thank's to the media center capability I was able to get rid of my Comcast DVR service which costs $9.99 a month

 

[HFWR]

I still use my TI-35 daily.   But have to pull out the instruction book for some of the worn off keys that I don't use regularly. 

Not much call for cosines these days.

Still plenty of "tangents" on this board, though... :

 

[Andre1969]

Ugh, cosine. I know that word from my past, but can't remember what it means. Oh yeah, when I was married it's what I did to help my wife's cousin out on a loan!

Very, very bad thing, these cosines. Detrimental to FI/RE, they are.

 

[laurence]

Textiles have at least stayed pretty constant. In fact, I believe NPR had a story on how the vast increase in exports (and corresponding trade deficit) from China have held inflation in check, and now the sabre rattling from D.C. may force China to raise the value of their currency, and consequently, inflation may see a significant bump up....

 

[deserat]

OK - I'll bite - I still have and love my HP 15C and RPN keying - in fact, it is hard for me to key a regular calculator - what's the = sign for??

Deserat

 

[tryan]

Dumped my long distance carrier for Vonage ... cut the phone bill by over 50%.

 

[Sheryl]

Still plenty of "tangents" on this board, though...  :

ba-dum bum.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

bum.

There we go again...

 

[Nords]

OK - I'll bite - I still have and love my HP 15C and RPN keying - in fact, it is hard for me to key a regular calculator - what's the = sign for??

Yer just beggin' for some Gen-Xer or Gen-Yer to ask you what "RPN" stands for, aren't you?!?

I remember the good ol' days when we all used to stand around with our calculator cases on our belts, practicing our fast draws and bragging about how big our stacks were...

 

[laurence]

Considering we were handed solar powered scientific calculators in 7th grade Algebra, we Gen-Xers have no idea what you are talking about.

 

[wabmester]

we Gen-Xers have no idea what you are talking about.

We RPN geeks used to have a saying: "ENTER > ="

My HP65 in high school is probably what got me going as a computer geek. Programming that thing was essentially the same as programming a "real" computer in assembler.

I often wonder how my kid will learn how to do any of the things I learned. Computers, cars, and most gizmos were much more transparent when I was a kid. There's no way to figure out how some custom ASIC works today.

But at least the stuff is getting faster, better, and cheaper.

 

[maddythebeagle]

I thought CFB had a thread awhile back about things being made cheaper (so much stuff is disposable) as a form of price inflation. Seems significant but I am glad the average joe feels good about life and continues to spend. Also, if you look at "basic services" like landline, bank checking, etc. have things really gotten cheaper? with much less customer service, etc?

 

[unclemick]

Duh

The good old days were when I had my K&E slip stick. Also had a a couple of circular slide rules.

heh heh heh heh heh heh - never had them bronzed or mounted though.

one yr of college - $1500 - dorm living.

 

[Cut-Throat]

I thought of another item. I used to spend about $300-$500 a year on Film developing and printing. I now spend nothing at all, since going to digital cameras about 5 years ago.

 

[Dawg52]

I thought of another item. I used to spend about $300-$500 a year on Film developing and printing. I now spend nothing at all, since going to digital cameras about 5 years ago.

Do you use one of those printers designed just for printing pictures? If so, how is the quality?

 

[Cut-Throat]

Do you use one of those printers designed just for printing pictures? If so, how is the quality?

Actually I hardly ever print anymore. When I do I just use my HP Deskjet.