Sneaky Inflation

[larry]

Narrower toilet paper rolls, smaller cheese slices, smaller coffee containers are just three of the essentials that I have noticed. I guess that smaller cheese slices and smaller coffee containers would probably justify less toilet paper anyway?

 

[larry]

I don't remember the price of candy when I was a kid, but we use to pick through the garbage for bottles at the local high school. Then we would return them for the deposit so we could buy candy. I think it was two or three bottles depending on which candy we wanted.

I do remember paying 10 cents for Reeses peanut butter cups in 1972. They were also probably 2-3 ounce packages also.

 

[Montecfo]

I recall there was candy you could buy for like 2 cents. I also recall cheapo gas price of 29 cents a gallon. This would have been late 1960s.

And the outrage during the oil embargo at gas prices over a dollar a gallon!

Bought my first used car for $650 bucks. New tire? $20 plus tax.

Sneaky inflation? The reduction in quality of goods is never measured. Replacing metal parts with plastic that reduce their life. Sure, maybe that weedeater was cheaper but it lasted one season...

 

[Walt34]

I remember 5¢ Cokes in a vending machine, and later, radio ads for "47 cents for a three-course meal". Although even then calling a milkshake a "course" in a meal seemed a long stretch.

 

[Islandtraveler]

Good God. You have all turned into my father!

 

[braumeister]

Good God. You have all turned into my father!

Exactly what I was thinking.



Although to be honest, I was also thinking of posting some similar "reminiscences" myself.

 

[Montecfo]

Good God. You have all turned into my father!

Get Off My Lawn!!

 

[Islandtraveler]

I am officially changing my screen name to "Crotchety Man"

 

[mystang52]

What happened to ice cream? Size down every three years

My pet peeve! I remember when the 1/2 gallon started morphing to 1 3/4 quarts. The transition was seemingly still ongoing when again seemingly overnight it went down to that mini 1 1/2 quarts.

 

[John Galt III]

Occasionally, the large econo size product is MORE expensive per ounce than the smaller package. They assume you'll automatically think the econo size is cheaper and not check. Example: a 48 ounce pitcher of beer costs more per ounce than 4 12 ounce drafts. And why is it a 48 ounce pitcher? What happened to the standard 64 ounce pitcher? Gaarrrhhhhhh......

 

[John Galt III]

My pet peeve! I remember when the 1/2 gallon started morphing to 1 3/4 quarts. The transition was seemingly still ongoing when again seemingly overnight it went down to that mini 1 1/2 quarts.

Milk is still the old fashioned pints, quarts, half-gallons, and gallons. What's their problem?

 

[brett]

Sometimes not so sneaky.

Got our home insurance renewal. Premium is up 11 percent over last year. Last year was up 5 percent over the previous year.

Did a quick competitive check. Rate seems to be in line with other quotes.

No claims.

 

[IMATERP]

My first efficiency apartment (located 5 blocks from the U.S. Capital) cost $50 a month. That was back in 1978. Washington, D.C. had rent control and if I would have stayed that would have been a bargain. Even 41 years later. By the way, 8 folks from the Middle East lived in the efficiency right below my unit.

 

[Koolau]

We all keep an eye on the inflation numbers from the Fed and other sources. Plus, we all know that the real inflation number to be concerned about is our “personal” inflation number.

Myself and DW are always looking out for “surprise” prices that have inflated without much (or any) warning. Today was a milestone surprise inflation find!

DW likes to have breakfast at Denny’s as we have several of them around us and they are helpful with handling handicapped folks, of which DW is one. We stopped this AM at a local Denny’s as I was having our Hyundai’s tires rotated and balanced next door at a tire shop.

Usually, we have a “build your own” (BYO) or a $4 Value Slam (VS) breakfast. Now, the Value Slams come in four flavors (fixed price levels), $2, $4, $6, & $8 and with no menu item substitutions. The menu is labelled accordingly in each heading.

