Examples of current inflation - add yours!

[Gumby]

I sense that stuff you don't buy (say) once a month, is much easier to raise in price. You suddenly NEED washer fluid. You may even notice that the price has risen ridiculously, BUT, you need it. SO you BUY it. No time (or much value) in "shopping" for a better price. There are a lot of items like that. Stuff you buy every day (say donuts) can't rise as fast because there will be resistance - especially since you CAN live without them and/or substitute for them. Washer fluid is something you really need and there are relatively few substitutes and you rarely have to buy it.

In economics, it's called elasticity of demand. It's easier for sellers to raise prices when buyer demand is inelastic.

 

[Buckeye]

I just heard my Comcast Xfinity internet service is going up another $3 this year. That's 4 straight years of $3 increases. So, nearly 30% increase in just a few years of their standard minimum speed price - even more when in factoring the early $20 promotional pricing I started with, which I'm excluding in this calculation, or the increase would be over 150% based on that.

I've got the lowest tier (75 Mbps), own my cable modem, and have auto billing to minimize the pricing down into the $50's, but it's just getting ridiculous how fast they keep increasing the price.

And sadly, the options are pretty limited here, so this is what I need to stick with.

My sister has had Xfinity for the last few years. It's now up to $71 for the lowest level with unlimited data (she works from home). I pay her internet bill so I work them hard every year (over Twitter DM's) trying to keep her monthly charge from going up too much. Luckily, Ziply fiber is now in her area (near Everett, WA) and there is some competition. Ziply was installed (for free) on the 14th and her price for the first year for 300/300 is $50 ($40 service + $10 router). The speed test she sent me was 450/95 which is plenty for her. I think the 100/100 promotion is $20 plus $10 router rent should you decide to use their router.

She lives in an apartment complex and Ziply had already brought the service to each building. The installer brought the service from the central node to her apartment. They bring the signal through the phone jack. It all went very smoothly and Xfinity (10 mos. into a 12 mo. contract so no cancellation fees) will be cancelled soon for a $20 savings per month!

 

[Time2]

Thanks for fessing up, Walt! I agree it's much healthier than a fast food place. I could possibly see myself getting the $12 chef salad in a pinch, but it would be a rare 'blow that dough' scenario for me, ha ha.

Some years ago, I would go to Golden Coral and get their take out containers that you pay for by the pound. Cheaper after lunch, before dinner.
I could fill it up for $5 and change and have enough salad for 2 days. I did bring it home and add my own Garbanzo Beans, figuring they were dense and I could just add my own. Then they raised their price per pound and I stopped going. It is probably still a pretty good deal though.

 

[RetireBy90]

Car insurance 1 yr ago $323 for 6 month premium
Car insurance today $393 for 6 month premium

That's just under a 22% increase in one year.

Same car, same coverage, same deductibles, same company, no claims, no accidents, no tickets, same discounts.

Just got my renewal, USAA $727 for renewal, same as last period to the penny. Also get $300 rebate or whatever it is called, also within $1 of last year’s rebate.
Maybe they front loaded the increase enough already ?

 

[Breedlove]

My plan G from Mutual Of Omaha went up 21.00 a month . ..When I asked why I was told everyone was going up.

 

[CaptTom]

This makes sense. People drastically reduced their driving during Covid so didn't use much windshield washer fluid. Stores increased the price in response. Now they've got us because we need the stuff.

But of course that assumes some sort of price fixing by retailers. A company like WalMart is big enough to negotiate with the manufacturers, or find someone who will manufacture it for them. Then they can undercut the competition who artificially raised prices.

I always try to vote with my wallet. The retailer who offers me the best value (which is not always the cheapest price) gets my money. It's my way of supporting the concept of free enterprise.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Car insurance 1 yr ago $323 for 6 month premium
Car insurance today $393 for 6 month premium

That's just under a 22% increase in one year.

Same car, same coverage, same deductibles, same company, no claims, no accidents, no tickets, same discounts.

Inflation is still strong driving my costs up much faster than the government inflation figures.



Yeah, I wish I had only seen inflation as low as those official numbers, which are already too high.

My car insurance went up 20/month 6 months ago and just got a notice it’s going up another 17/month and I haven’t had any accidents, etc. My car is 16 years old and I only drive 2700 miles per year. Mines a 100 more every 6 months than yours. No one else is cheaper. I looked at dropping collision but that only saves 5/month.

 

[GenXguy]

My car insurance went up 20/month 6 months ago and just got a notice it’s going up another 17/month and I haven’t had any accidents, etc. My car is 16 years old and I only drive 2700 miles per year. Mines a 100 more every 6 months than yours. No one else is cheaper. I looked at dropping collision but that only saves 5/month.

