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A quick google search lists some popular items that have gone up faster than the rate of inflation. (Of course, others have gone up less than the rate of inflation). Here are some headline numbers:
Disneyland/Disneyworld passes have gone up ~10%
Airfare - all over the map and changes frequently, but on balance up over 10%
Hotel rooms - up 17%
AirBnB and other peer-to-peer rentals - up as much as 38%
Sugar: used to be 60 cents/lb (end of 2020) now 97 cents/lb
Breakfast cereal: up 14% year over year
Crackers: up 7%
Rice: up 5%
Apples: up 8.5%
Paper towels & TP: up 6.5%
Steaks: up 10%
Turkey: up 7%
Bread: up 12%
Baked goods: 12.9%
Frozen juice: up 21%
Frozen vegetables: up 14.7%
Salad dressing: up 12.1%
Restaurant dining: up 6%.
Fast food restaurants: 12%
Work & School Cafeterias: up 56%
Uber riders: on balance up 17.5%
Fuel oil: up 8.5%
Car repairs: up 20%
Car insurance: up 19%
Apartment rent: nationally up 9.29% (up 22.5% since the start of the pandemic)
Home renovations/remodeling: up more than 40% since the pandemic
Concert ticket: over doubled in price from beginning of pandemic to today ($125 ==>$252)
Streaming service: up 25%
Cable TV: up 18%
Gym memberships: up 15%
Healthcare: In 2021, per capita healthcare spending was $12,914 per person; today, it’s just shy of $15,000.
OTC drugs: up 8.4%
Shaving & oral hygiene: up 7.2%
Electricity: up 10.2% nationally
Clothing alternations/repair/shoe repair: up 14.5%
Dry cleaning: up 6.7%
Veterinarian fees: up 7.5%
Dog food: as much as 45% from 2020 to 2023
Legal services: up 12.4% year over year
Funeral services: up 6.3%
Tax prep services: up 10%
House cleaning: up 10% (more in cities)
Yard Maintenance: up as much as 20%
From dating to marriage the wife has never really enjoyed cooking but with her banking background she loves playing the coupon, BOGO’s. We eat really well and she has been able to maintain our grocery budget surprisingly.
Unfortunately eating out is definitely been cut back due to quality, quantity and costs. Food costs and inability to get staff has really hurt our local restaurant scene.
Another google search of things that have gone down in price, or that have gone up but less than the rate of inflation:
Gasoline: down as much as 26% since pandemic highs
Certain airfares have declined
Major appliances: down .5% year over year
TVs: down 1.2% year over year (but up since pre-pandemic)
Eggs: down 7.9% (note recovery from avian flu)
Truck rentals: down 5.2%
Furniture: down 1.2% year over year (but up 11.6% over two years)
Used cars: down 5.6%
I think we can pretty well guarantee that gas and used cars will probably go up faster and higher in the future.
Furniture is, to put it mildly, junk these days. Even Ikea.
Airfares will probably go back up again because fuel will go up.
I don't know about eggs. I guess that just depends on whether or not bird flu hits the flocks again and chicken need to be destroyed across the US.
I know one thing here in Washington that never goes down and that's ferry fares. When they go up, they raise the rates because of the higher cost of fuel, they say. But when fuel goes down, they never lower the fares. And now they can't even keep the ferries running. Mini-rant over.
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I know one thing here in Washington that never goes down and that's ferry fares. When they go up, they raise the rates because of the higher cost of fuel, they say. But when fuel goes down, they never lower the fares. And now they can't even keep the ferries running. Mini-rant over.
Hmmm, at least you GET to the ride the ferries. All we have to show for it is our state gas taxes going over the mountains to support the expensive ferries.
But back on topic....
I have NOT received a social security increase EVER.
Every time, there is a COLA increase the increase in Part B Medicare premiums is so much higher that I don't get a COLA.
