Examples of current inflation - add yours!

[CardsFan]

I like having at least 3 or 4 Benjamins in my hidy-hole in my wallet - just in case. Other than that, I prefer $20s just because (usually) I get fewer "hairy-eyeball" looks from merchants.

By the way, the "hairy eyeball" reference comes from "Alices Restaurant Massacree" by Arlo Guthrie, presented here in honor of Thanksgiving (words to follow.)


https://genius.com/Arlo-guthrie-alices-restaurant-massacree-lyrics

Returning you now...

Well, I have listened to that song at LEAST 50 times, and did not remember the Hairy-eyeballs line, so you made me read the whole set of lyrics to finally find it. I'll never get those 10 minutes back

I guess now I need to listen to it again.

Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[Koolau]

I think currency discussions fit well into inflation discussions because it is changing the way we use cash.

We have the $1 coin now. Heck, I have 3 different versions in my drawer right now. Ikes, Anthonys and Sacagaweas. The Anthony was a disaster since it looked like a quarter. The Sacagawea is a fine coin, but is dragged down by the bad history of the previous two.

I agree with you. The $2 coin could by a gold circled by silver, and for once WE copy Canada. Vending machines are ready for it because... Canada.

And kill the penny already.

Problem is that I think it will take a literal act of Congress to kill printing $1 and $2 paper bills or minting pennies. The half cent was stopped in 1857. We've had a lot of inflation since then!

I guess I'm too "old school." I still like dollar bills and I still pick up pennies off the street. I have to agree that the "Loonies" and "Twonies" from Canada are a pretty good idea - I just like the old paper 1s and 2s. I despise the USA dollar coins as I struggle to distinguish them from a quarter.

 

[JoeWras]

I guess I'm too "old school." I still like dollar bills and I still pick up pennies off the street. I have to agree that the "Loonies" and "Twonies" from Canada are a pretty good idea - I just like the old paper 1s and 2s. I despise the USA dollar coins as I struggle to distinguish them from a quarter.

But, but, you'd never mistake a Sacagawea. It is probably America's most beautiful coin since the Liberty Dollar days. It's just nobody wants to circulate them since we fell out of the habit.

 

[Koolau]

But, but, you'd never mistake a Sacagawea. It is probably America's most beautiful coin since the Liberty Dollar days. It's just nobody wants to circulate them since we fell out of the habit.

Yeah, gotta admit that's beautiful (as is the myth we learned in 1st grade as well as the real story of Sacagawea.) I just never see 'em. One thing is certain. If I get dollar coins, I spend them rather than throw them in my change jar. DW dutifully separates out the pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Then they sit there for years at a time until I finally take them to the bank. BUT last time, they wanted me to bag them and leave them for credit when someone had time to run them through the counter. Sorry Charlie, I don't trust my bank THAT much! YMMV

 

[Car-Guy]

I nearly always leave 2s in tips because most people seem to enjoy getting them, even when they're not quite sure what to do with them.

And I thought I was the only one that did that.... Why, well it's a holdover from my coin/currency collecting days and it promotes the hobby. It also saves me $3 dollars "a pop" since I'd normally leave a $5 tip .. It does tick off my bank a little (I think) since they have to usually order them....

 

[JoeWras]

I found some Ikes recently and I'm thinking of using them for tips. Would that come across as an A-hole move? I don't want it to be. More for fun.

Despite them being unusual these days, they are only worth $1.

 

[Koolau]

I found some Ikes recently and I'm thinking of using them for tips. Would that come across as an A-hole move? I don't want it to be. More for fun.

Despite them being unusual these days, they are only worth $1.

Heh, heh, if I were a server, it wouldn't be the denomination or the form of money - it's the AMOUNT! If you leave enough Ikes, no one will accuse you of anything but being a great tipper!

 

[Chuckanut]

I found some Ikes recently and I'm thinking of using them for tips. Would that come across as an A-hole move? I don't want it to be. More for fun.

Despite them being unusual these days, they are only worth $1.

In the later 1960's some relatives of mine traveled back to Italy and Spain. On a tip from a local relative, they brought with them a stash of the Kennedy half dollars. A single coin was well received as a tip. And saved my cheapskate relatives some real money.

Back on topic....

The Black Friday Price for 12 months of HULU service has gone up 101%.

 

[Koolau]

In the later 1960's some relatives of mine traveled back to Italy and Spain. On a tip from a local relative, they brought with them a stash of the Kennedy half dollars. A single coin was well received as a tip. And saved my cheapskate relatives some real money.

Back on topic....

The Black Friday Price for 12 months of HULU service has gone up 101%.

That's interesting. I went on a student trip which included Italy in 1964. We took JFK halves because we thought they might be of value either financially or as conversation pieces with the locals. (JFK halves were hard for us to find when they first came out.) We found no interest in the coins any place in Europe which really surprised us.

 

[aja8888]

That's interesting. I went on a student trip which included Italy in 1964. We took JFK halves because we thought they might be of value either financially or as conversation pieces with the locals. (JFK halves were hard for us to find when they first came out.) We found no interest in the coins any place in Europe which really surprised us.

I think $5 gold pieces would have been of more interest to the Italians on your trip 58 years ago.

 

[isisdave]

Dollar coins, mostly Sacagawea, are common in Ecuador, which uses US currency but also local coins. A lot of countries don't like bills that are worn or even slightly torn, and I think this is an advantage of coins.