You may have higher liability coverage than me. My car is 16 years old also, and I think I'm getting a low mileage (driving) discount that doesn't show on my policy.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Gen x guy, I also get the low mileage discount. I think my coverage is 100k/300k. If I reduce those it’s still only a couple of dollars per month difference. 6 months ago I called to get them to reduce it and they said Nevadans have lots of accidents and repairs and parts cost have went up.

 

[Koolau]

My plan G from Mutual Of Omaha went up 21.00 a month . ..When I asked why I was told everyone was going up.

Well, THAT explains it!

 

[GenXguy]

Gen x guy, I also get the low mileage discount. I think my coverage is 100k/300k. If I reduce those it’s still only a couple of dollars per month difference. 6 months ago I called to get them to reduce it and they said Nevadans have lots of accidents and repairs and parts cost have went up.

That explains it. Mine is 50K/100K. I probably need to bump that up, which is a terrible thought when it's already about $800/yr already!

My comprehensive deductible is $100 and collision $250.

 

[Teacher Terry]

That explains it. Mine is 50K/100K. I probably need to bump that up, which is a terrible thought when it's already about $800/yr already!

My comprehensive deductible is $100 and collision $250.

My deductibles are 1k each.

 

[ychuck46]

I was going to post this but I see it's already been handled. Windshield washer fluid is $6.99 a gallon at the gas station, $5.99 at the auto parts store, and $3.79 at Walmart. This product consists of water, alcohol, and dye. And just a year ago it was $1.79 a gallon.

Left snowy Syracuse thirteen years ago for an area with, let's say, less snow. Used to go through washer fluid like crazy in the former abode; the wife would be spraying it on the windshield for the slightest imperfection, and the road salt spray was terrible anyways. Use well under a gallon per year now. In fact, brought cases of the stuff down when we moved, and I still have cases of the stuff.

 

[GenXguy]

Comcast Massive Price Hike

Car insurance 1 yr ago $323 for 6 month premium
Car insurance today $393 for 6 month premium

That's just under a 22% increase in one year.

Same car, same coverage, same deductibles, same company, no claims, no accidents, no tickets, same discounts.

Inflation is still strong driving my costs up much faster than the government inflation figures.

Yeah, I wish I had only seen inflation as low as those official numbers, which are already too high.

Inflation is still hitting me very hard - always way above the government figures.

Comcast had an estimate on my account that my bill would go up $4.

It actually went up $9.

That was a 17.3% increase for my Comcast service, which is still only 75 Mbps down / 10 Mbps up using my own modem and data capped as well. That's more than double the price hike that they had estimated that my increase would be!

This is about a 200% increase over the last few years, although I did get some bandwidth increases that I didn't ask for a couple of those years.

 

[Sunset]

My plan G from Mutual Of Omaha went up 21.00 a month . ..When I asked why I was told everyone was going up.

How long have you had it ?

 

[Breedlove]

I have had my Mutual of Omaha plan G for four years . Always went up a couple dollars every year . This year 22.00 a month.

 

[CaptTom]

...That was a 17.3% increase for my Comcast service...

I don't consider that inflation. I'd say it's simply greed, but you could argue it's just supply and demand.

The fact is, for many people, money is no object when it comes to entertainment. You might say the cable companies are just giving us what we want.

There's also the fact that they are monopolies in many markets. Hopefully, things like Starlink and 5G, and maybe newer options yet to come, will mean more competition. It'll be interesting to see if this puts any pressure on cable internet prices.

 

[Walt34]

On another forum (snowblowerforum.com) members were commenting on the rise in costs of new snowblowers, and how that makes the ROI on fixing up an older snowblower an even better deal than it ever has been. The asking prices of used snowblowers is in many cases getting downright silly. Many of the members of that forum make a hobby of rescuing snow blowers that were headed for the dump, often with the expenditure of less than $10 for carburetor cleaning (most common) or simple ignition parts replacement. Even a whole new carburetor on Amazon or eBay rarely exceeds $25. And people throw these machines away!

The Ariens Deluxe 24 snowblower that I bought five years ago for $995 is now $1,449, a bit over 37% increase in just five years. I suppose that's not really an outrageous increase but it sure looks like a lot.

 

[skipro33]

On another forum (snowblowerforum.com) members were commenting on the rise in costs of new snowblowers, and how that makes the ROI on fixing up an older snowblower an even better deal than it ever has been. The asking prices of used snowblowers is in many cases getting downright silly. Many of the members of that forum make a hobby of rescuing snow blowers that were headed for the dump, often with the expenditure of less than $10 for carburetor cleaning (most common) or simple ignition parts replacement. Even a whole new carburetor on Amazon or eBay rarely exceeds $25. And people throw these machines away!

