Examples of current inflation - add yours!

[Koolau]

No change in my usage, but the bill keeps going up. They keep raising my connection charge. It's $75 now even if I don't use ANY electricity, just to have it available.

Yeah we see stuff like that. Also electricity goes up when oil goes up - but seems not to go back down when oil drops. Big surprise.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

Homeowners insurance on a rental up 17.5%.

However still only $999 so I'm fortunate.

 

[ncbill]

Property tax re-assessment (done every 4 years here) just doubled the value of my place.

Got to get cracking on researching recent sales to bring that down on appeal.

 

[corn18]

Property tax re-assessment (done every 4 years here) just doubled the value of my place.

Got to get cracking on researching recent sales to bring that down on appeal.

Same thing happened to me but my actual property tax went down a tad. If everyone's assessment doubles, the amount you pay does not change.

 

[Gumby]

Same thing happened to me but my actual property tax went down a tad. If everyone's assessment doubles, the amount you pay does not change.

There you go making sense again. You're making complaining about taxes no fun at all.

 

[Koolau]

There you go making sense again. You're making complaining about taxes no fun at all.

Here's a new one for you. Our assessment went DOWN $4K last time. We've noticed that sales in the building have stabilized in price here of late.

Not so surprising, our taxes went up substantially. I guess the rates changed. What can you do?

 

[GenXguy]

Here's a new one for you. Our assessment went DOWN $4K last time. We've noticed that sales in the building have stabilized in price here of late.

Not so surprising, our taxes went up substantially. I guess the rates changed. What can you do?

My property taxes, assessment, and homeowner's insurance keep going up every year, faster than gubment inflation numbers, even though my home probably wouldn't sell for more than I paid for it over 20 years ago.

 

[athena53]

Same thing happened to me but my actual property tax went down a tad. If everyone's assessment doubles, the amount you pay does not change.

It depends on the state. I'm in MO and assessed values doubled. They're updated every two years so that should not have happened. It was a real fiasco- the job had been given to an outside firm and they made a mess of it. Didn't do interior inspections where required, had an extraordinary number of homes values at the same non-round $$ amount (most likely plugged in an average), assigned insanely high values to vacant lots. They were deluged with appeals.

We were told that due to the "Hancock Amendment", mill rates had to decrease to the point that the added revenue would be only enough to offset inflation. When I got my tax bill I compared the mill rates with the previous year. The school tax rate did not decrease. It turns out that the Hancock Amendment did not apply to some taxes- including the School Tax rate, which is the bulk of our property taxes.

 

[Koolau]

My property taxes, assessment, and homeowner's insurance keep going up every year, faster than gubment inflation numbers, even though my home probably wouldn't sell for more than I paid for it over 20 years ago.

You should be able to appeal your assessment if the data is that clear. The rates are statutory and not up for appeal unless you want to go to the legislative body and raise the issue.

I'm surprised that (almost) any property is only worth what it was worth 20 years ago. We sorta keep track of our old places as they resell. Over time they mostly doubled or tripled in value since we sold 15 to 20 years ago or more.

 

[JoeWras]

Man, in all this egg madness, finally some good news!

At Walmart, Smuckers all natural peanut butter (oil separates) went down from $6.28 to $5.87. It had shot up like a rocket and was at the $6.28 mark for about 18 months.

I guess the peanut crop is doing OK. At least something doesn't have the flu.

 

[Koolau]

Man, in all this egg madness, finally some good news!

At Walmart, Smuckers all natural peanut butter (oil separates) went down from $6.28 to $5.87. It had shot up like a rocket and was at the $6.28 mark for about 18 months.

I guess the peanut crop is doing OK. At least something doesn't have the flu.

Yay! The inflationary cycle has been broken. Look for the remainder of prices to begin edging down! (Heh, heh, I'll believe it if you will)

Thanks for sharing at least one piece of good news on the inflation front. We needed that.

 

[aja8888]

Man, in all this egg madness, finally some good news!

At Walmart, Smuckers all natural peanut butter (oil separates) went down from $6.28 to $5.87. It had shot up like a rocket and was at the $6.28 mark for about 18 months.

I guess the peanut crop is doing OK. At least something doesn't have the flu.

Check the container size to be sure it doesn't contain less product.

 

[Koolau]

Check the container size to be sure it doesn't contain less product.

Surely, they wouldn't do something like that!

In my best Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nielsen - in "Airplane the Movie" voice):

"Of course, they would. And don't call me Shirley."

 

[JoeWras]

Thankfully, it is the same size, 26oz.

Of course, everything else is not going down. I'm going to get sod installed next month and I don't want to tell you all how much that will cost. Yikes.

 

[Koolau]

Thankfully, it is the same size, 26oz.

Of course, everything else is not going down. I'm going to get sod installed next month and I don't want to tell you all how much that will cost. Yikes.

Heh, heh, what ever it costs, the guys doing the actual sodding w*rk ain't getting paid enough. My service frat in college sodded a hill at a local school being built ca 1968. That was perhaps the hardest manual labor I ever did. ESPECIALLY carrying those pieces of sod up a hill and anchoring them in place. Almost 60 years later, I drive past that school and note with pride that my (our) w*rk is still there and thriving.

Good luck with your sodding j*b. Look on the bright side. You're gonna have a killer story to share in the BTD 2025 thread.

 

[JoeWras]

Heh, heh, what ever it costs, the guys doing the actual sodding w*rk ain't getting paid enough. My service frat in college sodded a hill at a local school being built ca 1968. That was perhaps the hardest manual labor I ever did. ESPECIALLY carrying those pieces of sod up a hill and anchoring them in place. Almost 60 years later, I drive past that school and note with pride that my (our) w*rk is still there and thriving.

