Enough is enough, we had too much of you this year! Talking about inflation...

[SomethingNew]

Inflation has been dramatically affecting everywhere and everyone around us. I am definitely seeing some of the worst inflationary pressure where I am in California, maybe one of the worst. It has been sad not only when I went to stores now and seeing empty shelves but prices of items have doubled, tripled or more.

CPI is expected to be released tomorrow and is expected to jumped by 7%, fastest since 1982. Interest rate hikes are expected in 2022, three quarters points is what economists are estimating. Definitely will tame the ever crazy housing market, but wages cannot keep up with raising rents and essential expenses. We certainly have had various supply chain challenges over the past 18 months; and shipping volume has not been able to catch up. With rapidly raising new cases, I won't be surprised if various factories, local economies getting shut down again. Some economists believe inflation will have peaked, in the first quarter of 2022, and that they expect prices to go up slower in 2022 than they did in 2021.... what are your thoughts?

Recent price hikes have been nuts, what are you experiencing where you live? Have you change your lifestyle due to inflation? We kinda did, my husband traded in his truck and bought a tesla, and I canceled my fitness membership.... not sure if those count.

 

[missy]

I am in the NE.
NYC and Jersey Shore.

Yes prices are rising fast.
Cost of living here is expensive.
No we have not changed our lifestyle.

We still need to eat (I like organic produce etc) and certain food is becoming harder to find.
So I pay what I need to in order to get what I want.
Grateful to get much of the food we are able to get because certain things are becoming scarce.

Property taxes and maintenance charges are going up up up. No choice in that regard.
As long as we can afford to we shall continue our lifestyle as best we can.

But we are in a different stage of life than many PSers here.
Each family must do what they need to do.

How long will this last?
No one can say for sure.

I take life one day at a time.
And when that gets to be overwhelming I take it one hour at a time.

Remember that quote by Churchill....when going through hell keep on going.
Well, we are not going through hell but it still applies.
Most everyone is dealing with challenges now and the best we can do is keep putting one foot in front of the other.
As my grandma used to say. "This too shall pass"
From her mouth to you know who's ear.

Doing the best we can do.

 

[Bron357]

Here in Sydney, Australia our house prices are off the graph. Seriously. Off. The. Graph.
We have a nice size middle class house in a nice middle class area and it’s worth around 3 million.
yep.
Food wise, we are having some supply issues due to people isolating due to possible Covid exposure. So some shelves are empty. Hasn’t really affected us.
haven’t noticed any price increases as such, certainly fruit and meat is more expensive but thats more due to supplies not being delivered.
we already pay high prices, relative to the US, for cars and gas amongst other items but our ”minimum wage” is like $20 an hour.

 

[missy]

Interesting chart. Updated January 12, 2022

Cost of Living in New York City, United States. Oct 2024 prices in New York City.

Cost of Living in New York City, United States :: Average prices of more than 50 products and services in New York City, United States.

www.expatistan.com

 

[GoldenTouch]

I hear you… I am wanting to buy. Sizeable deposit but I only get paid 9 months of the year & have an 11 year old (OLD SINGLE Mumma)

I’ve been told by my bank, accountant & financial advisor to HOLD off because it will crash & SADLY people have over extended themselves… I do hope people are not homeless…. Sad times ahead they tell me

 

[Cerulean]

It’s been crazy. Inflation is hitting family members who are lower income hard.

We just bought a house, so yes…it impacted us. But there is no crystal ball telling if or when the housing market or other costs will ever go down. Interest rates will definitely go up. But looking at different indicators, my greatest fear is that prices will continue to climb. My guess is, they will never return to what they were. Large corporations are buying up massive amounts of real estate in the US - and hit a record high at 18% of the purchases in 2021. I don’t think they’d be doing that if the market was oppressively unfavorable, or they’d lose all of their money. Blackrock has probably done some diligence lol

COL varies a lot in the US, but seems generally lower in a lot of American cities than in many comparable cities in Asia, EU and AUS. And top end wages are much higher. I’m sure economists who know much more about this have given it some thought…

But I worry that the delta between the haves and have nots is just getting bigger and bigger. My husband and I consciously and carefully budget to make sure we never slip up.