The Ariens Deluxe 24 snowblower that I bought five years ago for $995 is now $1,449, a bit over 37% increase in just five years. I suppose that's not really an outrageous increase but it sure looks like a lot.

Visited my sis-in-law over Thanksgiving and she wanted to sell her snow blower as her husband had passed and the neighbors all love to help plow her driveway out. She had that same snow blower and asked me to help her sell it. Did the research and listed it on Facebook Marketplace for the same price she paid. She was sure that was way too high, but within hours, it was sold for full asking price. Should probably have asked more, as I did go through it and get it running. It had sat for two years and the gas was old, wouldn't fire up. Drained and filled with fresh fuel, fired right up! Dang thing has electric start! Ha! Even had chains installed too.

 

[Walt34]

Drained and filled with fresh fuel, fired right up! Dang thing has electric start! Ha! Even had chains installed too.

Wow, you got lucky. Usually after two years sitting with fuel in it (perhaps he had a preservative in it) the carburetor is solidly clogged with gunk.

All but the cheapest of the cheap snowblowers have electric start. I've never used mine other than to see that it worked, but we don't get the severe -20° F and below temperatures that many do. When it gets that cold starting one by hand can be an exercise in frustration and electric start is a necessity.

 

[CaptTom]

...Many of the members of that forum make a hobby of rescuing snow blowers that were headed for the dump, often with the expenditure of less than $10 for carburetor cleaning (most common) or simple ignition parts replacement. Even a whole new carburetor on Amazon or eBay rarely exceeds $25. And people throw these machines away!

The Ariens Deluxe 24 snowblower that I bought five years ago for $995 is now $1,449, a bit over 37% increase in just five years. I suppose that's not really an outrageous increase but it sure looks like a lot.

My father-in-law used to do that. He'd pick up any small engines people threw away. He even had an understanding with the guys at the Sears repair shop (back when that was a thing.) Sometimes the customer didn't think it was worth repairing, but the fix wasn't really that serious. They'd put those next to the dumpster for him to pick up. Yes, it was almost always gummed up carburetors, although he had his share of lawnmowers with bent blades or shafts, too.

As for the 37% increase, be careful what you say here. You'll get a bunch of "experts" explaining how the government figures of around 7% or whatever are actually true, and you're just imagining prices went up that much.

 

[Gumby]

I don't know if the BLS tracks the price of snowblowers specifically, but with respect to all good and services, the CPI in November 2018 was 252.038. In November 2023, five years later, it was 307.051. That's a 21% increase in 5 years. Did the reported snowblower price go up more than general prices over that period? It would appear so, but not by 5 times as much.

Gross exaggeration rarely improves an argument.

 

[GenXguy]

As for the 37% increase, be careful what you say here. You'll get a bunch of "experts" explaining how the government figures of around 7% or whatever are actually true, and you're just imagining prices went up that much.

I wish I had only seen 7% inflation in recent years.

 

[Aerides]

I don't know if the BLS tracks the price of snowblowers specifically, but with respect to all good and services, the CPI in November 2018 was 252.038. In November 2023, five years later, it was 307.051. That's a 21% increase in 5 years. Did the reported snowblower price go up more than general prices over that period? It would appear so, but not by 5 times as much.

Gross exaggeration rarely improves an argument.

Another factor, how long was that price $995 before 2018? If it had held steady at that price since, say 2015 (as a lot of things tend to around those milestone numbers), then isn't the increase really spread across 8 years instead of 5?

It's very easy to say "last year X was $1 and now it's $1.50 why that's 50%!" but often the maker of X held that price at $1 for years too long to establish market share, operated with some losses, and then finally let loose.

 

[JoeWras]

I don't know if the BLS tracks the price of snowblowers specifically, but with respect to all good and services, the CPI in November 2018 was 252.038. In November 2023, five years later, it was 307.051. That's a 21% increase in 5 years. Did the reported snowblower price go up more than general prices over that period? It would appear so, but not by 5 times as much.

Gross exaggeration rarely improves an argument.

Your gut feel is correct. It is more than general inflation, but not 5x. The closest that BLS and FRED have are "Outdoor Equipment and Supplies" and "Law and Garden Equipment..." respectively. I think what makes it painful and seemingly feeling like "5x" is that this stuff was deflating (overseas mfg?) for many years, and now shot up quite a bit in the last few years, even before the pandemic.

Actual numbers for "Lawn and Garden Equipment Manufacturing" per FRED: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PCU3331123331127
Nov 2018: 120.300
Nov 2023: 159.855
Increase: 32.9%

FRED's graph and the BLS graph for "Outdoor Equipment and Supplies" below. Yes, they "let loose" in recent years, hence the bad feeling.