Good luck with your sodding j*b. Look on the bright side. You're gonna have a killer story to share in the BTD 2025 thread.

I will, once it is done.

This is something I've been pondering for 30 years. My neighbor across the street has decided to grow a natural jungle, no lawn. Very GenZ. I like a lawn. However, the lawn I have stinks. It was never prepared right 45 years ago. And the type of grass is not working well anymore. We live in a zone that is marginal for warm season versus cool season grasses. I've decided to go to warm, finally. My other neighbors have done so and I envy the way it chokes out the weeds. I don't mind the gold look in winter. This cool fescue I have now struggles. No significant rhizomes. The expensive zoysia I'm having put in will just choke everything with massive rhizome growth.

We'll see. This is definitely, absolutely a Blow That Dough moment. So I will report.

 

[Walt34]

I'm surprised that (almost) any property is only worth what it was worth 20 years ago. We sorta keep track of our old places as they resell. Over time they mostly doubled or tripled in value since we sold 15 to 20 years ago or more.

It very much depends on location of course. I stumbled across a youtube video that some real estate agent made of homes for sale in middle West Virginia - one can buy a decent and habitable house on several acres for five figures. Of course there probably isn't a job to be had within 30 miles, but hey, don't get greedy!

 

[JoeWras]

Let me tell you about vacant land in Florida. About land that has not appreciated in nearly 40 years!

This is in the center of the state. It is near swamp land, probably was swamp land. Far from any services. Nearest small store is 15 minutes away. Nearest urgent care 30 minutes away. Very peaceful. Very remote. Very buggy.

My parents bought for $9200 in 1988. It was gifted to me in 2009. I thought it would be a cool place to have. I visited in 2015. I got chiggers and fire ant bites. I saw no action in the community for the last 10 years, too much vacant land. No new buildings. Buildings rotting. People who bought by slick salesmen (like my parents) who died and their place was rotting. I saw a place with pit bulls that might have been a meth house. I got emails about HOA dysfunction. Not normal dysfunction, but nuclear dysfunction.

I dumped it to a land dealer and took the loss. I just looked on the tax records and he sold it for... $9200 in 2024. Same price as 1988! I do not regret the dump to him for around $1k. Good for him. He made money. He paid the HOA and taxes. He dealt with the HOA dysfunction. I got to take the tax loss, even on a gift. I had piece of mind for 9 years.

So, yeah, hell yeah, LOCATION MATTERS.

 

[JoeWras]

Looking at Walt's response, which I originally didn't see, we align in our thoughts. There are places in the USA to buy that you can live for 5 figures, with at least 1 acre of land. In my parents' old place, that would mean a 45 year old mobile home. You can get the 1 acre and home for less than $100k. But you can buy the lot next door for $10k and drop a $120k brand new mobile home on it instead. Just a small premium. Oh, you may have to spend $20k more for septic and well. But phone and electric are there.

Just watch out for:
- Meth addicts
- Pit bulls
- Rotting homes of neighbors
- Bad school districts with long bus rides
- Difficult to access life needs, such as food
- You'll be dead if you have a heart attack
- Rodents, fire ants, fleas, rats

So, location matters. But maybe you can deal with some of it. Maybe you don't care if you die if you have a heart attack. (Not joking about this, the longer I live, the more I think this is OK.)

The subject is inflation, so let me get back to that. Real estate is incredibly local. Florida experienced an incredible rise over the last 5 years, in general. But guess what? Not all of Florida. And it isn't just the inner swampland. Ask the 40 year old condo owners in South Florida (Southeast FL) how they are doing after the Surfside collapse.

 

[DJRR]

At least energy prices have stabilized here. My gas bill was 2x higher this January due to the cold and 2x the usage, but the distribution charge is the same and the cost per therm decreased from 51.12 to 49.08.

 

[Fermion]

Just watch out for:
- Meth addicts
- Pit bulls
- Rotting homes of neighbors
- Bad school districts with long bus rides
- Difficult to access life needs, such as food
- You'll be dead if you have a heart attack
- Rodents, fire ants, fleas, rats

Eh, Meth addicts seem to be everywhere. You could buy a multi million dollar property in Seattle right now and enjoy meth addicts in a broken RV on the street right outside your front door. Pitt and Rot breeds should be outlawed, but dog lovers claim they are such a loving pet.

 

[Koolau]

Returning to today's symposium subject, gas at Costco went up 20 cents to $4.20 this past week. Of course, everyone else is charging closer to $4.60 to $4.80.

 

[AudiDudi]

Returning to today's symposium subject, gas at Costco went up 20 cents to $4.20 this past week. Of course, everyone else is charging closer to $4.60 to $4.80.

Here in AZ, it jumped 2c a couple days ago - filled up today for $2.75 (regular)

 

[Turbo29]

Here in AZ, it jumped 2c a couple days ago - filled up today for $2.75 (regular)

I have noticed it's very location dependent. In Phoenix it's $3.39; a special Maricopa County blend, allegedly to fight pollution, is required. Thirty miles away in the city of Maricopa, which is actually in Pinal County, it's $2.99; Pinal County does not require the special blend of gas.

 

[GenXguy]

I'm surprised that (almost) any property is only worth what it was worth 20 years ago. We sorta keep track of our old places as they resell. Over time they mostly doubled or tripled in value since we sold 15 to 20 years ago or more.

Actually just shy of 23 years. If you look at sites like Realtor and Zillow, they show my home as being 23% to 31% higher value than what I paid 23 years ago. But when I bought the house, the roof, central air, siding, carpeting were all fairly new. It needs quite a bit of maintenance. And there are some other things that need done like plumbing and rebuilding the deck. So, until that work is done, it would never sell for those websites' estimates.