I’m not a big believer in an inflation gauge that takes away food, housing, and fuel…AKA inflation. If it’s going to be accurate, the government needs to measure inflation for real. Are they going to do that? I highly doubt it.
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I did a quick order on a local grocery store website and the total was $56.22 before the army men; one Amazon they range $8-15.
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If 2008 is any indicator, I don’t see this ending well. Inflation appears to be forcing people to rack up credit card bills to make ends meet, It’s easy to be swayed with a 2% cash-back credit card. The bank throws you a 2% morsel while charging 18% interest WHEN you rack up a balance.
For the most part I see this as the same old story that has been going on for 25 or so years. People don’t handle idea of needs vs wants all that well. Now before you come for me I know there are people that get in credit card debit and it really wasn’t their fault, but I think that majority of people who carry a balance wouldn’t have to if they controlled their spending.
Adjusting one’s lifestyle to match their current financial situation is something many have a hard time dealing with.
I think overall inflation has slowed. We won’t see deflation and nor do we want to see that. With so many people working the economy will continue to grow. I really believe that if you had a house pre-covid and you don’t have to pay professional daycare that overall you are doing fine right now. And there a ton of people in that situation currently.
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Good point, that was a big problem in 2008 with the home equity debacle. We fell into that trap for a while when we were younger. The points cards are a mixed bag of worms. We’re disciplined enough to pay it off every month, but we weren’t back in 2008 when we were younger, poorer, and far less wise. Inflation comes fast, and those cards can be a trap if you’re not prepared to be more disciplined.
H & I have never carried a credit card balance. On the other hand my sister was proud of finally paying off her cc balance (she and BIL like new shiny things). Well that’s great, but why did you put yourselves in that place to begin with, and was the net cost worth it? My brother thinks he gets a credit card offer with a $5K limit and no interest for a year that he has free money. After that year is another story. A lot of people are just not very financially savvy.
As @gpo613 said, same old story.
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Hoping that the lessons of our “less wise” years helps our college bound daughter to make wiser financial decisions than we did.
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2008 was the year we went on Dave Ramsey’s program. It felt weird paying down debt and not putting money into our IRA. We also built up our emergency fund. We were lucky. The stock market tanked at that time so by paying off debt and building savings we actually did pretty well. It’s a lot easier to hit your goals if all of your funds are going towards those goals. We started maxing out our investments once we had the emergency fund fully funded. We hit the 2016 run up very well. Last year we paid off our house and currently have no debt. A couple more goals to reach then retirement/new path is likely. It may take a few years though.
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We preach it to our two daughters. We just had the spending discussion with D23 the night before she went back to college. We are also trying to convince D19 to get a roommate after her grad program ends in May.
Wage increases are finally equaling/exceeding inflation rates, and from what I’ve read it seems by the end of 2024 they’ll be some equilibrium. But there are still a lot of items that are much more expensive than they were in 2019, many of them weekly or daily expenditures.
Found this interesting as well.
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That Yahoo article is a very unscientific approach at looking at prices. Currently gas is at $3.10-3.00 per gallon average. Funeral costs going up 12.9% over six years. Plus there are a ton of wants on that list compared to needs. And even some of the needs you can be flexible and not pay as much.
I am not saying there hasn’t been inflation, but you don’t have to just throw your hands up and live with the increased prices. Get creative and combat it. We fight it all the time at the grocery store by buying what is on sale.
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Maybe where you live.
I’m not saying you can’t look for deals. The bottom line is prices are up roughly 17-20% since 2021. Inflation is decreasing which only means prices are increasing slower: everything cost more.
I still get sticker shock every time I buy groceries. I still get sticker shock when I fill up my car.
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Gas prices? The only numbers that matter to me are the prices at the gas stations near my home. I don’t care what the average is for the United States.
And most of those are above the average you posted.
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Where to you live?
Pennsylvania. We have one of the highest, if not the highest gas tax in the country. So those averages you cite rarely apply.
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Pennsylvania just lowered its gas tax by 6.6%. Probably still high, but at least it is something.
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For those who gauge inflation by egg prices take note of the bird flu news.
https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/4392167-avian-flu-northern-california-national-egg-poultry-supplies-threat/
An entire 3.5 cents per gallon.
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