Examples of current inflation - add yours!

[COcheesehead]

I saw or heard recently that the McD's Big Mac meal was up to $18. Nothing at McD's I want to pay that much for. YMMV

I wouldn’t put a Big Mac in my body. Talk about processed food.
We used to pick up an egg McMuffin when on the road, but stop buying those years ago. I can’t tell the last time I have been to a Micky D’s.

 

[COcheesehead]

Duhhh, I am not stupid.

I didn’t say you were. I was referring to the price. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[CaptTom]

"Motor fuel" constitutes about 3.25 % of the CPI. Overall "transportation" is just under 17%.

I think the point @Car-Guy was making was that it seems like high oil prices precede high inflation. Causation or just correlation? I've seen quite a few rounds of this now, and it sure seems like causation to me. And it makes sense. Fuel, energy and transportation are required to produce just about any product.

 

[Car-Guy]

I think the point @Car-Guy was making was that it seems like high oil prices precede high inflation. Causation or just correlation? I've seen quite a few rounds of this now, and it sure seems like causation to me. And it makes sense. Fuel, energy and transportation are required to produce just about any product.

You got it.

 

[folivier]

A couple blocks from our condo DW and I can get a great roast beef po-boy and fries that we split and can't eat it all. Price? under $20.00 total.
Why go to McD's or BK or Five Guys, etc?

 

[Ronstar]

I just spent over $800 for ash lumber and $400 for 2 vises to make a 2'x4' workbench.

 

[Venturer]

Recently ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and milkshake at Five Guys. Total tab with tax was ~$28.

Twenty-eight dollars?

I don't eat fast food very often (like maybe every 2-3 years), so I'm totally out of touch with prices, and Five Guys is at the premium end of the fast food spectrum, but that just seemed insane.

Yes, it was good, actually very good, but still

Made me look-- I pulled up my local 5 Guys menu for same items here it would be $24. + tax for regular. Add bacon on burger and get large fry it would get it up to the $28.buck range. I have only eat at our local restruant once when my DD wanted to go and It wasn't that marvelous to me so we haven't been back.

 

[Surewhitey]

I just spent over $800 for ash lumber and $400 for 2 vises to make a 2'x4' workbench.

But you'll use the heck out of it and enjoy the build for years to come. I need to rebuild the (too large) one I rigged up many years ago. Need to go from 4x8 to maybe 30x60...

Wood is still ridiculous though.

Be sure & share pics.

 

[Ronstar]

But you'll use the heck out of it and enjoy the build for years to come. I need to rebuild the (too large) one I rigged up many years ago. Need to go from 4x8 to maybe 30x60...

Wood is still ridiculous though.

Be sure & share pics.

I'll post some pics if I ever get it done. It's taking forever.

Have fun with your rebuild. Something around 30 x 60 would be much more manageable than 4x8. That's why I'm making a smaller one. My old 3'x7' is about only good for storing stuff on.

 

[jollystomper]

My solo tab was roughly:

Regular Cheeseburger: ~$12
Regular Fries: ~$7
Milkshake:: ~$6
----------------------
Total: ~$25 (before tax)

Yep, around here it would cost us the same. But, that would feed both of us .

We love Five Guys but it is just a monthly treat for us. A couple of "little" hamburgers (which are still more than a quarter pound) and one large order of fries is our usual fare, that costs about $25 as well. We can stretch the fries for a few days .

 

[Winemaker]

I just spent over $800 for ash lumber and $400 for 2 vises to make a 2'x4' workbench.

If you're close to Pittsburgh next time, I have some slabs left over from a tree that fell on one of my rentals. ~1x6x6', bark on, some wider. I keep moving them around the shop, haven't had the time to think of a new project.

I have some cherry that is still waiting for my lazy butt to recover.

 

[jollystomper]

DW loves Chipotle and usually gets a chicken & veggie burrito on most Sundays. The price (after tax) just increased from $9.65 to $9.92.

Recent price increases at this store have been $7.95-$8.27 (8/2020), $8.27-$8.43 (12/2020), $8.43-$8.86 (8/2021), $8.86-$9.49 (4/2022), $9.49-$9.65 (9/22).

 

[COcheesehead]

The “points” often associated with hotels have now morphed over to our coffee roaster and our local brew pub. Every 10th bag of coffee is free and at the brew pub you get a free beer with every $25 spent. The points are tracked through the same app.

Eating out now as evidenced in this thread is just about beginning to not make sense at all.

 

[Fermion]

I think restaurants were benefitting from the release of covid confinement plus the extra money that has been in the system.

As that money dries up and the novelty of eating out dies down, I imagine some of these higher prices eating out is going to hurt their business gross revenue.

The newer generations will probably still eat out a lot, especially in higher paying techy parts of the country.

I know a $28 burger joint would go out of business in our town right now.

 

[Chuckanut]

Eating out now as evidenced in this thread is just about beginning to not make sense at all.

+1

I eat out for one of three reasons:

1. I’m on the road covering a lot of miles in one day, and I need a quick meal break. That’s about the only time I visit McDonalds, etc. Even then I will picnic if I can.