If we're going to continue $1 bills, maybe it's time to introduce polymer ones, like a lot of the world uses. And if the $100 bill is the new $20, maybe it's time to being back President McKinley on the $500 bill, or at least $200.

And if we're going to ditch the penny due to inflation, maybe we could have a spiffier 5-cent coin, no longer called a nickel. Could we make them out of recycled lithium batteries? Or would that cost more than a nickel, I mean, five cents?

 

[JoeWras]

And if we're going to ditch the penny due to inflation, maybe we could have a spiffier 5-cent coin, no longer called a nickel. Could we make them out of recycled lithium batteries? Or would that cost more than a nickel, I mean, five cents?

A lithel?

 

[MichaelB]

I just got my auto insurance renewal from USAA and it’s a 42% increase. After checking to see if there was some change in converge (there wasn’t) I called to see if there was a mistake and ask for an explanation. The response was “it’s Florida, everyone is getting an increase”. We chatted a bit, confirmed there’s no change driving the new premium, it’s pure price increase.

My homeowners is coming up for renewal in a month with them.

 

[aja8888]

My HOA fees are gong up 25% in 2023.

Today I received the natural gas bill from Centerpoint Energy and the gas bill fuel adjustment went up about 50% over last year, essentially doubling our bill.

Every day is a new surprise with this raging inflation.

 

[Koolau]

My HOA fees are gong up 25% in 2023.

Today I received the natural gas bill from Centerpoint Energy and the gas bill fuel adjustment went up about 50% over last year, essentially doubling our bill.

Every day is a new surprise with this raging inflation.

Wow. I thought 9% was a lot. Is that numerically a lot? We're flirting with $900/month next year. Our building is old enough that stuff constantly needs fixed. Our building does keep up on stuff and plans as well (next painting, next spalling repair, next tree cut-back, etc., etc.) It's never ending but, expensive as it is, it's still worth it - so far. YMMV

 

[aja8888]

Wow. I thought 9% was a lot. Is that numerically a lot? We're flirting with $900/month next year. Our building is old enough that stuff constantly needs fixed. Our building does keep up on stuff and plans as well (next painting, next spalling repair, next tree cut-back, etc., etc.) It's never ending but, expensive as it is, it's still worth it - so far. YMMV

Went from $200 to $250/month. Still reasonable.....but. These are 437 single family homes in a 55+ community with no golf course.

The nat gas increase is outrageous.

 

[Dash man]

The fees for our Florida condo went up $471/qtr or about 14%, primarily because of insurance costs. The fees have doubled since we purchased in 2016.

 

[Gumby]

...

Today I received the natural gas bill from Centerpoint Energy and the gas bill fuel adjustment went up about 50% over last year, essentially doubling our bill.

Every day is a new surprise with this raging inflation.

I have been invested in natural gas for a long time. It goes up and down regularly. It will very likely go down in the year ahead, and so will your bill.

 

[Fermion]

I picked up some pork chops and then went over to the shake and bake pork to find it had gone from $2 something a box to over $4!

And get this...I find out at home when opening it that there are no shaking bags in it. Thinking they had forgotten to put them in the box but nope, this is a "green" idea that the company thinks will reduce plastic use. I ended up using a ziploc bag, which I think contained more plastic.

And...that is the last time I ever buy shake and bake. Good luck with your green ideas!

 

[jim584672]

Some good news, chicken breasts on sale for $1.99 lb. They used to be this price routinely, then they went up to $3.99 and went missing. Now back and on sale.

 

[CardsFan]

Just checked our local tax bills:

RE: Went down $2

Personal property, however, went up 30%. Same 2 vehicles, both a year older. But, actually, I was expecting this. The county assessor is a neighbor of ours and warned us that his office is bound by strict calculations, and the rise in price of used vehicles was going to cause the tax bills to be higher than expected.

 

[brett]

Replaced a box of two Oral B electric toothbrushes. Paid $100@ Costco 4.5 years ago.

Picked up a replacement box of Oral B units this week. Paid $112@ Costco.

Better product, more features, longer battery life.

 

[cbo111]

I have not travelled by air much in the past couple years so not entirely sure when this increase happened. I purchased a turkey sandwich at the Austin airport and was a little shocked when the cashier rang up $17.69. No drink or chips, just a regular sandwich.

 

[Venturer]

Propane for our home fireplace, $2.49 a gallon,$194.69 fillup yesterday + a $7.50 delivery fee that has never been added before. As DW said I guess it is a good thing it is only a once a year thing most years. Our son in law said last evening that his commercial rate went up to $2.19 and his "I know a guy" home rate was $2.35 last month. He gets that because of his business uses same company.

 

[athena53]

I purchased a turkey sandwich at the Austin airport and was a little shocked when the cashier rang up $17.69. No drink or chips, just a regular sandwich.

Ugh. I just try to suspend all reasonable notions of pricing when I eat in airports.

Today I'm calling my trash hauler and cancelling.

In May of 2021 I was paying $51 per quarter for trash pickup and $9 for recyclable pickup, so $60 total. The next quarter it went up to $73.50. In March of this year they announced they were no longer picking up recyclables. The bill decreased that quarter but the following quarter they added a bogus "environmental charge" that brought it up to $81. Latest is $85- they added a "fuel surcharge".

I found another company that charges $60. That's the senior rate and I usually don't ask for that but in my case it's justified- I put the trash out maybe once every 2 weeks, if that. No recycling included. I now drove about 10 miles to a dropoff place every couple of months.

I wonder how many customers just stash the recyclables in their garbage bags.