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

[Cut-Throat]

nm

 

[justin]

Super Walmart for groceries - haven't run the numbers, but probably a 30% savings after all things are considered. No more stocking up bomb-shelter style when non-perishables goes on sale. Then they sit in my pantry for 1-2 years only to eventually expire. Now we practice justin-time consumerism, since the price is always the same at Super Walmart. We let walmart maintain our food inventory instead of us.

Haven't bought it yet, but went new tv shopping. Beautiful HD's for 1/2 the price they were a few years ago. Nice 27" HD for $350 now? Big 32"+ LCD tvs for under $1000.

 

[brewer12345]

Bought a single room AC for $99 yesterday at Costco. The oldest one we have is 1997 vintage. It cost $200, weighs about 20# more than the new one, and uses about 1/3 more electricity to do the job.

 

[Sheryl]

Either due to actual deflation or buying habits....

Under the latter catagory - 

1.  Gas.   Now that we live in the same house, and both work within 2 miles of home, we have saved huge amounts of $ on the commuting.

2.  Food.    For the same reason, its much easier to cook an affordable meal than to drive 2 hours and have to eat out because it's too late and we're too tired.

3.  Mortgages.  Same reason again, as rent on SO's house is now making that payment.   

Now that I stop to consider it, this living in sin thing is is pretty economical!   

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

got a 12 x 40 ft aluminum/screened carport/porch on side of house. wilma sent a few branches to it, destroying the seal between the alum roof and the house. water pouring in during downpours.

structure grandfathered-in but new rules prevent replacing carport with another aluminum one so would have to pay for a garage and selling house within 5/6 years anyway so wouldn't want to pay 1000s for that.

problem: how to create seal where alum roof meets house if alum roof is not strong enough to support the weight of a person on it and the house roof rises too high to reach the seam.

expensive working solution: bring in a crane or some sort of boom lift to float self over the area. includes cost of rental of heavy machinery plus delivery charges.

cheap retired solution: $9.47 bug pressurized sprayer; $3.40 for 20 ft of clear vinyl tubing; $16.99 elastomeric roof coating; $0 disgarded extending pole (prior life was a pruner); $0 some existing duck tape. $29.86 look ma, no leaks.

fire: the mother of invention

 

[saluki9]

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

DSL - My DSL was $39.99 when I signed my first contract 3 years ago. On the second year they offered it for $26.99/mo. and now I have signed another contract with SBC for $17.99 a month (and they doubled the speed)

This winter my wife and I used some spaceheaters and turned down the thermostat. We save a ton on our gas bills.

 

[mathjak107]

my pay check!

 

[mathjak107]

getting rid of goods and services or subbing cheaper things or processes dosnt count as "negative inflation" getting dsl cheaper is negative inflation,using less gas or not eating out is not,its just a change in your cost of living

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Lets see...

The tv I really, really wanted 14 years ago...$999...The TV I really, really wanted 10 years ago...$1499. The TV I really, really want now...$2500.

The house I bought 15 years ago...162k...The house I bought 3 years ago thats similar in size, quality of construction and size of yard...$250k (worth >100K more than that now).

The truck I bought 7 years ago, 23k. Same exact truck bought today...28k with all the incentives.

HSI from AT&T broadband internet 5 years ago...$19.99. A little over 3.5 years ago when comcast bought them...$29.99...A couple of years ago...$57. Today after I threatened to go to a competitor, a 'deal' for $29.99 for six months.

A decent rib eye steak five years ago...$4.99 a lb on sale; filet mignon, $6.99 on sale, today $7.80 a lb and 10.99 a lb, respectively.

Yep...got a good handle on this 'negative inflation' thing...

 

[rs0460a]

I'm suprised that nobody stated the "obvious" (note all the "E.D" commercials  )

At least it's helping my investments in drug companies  ...

- Ron

 

[mathjak107]

my sentiments exactley fuzzy..people confuse cheaper life style with negative inflation...they are not the same

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Thats just a "basket substitution". Something gets too expensive so you find somewhere else to buy it cheaper, or you buy something else thats cheaper and possibly of lower quality.

hence, inflation went down?

I've never been able to wrap my brain around that line of thought.

When the exact same product purchased in the same venue/market/region costs more than it used to, thats inflation. When in the same scenario it costs less, thats deflation.

When I buy something different, thats got nothing to do with inflation or deflation, cost of living or really much of anything else. Its dumbing down your buying and lifestyle in response to higher prices.

I see it all the time at my dads retirement community. Twenty to thirty years of losing buying power on their fixed incomes has a definitively observable effect.

 

[mathjak107]

inflation is only a rise in price on something, cost of living is inflation x the number of products that you buy personally that were effected by the price rise and lifestyle is the level and quality of those products and cost factored in.......

 

[mathjak107]

only thing i can think of that went down for us is geico reduced our auto insurance because ive been a good boy......except for an ocassional sale on grapes i cant think of anything else......yep thats it.....