So today I order the $4 Value Slam which is two eggs, bacon (or sausage) and two pancakes. DW orders a different item (BYO).

The bill comes, and I see that the $4 VS is now $4.49! So I look at the menu and see that the heading is now “Starting at $4” instead of just $4. Looks like a 12% price increase here. Also, the other price levels use the same “Starting at” term for each $$ level and all show increases of about 12%. Nice.

So here folks, is what I call sneaky inflation. What have you noticed about your consumption spending that has seen this type of inflation?

Interesting. DW and I were sort of glad when we saw that Dennys had raised the prices on their "$4.00" menu. We have been surprised for quite some time that they hadn't just done away with it. Here in Paradise, a $5 (total) with tip meal is just unheard of - we waddle out of Dennys. In case you're wondering about the tip, we get the AARP 15% discount and then leave at least 20%. Comes out slightly over $5.

My experience with "stealth" inflation is more along the lines of shrinking packages as many have mentioned. YMMV

 

[ncbill]

Restaurants you're paying for the labor, not so much the food.

The ~$10 (including tip) it costs me to get my favorite breakfast at a local Greek place could buy enough eggs, choice of breakfast meat, & pancake mix for several at-home breakfasts.

 

[aja8888]

My experience with "stealth" inflation is more along the lines of shrinking packages as many have mentioned. YMMV

This last week, we saw another example of stealth inflation. Our HOA has a front yard sprinkler repair benefit that's included in our monthly fee (55+ community). The latest newsletter from the HOA said that sprinkler repair will be eliminated as a benefit since many sprinkler heads are damaged by cars parking on (our) grass, which is a no-no in itself (no sidewalks here).

Homeowners will fix their own broken sprinklers or hire it out.

Now, I can tell you that it's a rare occurance to see a car or truck up over the curb and parked. It just doesn't happen here as the streets are pretty wide.

But....the HOA fee remains the same and not reduced due to the elimination of the paid service!

 

[Mykle57]

Cat food! From 15.92 to 18.44 for a 30 pack at Walmart.

It's about time they start finding their own food!

 

[aja8888]

Had one today: I'm doing a bumper cover repair (scrapes, etc) on SIL's car. I need a can (14 oz.) of Bondo (body filler - polyester) to fill a few indentations. My old can is bad (hardened up from sitting too long). It's full to the top, however, and I am not happy, but so is life.

Off to Walmart and I find the small can - same size that I had which cost me about $4 a few years ago. Now this can is $7.57! So I get it home and open it up, but before that I noticed the tube that contains the hardening cream is about 1/2 the size of the old one. That has me wondering...

Open the can and guess what? ITS HALF FULL! (no wonder the amount of hardening cream is about one half as much as the old stuff.) I guess the can size (14 oz) is liquid measure, not weight.

So, bottom line here - Twice the price for 1/2 as much!

 

[Philliefan33]

Along the same line, restaurant dish portion getting smaller for the same price ... Seemingly, Chinese food dish portion has noticeably gotten small every 5 years.

I find our local Chinese takeout place to be a bargain. Over the weekend I spent less than $30 on an order that fed four of us for dinner. There was enough left over for three lunches ( so far) and there’s still lots of chicken and rice in the fridge.

The small container of fried rice seemed bottomless— each time it went around the table it seemed there was more in the carton instead of less!

 

[LoftyNotions]

I used to buy candy bars for 5 cents in 1958. Being the frugal person even at 12years I chose 3 Musketeers since it was about 50% larger than most others. I haven't bought any in decades but passing them in the grocery check out line they seem to be smaller for the additional 95 cents.


Cheers!

I used to buy Winner Suckers, not because I liked them, but because occasionally I'd get another free sucker.

 

[Koolau]

Cat food! From 15.92 to 18.44 for a 30 pack at Walmart.

It's about time they start finding their own food!

Heh, heh. FIND the food or BE the food!