At some point....it will cost the Federal government MORE to tell me I am not getting a COLA increase, than the benefit I get.
be happy that medicare is being covered by colas then .
take a look at the increases going on for workers in health care costs , especially those that get premium increases and no raises.
on the other hand i can’t think of anytime my premium increases left me with no increase in ss since they only represent a small portion of my increase .
Hmmm, at least you GET to the ride the ferries. All we have to show for it is our state gas taxes going over the mountains to support the expensive ferries.
But back on topic....
I have NOT received a social security increase EVER.
Every time, there is a COLA increase the increase in Part B Medicare premiums is so much higher that I don't get a COLA.
At some point....it will cost the Federal government MORE to tell me I am not getting a COLA increase, than the benefit I get.
Nah, I don't ride the ferries. Anywhere I need to go in Seattle, I need to drive there after I get off the ferry these days, so I wouldn't walk on. And in off season, the cost to bring my car over on the ferry is $38 each way last time I checked. So I just drive around. At 150 miles round trip with gas at say, $5/gallon and my car getting 20 miles to the gallon, it's still cheaper. Besides, they're 5 ferries down now and having to cut runs back and forth. There's many times people are facing a 2-hour wait now to board a ferry. I can drive around in about 65 minutes.
Don't forget, I haven't driven over the mountains to Spokane since 2012, either, yet my state taxes go to clearing the passes for those that do. It's all in how you look at it.
There is no doubt that the SS COLAs have not covered actual cost increases for most people. I don’t think that’s a surprise to anyone. It shouldn’t be. And it was never meant to. SS sure didn’t go back and say “Hey, for all you that collected SS BEFORE we had COLAs, here’s a check to bring you back to where you should be.” Didn’t happen. Never will. No where should anyone expect that anyone can have an easy time making ends meet, regardless of their circumstances In an ideal society, it would. I don’t know any of those.
So what is a surprise is how many people posted here that they think that their (or infer it) SS COLA SHOULD cover their cost increases. That’s like saying that no matter how much you make in a job, everything should get the same dollar amount raise, not based on a percentage of their current income. Because we all buy the same groceries, the same gas, pay the same bills, I guess.
It sucks for those with low income. It always has. I can sympathize and understand. But I don’t have an answer. It seems as if the ones with less basically always say that the ones with more should pay more taxes so ones with less, that pay the least (or no) taxes should pay even less or get more. We live in a capitalistic society. Haves, have nots, have mores, and have less. That’s how it works here. One income that is more than enough in one locale is poverty in another. It’s the way it is.
There is no doubt that the SS COLAs have not covered actual cost increases for most people. I don’t think that’s a surprise to anyone. It shouldn’t be. And it was never meant to. SS sure didn’t go back and say “Hey, for all you that collected SS BEFORE we had COLAs, here’s a check to bring you back to where you should be.” Didn’t happen. Never will. No where should anyone expect that anyone can have an easy time making ends meet, regardless of their circumstances In an ideal society, it would. I don’t know any of those.
So what is a surprise is how many people posted here that they think that their (or infer it) SS COLA SHOULD cover their cost increases. That’s like saying that no matter how much you make in a job, everything should get the same dollar amount raise, not based on a percentage of their current income. Because we all buy the same groceries, the same gas, pay the same bills, I guess.
It sucks for those with low income. It always has. I can sympathize and understand. But I don’t have an answer. It seems as if the ones with less basically always say that the ones with more should pay more taxes so ones with less, that pay the least (or no) taxes should pay even less or get more. We live in a capitalistic society. Haves, have nots, have mores, and have less. That’s how it works here. One income that is more than enough in one locale is poverty in another. It’s the way it is.
that was just my point .
why should anyone think ss which is designed to cover a fraction of one’s income cover the total expenses with its colas that was previously covered by a full pay check or two pay checks.
it would make no sense and even then we have geographical differences in expenses to deal with where one would need many times a cola to keep up compared to another low cost area even covering a piece of those expenses
Last edited by mathjak107; 01-13-2024 at 03:07 AM..
a quick comparison to my growth and income model which is about 60/40 and is up .08% for the month
carolina reaper up 1%
whoops wrong thread disregard
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