 

[Cut-Throat]

only thing i can think of that went down for us is geico reduced our auto insurance because ive been a good boy......except for an ocassional sale on grapes i cant think of anything else......yep thats it.....

Well, I would have guessed that you couldn't think.........of any.

So you can just ignore this thread... move along here nothing here for you to see.

 

[2B]

Now that I stop to consider it, this living in sin thing is is pretty economical!   

My grandfather used to say the wages of sin were pretty good.  He would know.  He was a jazz musician.  He played Cuba and every cesspool that existed from the 30's on.  The high point of his career was playing with Harry James.  My mother was a "torch singer" which is how she met my father (the over-testosteroned Marine--a perfect match).  My older brother was always my father's parent's favorite.  I don't know if I was the leftover or was actually picked but I got to go around with my grandfather everywhere and, very occasionally, with my mother to practice sessions and performances.  I met some very interesting people -- everyone loves a kid.  I got to drink bourbon and scotch before I was 10.  I learned to dance from pros.  The sad part is I can watch "Singing in the Rain" and realize how much better Donald O'Conner was than I could ever have been.  He was the real star from my perspective.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i'm still a novice at this so maybe someone can help me understand.

if the cost of living goes up and forces me to change my lifestyle, that is inflationary, but if i change my lifestyle so that the cost of living goes down, that is not deflationary?

 

[Sheryl]

My grandfather used to say the wages of sin were pretty good.  He would know.  He was a jazz musician... ... I met some very interesting people -- everyone loves a kid.  I got to drink bourbon and scotch before I was 10.  I learned to dance from pros.  The sad part is I can watch "Singing in the Rain" and realize how much better Donald O'Conner was than I could ever have been.  He was the real star from my perspective.

Sounds like quite the fascinating life! It would make an iteresting book... or would that be too much like w@$k for a FIRE'd guy like you?

 

[Sheryl]

getting rid of goods and services or subbing cheaper things or processes dosnt count as "negative inflation" getting dsl cheaper is negative inflation,using less gas or not eating out is not,its just a change in your cost of living

Precisely.   Which is why I quoted C-T's statement, "Either due to actual deflation or buying habits...."   I guess I dared to expand the topic beyond the subject line.... ex-cuse the heck out of me!  : : :

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Sheryl,

As topic drifts go, that was OK.

Back to the topic:

We have managed to get a deal for 0% interest on our fairly sizable (but much less than it used to be!) credit card debt. It had jumped to ~20% when we had a run of stupidity bad luck. With this wind at our backs, we should kill the CC debt by the end of the year. Then we start on the kids' college loans.

Gypsy

 

[HFWR]

Homeowners insurance and auto insurance went down, and cable/broadband is lower because of some shrewd bargaining a change in cable package...

 

[Danny]

I called to cancel my garbage service - they undercut the new company and gave me 2 free months.
Make sure you have a real offer before you do this.

 

[education]

Hi Everyone--

I think that "Sam's Club"--we don't have Costco's around here as been a great help to preparing for ER. Great prices can be had--if you are persistent. Sometimes the quantities can be overwhelming.

But the biggest boon is shopping at places like "Dollar Zone" and "Dollar Tree"--if you watch and stay away from the schlocky junk. Great buys on seasonings--$1.00 for Season Salt compared to $4 or $5 at the store. Tooth brushes, toothpaste, floss to salsa and different chips. Just got to be careful, but huge savings are there. These two places have become my favorite haunts.

The Professor

 

[Leonidas]

Looking at just the past year I found insurance costs went down significantly, the DSL camera I wanted was down phenomenally, and the bang for the buck factor on anything computer/electronic is tremendous as prices go down and quality/capability soars. Gasoline costs up and food prices up, but I'm driving less and don't eat out every night like I did when I was working.

This thread got me to thinking about the cost of transportation so I did some research. In 1983 I had a little cash fall into my life and I bought my dream car. They were in short supply and the dealer was putting customers on waiting lists (Your car is in, it's puke green, do you want it? No? That's okay, we have fifty other people lined up to buy it) It cost 65% of my annual salary before taxes. Based on 1983 fuel prices, I had to work for a little over 2 hours to fill the tank. Fast forward to 2006 and I looked at MSRP for the newest version of that same car and what they are paying people today to do the job I held back then. They have dozens of them on the lots, so I doubt I would pay anything near MSRP, but the sticker prices represents less than 50% of the annual salary before taxes. Plus, it's a bigger, faster and more fuel efficient car. I would have to work for less than 1.5 hours to fill the tank. The only thing I didn't know how to factor into the equation was that in 1983 my employer was one of the top three in salaries for this kind of job in the country, today the salaries are not in the top 100.

 

[mathjak107]

i'm still a novice at this so maybe someone can help me understand.

if the cost of living goes up and forces me to change my lifestyle, that is inflationary, but if i change my lifestyle so that the cost of living goes down, that is not deflationary?

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...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... the mere fact that you changed your lifestyle has brought your cost of living down but it hasnt effected the prices of the things you were buying and switched away from.they are still the same or higher