So I used to live off fast food burgers when I started driving in HS. The whopper, jumbo jack (used to be bigger), famous star and others were all 99 cents. A Taco Bell chalupa was 99 cents. This was 1999. No coupons required. Also the year I got my first job @ a computer store. I started @$10.50/hr and eventually made $11.
So…what does the inflation calculator say a 99 cent item should cost now in 2023???
$1.83
Complete BS as a whopper costs what $5 or $6?
Let’s try it out for REAL ESTATE! The inflation calculator should work for that right?
In 2001 my grandparents house was sold for $180k. Pulling out the calculator shows it should cost $313k in 2023. Unfortunately Zillow disagrees and says it’s worth $540-$610k. And if we go allll the way back to when they first purchased it in 1966 for $17k according to inflation it should only cost $166k now in 2023.
My other grandparents sold a house in Los Angeles for $300k in 2002. I looked it up on Zillow and it last sold for 1.8million in 2018…….why oh why did u sell it grandpa….
Anyways my point is I could buy 10(!) juicy whoppers on one hours wage at my first job. Also 7 gallons of gas. Things have gotten CRAZY expensive. Wages are not even close to what they should be.
Housing, healthcare, schooling, have all greatly greatly greatly outpaced inflation. And these are monthly expenses for most people!!! Who cares if TVs have gotten cheaper!!! No one buys a new one every month!!!