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US inflation means families are spending $709 more per month than two years ago

cnn.com

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Re: US inflation means families are spending $709 more per month than two years ago

#241

Post by TMWNN »

WalterBright wrote: post #215
kec wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Deflation means a dollar tomorrow is always worth more than a dollar today meaning a rational person should strive to spend as little money today as possible. This eventually locks the entire economy up into a death spiral.

> This eventually locks the entire economy up into a death spiral. The US economy had zero net inflation from 1800 to 1914. No death spiral. The whole "2% is good for the economy" is propaganda to hide the fact that deficit spending causes inflation and is a tax on the economy.

>The US economy had zero net inflation from 1800 to 1914. No death spiral.

I've heard that £1 was worth the same in 1914 as in 1614.

Re: US inflation means families are spending $709 more per month than two years ago

#242

Post by djbusby »

WalterBright wrote: post #195
judge2020 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Credit card debt in the U.S. alone hit 1 Trillion https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/credit-cards/credit-ca...

This can be a misleading statistic. A lot of people use credit cards as a substitute for cash, and pay off the balance every month. This is accounted as "debt" but in a practical sense it is not. Me, I use the credit card as a 6 week interest-free loan, plus getting the cash back discount.

I thought the Fed only counted the carried balance. So folks who pay in full every month are not counted. I did a quick search but couldn't find anything definitive.

Re: US inflation means families are spending $709 more per month than two years ago

#243

Post by odd_perfect_num »

mahogany wrote: post #97
tmountain wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Governments are afraid of deflation (prices going down) because consumers can go into a holding pattern (stopping spending while waiting for prices to continue to decrease) which can cause the economy to stall out.

Is there any evidence that modest deflation actually causes this "holding pattern" in the overall economy? I see this theory stated a lot for the reason that deflation is bad, and it definitely checks out on a basic logical level. But economics is complex right? So I'm curious what the evidence is in the real world. I can imagine this happening with large deflation (10%, say), but what about 2% or 1%? It's not obviou…

As an extreme example, everyone knows about Germany hyperinflation in the 20s. Fewer people are aware that 1929-1932 was a period of massive deflation in Germany that led to the German economy collapsing, the Nazis siezing power, and 10 years later most of Europe being occupied by Fascists.

So it's pretty reasonable to be concerned about deflation.

Re: US inflation means families are spending $709 more per month than two years ago

#244

Post by soupfordummies »

gruez wrote: post #26
qbasic_forever wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a _LOT_ of debt being added, household debt is up to something like 17 trillion dollars from like under 10 trillion pre pandemic. IMHO vehicles are huge drivers of debt. There are almost no cars under $30k now, and the average sale price of new cars is pushing up near $50k. This is for bog standard stuff like Hondas and Fords, not luxury cars. Used cars are incredibly expensive too. People are financing cars…

>IMHO vehicles are huge drivers of debt. There are almost no cars under $30k now, and the average sale price of new cars is pushing up near $50k. This is for bog standard stuff like Hondas and Fords, not luxury cars. I went on toyota.com and a base level corolla is only selling for $22,795. This includes a "Delivery, Processing & Handling" charge of $1,095. If for whatever reason you think that driving a compact car…

I don’t understand why this whole thread is so in the weeds about NEW cars. New cars have never been considered to be financially prudent. Hard to sympathize with someone complaining about the prices when they’re choosing a 30k+ new car over a perfectly fine used model that costs half that.

Re: US inflation means families are spending $709 more per month than two years ago

#245

Post by [deleted] »

lapcat wrote: post #169
KindAndFriendly wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Currently trying to buy a Corolla Hybrid (base). The best out-the-door quote I got so far is $28.5k, the MSRP is $23k. So yes, you are looking at almost $30k for the most basic car.

> Currently trying to buy a Corolla Hybrid (base). I wanted to buy a Corolla Hybrid, but the wait list was ridiculous, something like 9 months. Toyota has major supply chain issues. I ended up getting a (non-hybrid) Honda Civic for under $30k. I still had to wait a month though.

[deleted]

Re: US inflation means families are spending $709 more per month than two years ago

#246

Post by judge2020 »

djbusby wrote: post #242
WalterBright wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This can be a misleading statistic. A lot of people use credit cards as a substitute for cash, and pay off the balance every month. This is accounted as "debt" but in a practical sense it is not. Me, I use the credit card as a 6 week interest-free loan, plus getting the cash back discount.

I thought the Fed only counted the carried balance. So folks who pay in full every month are not counted. I did a quick search but couldn't find anything definitive.

I was able to find it by going from the cnet article to to the Fed's press release, then to the report, then the 'downloads' button, then the PDF[0]. in it:

> Credit utilization rates (for revolving accounts). Computed as proportion of available credit in use (outstanding balance divided by credit limit), and for reasons discussed above are likely to overestimate actual credit utilization.

0: https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/interactives/househo...

Re: US inflation means families are spending $709 more per month than two years ago

#248

Post by derwiki »

Auracle wrote: post #120

I'm not a high paid tech worker like the rest of you, but I've never really considered the price of individual grocery items as a factor in buying it. If something was on sale - great, and I'd prefer that over other options. Otherwise I'd just fling stuff in my cart. Now? I regularly don't buy things after seeing their price. It's not that we can't afford it, but I simply can't stomach the price. I'm not paying $11 f…

It’s definitely pushed me to buy basics (eg produce, pasta, protein) from Costco and cook at home more. So the silver lining is that I eat healthier, and have discovered that I enjoy cooking.

Re: US inflation means families are spending $709 more per month than two years ago

#249

Post by niij »

therealdrag0 wrote: post #207
silisili wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without going into deep details and a budget... everything has gotten more expensive. Groceries are at least double what they were, over $1000 a month. Summer electric bill is over $300. Internet is now $140 a month. Health insurance is now over $500 per month, and that doesn't even cover the out of pocket stuff I have to pay with the kid's various visits. All streaming services have increased in price. And so on and…

Some comparisons. My electricity (large SFH with 2 people) is 35$ a month (11c kWh)(in Seattle I let the 2nd floor get hot and only turn on AC from like 4-7pm, and most appliances are fairly energy efficient. So I’m not sure how to spend more electricity without an EV). My internet is maybe 70$ for 1gb (which I’ve never maxed out and could lower to like 300mb if needed) for Xfinity.

Seattle is one of the most temperate regions in the USA. Outside of Alaska I doubt there's significantly lower AC use anywhere in the USA.

A quick Google search shows ~60% of households in Washington state don't even own an air conditioner. Compare that to nearly every home in the south, Atlantic states, and Midwest where AC is near universal.

Re: US inflation means families are spending $709 more per month than two years ago

#250

Post by derwiki »

scarface_74 wrote: post #179
ModernMech wrote: post #14

Every year for the past 5 years I’ve gotten a “merit raise” which hasn’t met inflation, so I’m effectively making less than I was when I started at my job despite having 5 years more experience. My organization puts a negative value on experience, and the only way I can get an actual raise is to jump ship. The story of my generation. Meanwhile they complain about a hiring and retention problem. Gee, I wonder why?

Any reason you haven’t changed jobs? A company has at most one full review cycle to not keep up with market before I start looking.

Not OP but depending on how much job hopping you’ve done, you need a long stay on your resume so it might not be a great option.
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