2. It’s a social event with friends I enjoy being with.

3. To eat a food that I realistically cannot make at home.

I’d much rather entertain at home, so I rarely do #2. It’s mostly #1 and #3. Even #3 is going down because the cost of such meals has gone through the roof.

 

[LateToFIRE]

I didn’t say you were. I was referring to the price. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

No misunderstanding, just my sense of humor not translating well

 

[LateToFIRE]

I think all the grandkids got a small burger and drank water and shared a large fries.
I think the small burgers were around $6-7 each.
No sales taxes in our state.

OMG, You made kids drink water when there were sodas and milkshakes available? I think that might be considered abuse in most parts of the U.S.

 

[John Galt III]

I think restaurants were benefitting from the release of covid confinement plus the extra money that has been in the system.

As that money dries up and the novelty of eating out dies down, I imagine some of these higher prices eating out is going to hurt their business gross revenue.

The newer generations will probably still eat out a lot, especially in higher paying techy parts of the country.

I know a $28 burger joint would go out of business in our town right now.

I was at the grocery store (Wegmans) a few days ago, browsing, and saw a premade chef salad in a plastic bowl, for $12. So basically one or two dollars worth of food put into a bowl and selling for $12. I wondered who on earth would buy this. I thought maybe it was someone who gets $300 a month free from his or her medicare advantage health insurance plan, to spend on gas, food, and utilities. Or maybe someone who has some company paying his bill for him.

 

[John Galt III]

A couple blocks from our condo DW and I can get a great roast beef po-boy and fries that we split and can't eat it all. Price? under $20.00 total.
Why go to McD's or BK or Five Guys, etc?

I am fortunate to have a local beer store that always has 40% off sales on near-expiration date beer. I check that place every couple weeks for the good stuff, and stock up if they have any. I like the highly hopped and high alcohol content beer, which ages well, in my opinion, so no worries about expiration date.

 

[homestead]

OMG, You made kids drink water when there were sodas and milkshakes available? I think that might be considered abuse in most parts of the U.S.

Ha! Not me their parents, Since I was paying I didn't complain.
I'm guessing none of those kids have ever tasted soda's.

 

[MichaelL]

I just got a quote for a crown on a molar, $2,450. The last time I had one, about 5 - 6 years ago it was $800. My insurance will only cover part of it.

To follow up on this, I got the bill and they charged $1,890. The insurance paid $820 and I took $800 from my medical savings plan which emptied it. I'm not sure why they adjusted the bill. I did look it up and found that crowns can vary from $900 to $2,400 depending on the type of material and the amount of work. This one went easy so maybe that's why they dropped the price. It is still double from what I paid before but not triple.

 

[jollystomper]

OMG, You made kids drink water when there were sodas and milkshakes available? I think that might be considered abuse in most parts of the U.S.

Ha! Not me their parents, Since I was paying I didn't complain.
I'm guessing none of those kids have ever tasted soda's.

We did this with our kids. Eat whatever you want, but very rarely was anything other the water allowed. We tried to model that for them.

The results: maybe 2 cavities across all of them, and 90% of the time when we eat out as adults they choose water. When they come to visit, no need to have soda in the house (even the zero sugar ones that I drink). But we better have lots of fruit...

From an inflation standpoint, when eating out it can help to keep the meal cost down by only having water with the meal.

 

[Walt34]

I was at the grocery store (Wegmans) a few days ago, browsing, and saw a premade chef salad in a plastic bowl, for $12. So basically one or two dollars worth of food put into a bowl and selling for $12. I wondered who on earth would buy this.

While that's on the high side, so are Wegman's prices generally. Locally here, grocery stores sell smaller premade salads like that for $5, and sometimes a bit larger one for $8, which will feed two if they're not very hungry. Convenience stores like in gas stations add a dollar. But it's still a lot cheaper, not to mention healthier, than a fast food burger place. So I'm one who would buy the $12 salad if I'm out running around and it's lunchtime.

 

[LateToFIRE]

We did this with our kids. Eat whatever you want, but very rarely was anything other the water allowed. We tried to model that for them.

The results: maybe 2 cavities across all of them, and 90% of the time when we eat out as adults they choose water. When they come to visit, no need to have soda in the house (even the zero sugar ones that I drink). But we better have lots of fruit...

From an inflation standpoint, when eating out it can help to keep the meal cost down by only having water with the meal.

But that's just not right - You are depriving those businesses of their biggest money-making, highest margin product opportunity /sarcasm

 

[audreyh1]

Eating out now as evidenced in this thread is just about beginning to not make sense at all.

I think restaurants were benefitting from the release of covid confinement plus the extra money that has been in the system.

As that money dries up and the novelty of eating out dies down, I imagine some of these higher prices eating out is going to hurt their business gross revenue.

The newer generations will probably still eat out a lot, especially in higher paying techy parts of the country.

I know a $28 burger joint would go out of business in our town right now.

I would have thought that would already have happened. Maybe it still will.

Of course I don’t understand why people go out to eat burgers anyway, ha ha.

We pretty much only eat out when traveling. And thats not for every meal either.