Here's the inflation-adjusted price of gasoline every years since 1978 to 2021.

[Bill Guenthner]

The economy is booming. Demand is outweighing supply which is driving prices up

It's the second part. People spend every dime they have and lots of dimes they don't. One (of many) things overlooked in these discussions is the stuff people buy now that didn't exist then. A$20 phone bill was expensive back then and you couldn't buy phones ... you rented one from MaBell. Now, people have six or seven expensive phones, computers, $1,000 TVs and pay hundreds of dollars a month for the service to use them.

Y'all'd be amazed (or appalled) and what I live on each month, but I budget in ways that I have a little extra to buy some wants also. I squeeze eleven cents out of every dime ... twelve in a good month.

Yep. Easy credit is going to put the whole world into major trouble sooner or later. When I tell people to save the money and pay cash for a car they look at me like I’ve lost my mind. I actually had someone tell me “That’s impossible.” Really? Because you’re going to pay the bank every penny plus a lot of interest. We haven’t had a payment since we paid off our old house over two decades ago. Built the new house with cash before we sold the old one. It’s far cheaper to save before a purchase than to pay off the loan after.

 

[LD1]

My parents raised four children in a 900 square foot house and had only one car for the first 20 years they were married. Nothing was financed. They bought used cars and furnished the house with handed down furniture. People don’t need two incomes to “make ends meet”, they need two incomes to go to Disney World and buy 80 inch TVs and live in 2000 square foot homes with two financed, new cars sitting in the driveway.

Everything I’ve ever bought I first figured the cost in “hours at work”, it really dampens the spending urge.

Agree. Priorities have changed it seems. Today it is more important to give everyone the appearance you are successful (the things you mentioned like huge TV's, Disney world every year and posting it to facebook, nice new cars, huge house, etc) rather than actually live within your means

Back in the 1970's, if you were ever fortunate enough to buy new furniture..you kept it for 20+ years. Now it seems just about everyone I know is spending $4000-$5000 on new furniture every other year. WHY? Seems no one is frugal anymore. Dont know how any of these younger people are ever gonna retire in 30-40 years. I know alot of people in their 30's that dont have or dont even know what a 401k is. And they have to scrape pennies or borrow from relatives if they have to come up with $1000 because they need a new hot water heater. And these are people that have decent jobs for their age...~$25/hr jobs and still have a bank account with a 0 balance. Spend it as fast (or faster) than you make it is the new theme

 

[shooterdon]

I have it on good authority that our current little issue with inflation is temporary. Just ride it our folks. Put your money into something secure like Bitcoin and you will be amazed at how things work out. There sure are a lot of folks stuck in the old way.s..buying useless gold and silver.

 

[EddieWalker]

This was at Walmart in Lindale Texas on 9 April 2020. It went lower then this, but then the Covid Shutdown happened and the price started to increase. I honestly think we would have gotten under a buck a gallon if Covid didn't mess it up.

Even with Covid, the price wasn't horrible. It wasn't until January 2021 that it started increasing at a ridiculous rate. When government restricts something, the price increases. More government, more inflation.

 

[Bill Guenthner]

Agree. Priorities have changed it seems. Today it is more important to give everyone the appearance you are successful (the things you mentioned like huge TV's, Disney world every year and posting it to facebook, nice new cars, huge house, etc) rather than actually live within your means

Back in the 1970's, if you were ever fortunate enough to buy new furniture..you kept it for 20+ years. Now it seems just about everyone I know is spending $4000-$5000 on new furniture every other year. WHY? Seems no one is frugal anymore. Dont know how any of these younger people are ever gonna retire in 30-40 years. I know alot of people in their 30's that dont have or dont even know what a 401k is. And they have to scrape pennies or borrow from relatives if they have to come up with $1000 because they need a new hot water heater. And these are people that have decent jobs for their age...~$25/hr jobs and still have a bank account with a 0 balance. Spend it as fast (or faster) than you make it is the new theme

What really seems wasteful to me is people tearing out entire kitchens and baths that are in perfect condition to “renovate” so it looks like something they saw on HTV. Often tearing out high quality materials and fixtures to replace them with Chinese made junk. I’ve seen people ripping out solid oak cabinets and replacing them with particle board junk.

