“The only silver lining is that the price of most goods other than food and energy, such as electronics or motor vehicles, have not risen much. “
Unfortunately, those items are not in my weekly budget. Gas, clothing, groceries, utilities and what little I have left over for entertainment are all skyrocketing.
I compared my electric bill from last year to this year. Last March (2010), I paid $95.08, for 807Kwh. This march (2011) I paid $98.65 for 859 KWH.
So I see no sign of inflation in my electric bill.
Even if there was, my yearly consumption of $1200 or so is only about 1/50 of my total expenses, so if it went up a few percent it wouldn’t have a large overall effect.
My gasoline for the year also cost me about $1200 for our two cars, so again it isn’t a large part of our budget.
The food is a big-ticket item. Unfortunately, I lost interest in tracking that, so I have no idea whether year-to-year how much more we are spending for food.
Clothes are still about a buck a piece at the thrift store.
Books aren’t more expensive; audio CDs aren’t more expensive; Movie DVDs are not more expensive. I buy a lot of those things. Hard drives are cheaper, I buy those a lot. I just bought a new range hood, but I have no idea if it’s more or less expensive.
I just bought a new portable electric lawn mower to replace the one I bought in 1996. In 1996, I paid $397 for my lawn mower. This year, I paid $300 for the replacement. That’s a 25% reduction, and the new mower has a larger, removable battery for easier charging, and I was able to buy a second battery so I can cut my yard in one afternoon now.
Movies at the theatre have gotten really expensive — but I only go to the theatre a few times a year, doubt I spend more than $300 total on that for the family. When Blockbuster got to expensive in rentals, I gave up renting; when I decide to start again, I’ll buy netflix, and my per-rental cost will be much lower. My overall cost will be higher.
I could just keep going. It’s easy to say “Gas prices skyrocket”. How many people spend more than 10% of their total budget on gasoline? (I guess if you buy a house far from work, and drive a truck to work, you might).
I’m having trouble thinking of any big-ticket Items I’ve looked for in the past year where I saw the prices had jumped from what it would cost the last time I looked for those items.
Who the hell can afford movies, magazines, books and cds anymore. They are superefluous, unnecessary.