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The CPI for all items was up 2.2% over the 12 months ended in November. Shelter was up by 3.2%. Medical care was up by 1.8%. Food at home was up by 0.6%. Apparel was down by 1.6%. These are of course national data.
Exhibit A that the numbers are totally crooked.
Medical care up 1.8%- that is a LOL crock. Where I live property taxes are going through the roof as well as food, too.
Exactly. People expect to have cellphones, cable TV and all sorts of fun toys. In addition we want better cars, bigger houses, better more varied foods and all sorts of things we did not have and could not have paid for decades ago.
I don't buy this argument whatsoever. My wife and I have no cable, a small town house (MUCH smaller than the houses we grew up in), no toys, no vacations other than an occasional weekend away and 2 older cars. Here is the kicker- we make a lot more money relatively speaking than our parents. Our parents were average earners and we are well above average. We pay our bills and maintain our stuff but that's about it. Our parents had toys, vacations, and stuff that was nicer than ours. Not to mention disposable income which we don't have.
it can be done . i have trained so many through the years to enter our factory automation business from all walks of life . many who turned out successful had no college degree and came from the poorer area's . .
if the motivation and drive is there other qualities you have can shine . my associate was a picker packer from the warehouse who had the drive to move a head . he learned the basics but had a great trait in being able to sell . he retired when i did making over 200k a year ..
How many of these jobs have gone overseas never to return? The factories that both my parents worked in for decades are long gone. The college education is the new high school diploma. And now it sets you back 100k.
I have never visited Philadelphia, but I have a soft spot in my heart for your city, since as a young girl my first pen pal was a girl from your town. We met through an ad for pen pals in the back of a comic book.
hoping to be a snow bird. I love Philly but the old gray mare ain't what she used to be these bones need warmth.
A few prospects
Charleston SC
Tybee island/Savannah
Naples florida
Yes he did, in order to point out the rise, he stated 1% of the population is now homeless. That doesn't imply growth in the number of people, but the percentage.
You're fabricating a spin on this, he never said 1% of the population is now homeless. You added the word "now", which is what implies a percentage that is increasing. The post I quoted was:
About 1% of the adult population is homeless (3 million) plus another 1.5 million dependent children. 90% of the population has experienced stagnant or slightly declining incomes. Faced with rapid inflation in housing costs, the homeless population is steadily growing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl
I mean everything from car repairs to fuel to homeowners insurance to food and clothing. I didn't imply it was unaffordable because the prices rose too much, but that prices rose at all while wages stayed stagnant.
Real wages are stagnant, that means it includes the rise in prices. Absolute wages are much higher than in the past.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl
But rent and health care are big ones. My health insurance for just me is $665 a month with Blue Cross's cheapest plan. If I worked as a secretary or nurse's aide, there is no way I could afford that. The percentage of their income people pay just to stay alive and have basic needs met is much higher than it was 50 years ago
Your anecdotal example is a poor one since your premium is much higher than what the average worker pays for health insurance. Average worker contribution for a single person is $80-$100 per month.
I'm also pretty skeptical of your claim about basic needs being much higher 50 years ago. I read that 50 years ago the average household spent 30% of their budget on food, today that is 10%. I'm quite sure clothing is way down as well. Housing and healthcare are certainly up, but I'm not sure it makes up the difference.
Do you have some statistics on disposable income to show me?
a triple play cable package here is about 179 a month with no premium stations . that is 2148.00 a year . i think we pay about 400 or so for 2 years of xm radio for the car , 149 every two years for star link for the car plus 2 cell phone bills . our utility bill for a small apartment in nyc is about 169 a month on average and that is just electric . my first apartment cost less to rent then that electric bill .
The income is doubled but it's the same amount of buying power you used to get from one income. And then they have to pay half of that to daycare.
You are trying to set the world record for making up things and selling them as facts.
Here is median real weekly wages since 1980:
As you know, real wages takes buying power into account. In what reality do the facts support your post here? Clearly income doesn't have half the buying power as you imply.
You are trying to set the world record for making up things and selling them as facts.
Here is median real weekly wages since 1980:
As you know, real wages takes buying power into account. In what reality do the facts support your post here? Clearly income doesn't have half the buying power as you imply.
Some stuff is cheaper - namely stuff that isn't all that important. Stuff that matters is very expensive. Having recently gone Christmas shopping, I'll admit that toys made out of plastic are cheaper than I thought they would be. Flat-screen TV prices have plummeted and those things last 15-20 years. My bedroom TV was bought in 2008 and it keeps ticking.
He didn't say that, he just said the homeless population is rising. In a rising general population that means absolutely nothing.
Either way, HUD disagrees:
Yep rent and healthcare are up, but prices for everyday essentials (assuming you mean food and clothing) are not at historical highs, not even close.
So what state is this? On a national level, the numbers are total nonsense. There are about half that many homeless in California alone. Best estimate is there are about 3 million homeless in the US, and another 7 million who are couch surfing or squatting. I have seen the HUD homeless counts in action. They are a joke. They hire a bunch of temp workers, hand them a clipboard and a map, and tell them to go count. The little college girls are so terrified by the grungy homeless people that they never get out of their cars.
Medical care up 1.8%- that is a LOL crock. Where I live property taxes are going through the roof as well as food, too.
My medical insurance had gone up 10% a year for the last 5 years. Property taxes are capped here to a maximum increase of 3% a year. Housing costs went up 7.1% last year, and have escalated 90% over the last 5 years. The feds can't report the actual inflation rate because it would break them. If they had to increase SS benefits (indexed to inflation) by 7% to 9% a year, the whole system would collapse.
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these bones need warmth.