 

[ultrarunner]

I think that is the answer.

Most people I know that have two working adults in a houshold.....that actually work a career type job are living comfortably. Not something like mom is a cashier at DG for $9/hr and dad works for a landscape company mowing lawns for $13/hr....Then have a $300/month internet/TV bill, a $1000 cell phone every year with a $150/mo phone bill, eat fast food or takeout all the time, kids have to have the latest nike or underarmor shoes and clothes, and they pay $1200/mo rent and never build equity in a home.

People like that also existed in the 70's to some extent. Just didnt hear about it as much because they were greatful for what they had....and didnt have social media to constantly see how better everyone else has it. Then today....rather than try and better themselves they would rather whine about how life isnt fair and hold out their hand waiting on a handout.

Take the average price of anything back in the early 70's.....simply move the decimal one notch right and its right on par with today. Same for wages.

I think one of the largest differences is work ethic. Back then, even those less fortunate had no shortage of wanting to work hard and earn what they had. And they had a desire to better themselves. Learn a skill or trade, get a good paying job. Now it seems people would rather sit on the couch with their nose in their phone. And have to be cautious about making "too much" because it might cut back their stamps, vouchers, free insurance, etc. They have no desire to transcend their dependency on others paying their way.

Dunno.....just saying on paper.....thing are simply no different than 50 years ago in a monetary sense. whatever percentage the cost of goods and services and real-estate, a comparable job's wages have also increased an equal percentage

Almost agree but my Apple II computer with twin floppy drives and 40 cps Daisy Wheel printer sold by Apple but made by Qumme set me back several months wages…

 

[Bill Guenthner]

View attachment 742274
This was at Walmart in Lindale Texas on 9 April 2020. It went lower then this, but then the Covid Shutdown happened and the price started to increase. I honestly think we would have gotten under a buck a gallon if Covid didn't mess it up.

Even with Covid, the price wasn't horrible. It wasn't until January 2021 that it started increasing at a ridiculous rate. When government restricts something, the price increases. More government, more inflation.

The “COVID shutdown” is what caused the prices to crash in 2020. Oil futures contracts went negative for a time.

 

[LD1]

Agree with most of that.

How about higher education? (except Purdue, which is amazing and seems to defy all universities)
I see that as higher than the 7-10 “rule”

Like I said, there are exceptions to everything.

Hard to find accurate data.....but it seems college was somewhere around 1000-1500/year back in the 1970's now, its a pretty broad range depending on in state vs out of state, private vs public, etc etc. But here in ohio, its says public in-state 4-year is still under $10k/year.

But there are other things that come in under the 7x-10x. Like milk. Was $1.15 in 1970....certainly isnt $8-$11/gallon now.
TV's are cheaper now than in the 70's

My whole point though.....pick a career/profession......Doctor, Nurse, Teacher, Factory worker, Electrician, grocery store clerk, farm hand, construction laborer, etc etc etc.....dont care. Pick any career. At 1970's wages and prices vs 2022 wages and prices....I think your odds of success, and luxuries you could afford above and beyond the necessities would be very similar.

The one difference between today and then....is the ability to spend money you dont have. Loans, interest, and creditcards. People today rely to heavily on credit cards to buy stuff they otherwise couldnt afford. Back in the 70's you just did without.

 

[ultrarunner]

Here's an inflation calculator. Plug in the years and amounts and presto...

Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value From 1913-2025

Easily calculate how the buying power of the U.S. dollar has changed from 1913 to 2025. Get inflation rates and U.S. inflation news.

www.usinflationcalculator.com

I just did the inflation calculator and here is the result.

1,000 square feet 1922 home cost $2,800 new.

Inflation calculator put price at just under 48k

Thing is the house just sold for 650k

No rebuild, no remodel… simply maintained.

 

[shooterdon]

I am so old that yearly tuition for engineering at the best university in Canada was $600. In the third and fourth year it jumped to $800. Books were $150-200/year if you bought new ones.