 

[lilmosun]

No real changes but I admittedly pause/hold off on some things that I didn't think twice about before (especially when grocery shopping).

I have increased my focus on donating to local food banks and services. I can't imagine how those living paycheck to paycheck are being impacted.

 

[jaysonsmom]

No real changes but I admittedly pause/hold off on some things that I didn't think twice about before (especially when grocery shopping).

I have increased my focus on donating to local food banks and services. I can't imagine how those living paycheck to paycheck are being impacted.

Yes, I have been donating to food banks on a regular basis. The long lines I see on food distribution days are worrisome. My husband keeps asking why I’m always at
The grocery store, yet our fridge is half empty.

 

[whitewave]

We have scrapped the house plans right now because lumber is back up to price gouging prices and people I know who started building in June still don’t have doors.

No one needs a 3rd house. I would love to build, but now is not the time.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,
I get Social Security. We received a 5,8 % raise. I got my Jan water bill and my comcast bill and 50% of my new- found increase needed to be used toward the increases in those two bills.
Groceries are more expensive, but I don't go out much and just know what I read. The CPI did come in at 7%.

Ih yes, my house did increase in value.

Annette

 

[nala]

I’ve been joking that we are turning into a third world country since the start of the pandemic. I’ve been reprimanded by everyone for saying that, so I apologize if it sounds insensitive but.. this is not the America that spoiled me and made me an entitled beatch, lol.
The one lifestyle change that I have made—less dining out—restaurants are unreliable due to labor shortages or sudden menu changes due to supply shortages.
And I’m keeping my cars past the 3 year mark. I used to trade them in after 3 years but I hear buying a new one means overpaying. On the plus side—I could sell mine tomorrow and make a killing but then who knows what I would pay and when I would get said new cars.

 

[Matata]

The one lifestyle change that I have made—less dining out—restaurants are unreliable due to labor shortages or sudden menu changes due to supply shortages.

And in my area they now charge for things that weren't overtly charged as in now the entree includes a hunk of meat and veggies and salad, rice or potato, bread and even a pat of butter are extra on top of 60% increase in price of the meal. I feel bad for people in the business. It's a tough one in the best of times.

And I’m keeping my cars past the 3 year mark. I used to trade them in after 3 years but I hear buying a new one means overpaying. On the plus side—I could sell mine tomorrow and make a killing but then who knows what I would pay and when I would get said new cars.

Hubs and I were thinking of buying new cars this year and are now rethinking it. In addition to overpaying, there's no guarantee we'll be able to get what we want due to delivery and manufacturing issues. A friend of mine wants a new car and she said she's not sure she'd want one manufactured during the pandemic when we've heard how difficult it was to find workers. She's worried the quality and safety standards won't be up to par.

I agree with you about the 3rd world comparison particularly when I'm walking down grocery store aisles that are empty or look like they've been attacked by a swarm of locusts.

 

[SomethingNew]

Car prices are ridiculous, my friend was quoted $8K above MSRP for a Sienna or $5K above for a Camry, that's absurd! I never heard of paying above MSRP on a Toyota here in the US.

She told me once she walked in the dealership and the very first thing the salesperson told her was no negotiation and expect mark-up on every Toyotas. He wasn't mean about it, but definitely very straight forward and said didn't want to waste each other's time, then he walked away.

The only thing I am still happy about is Costco rotisserie chicken is still affordable at $4.99.

 

[SomethingNew]

This is probably too extreme but someone did pay close to $2M for this in the Bay Area

Instagram

www.instagram.com

 

[missy]

I’ve been joking that we are turning into a third world country since the start of the pandemic.

Yes I have felt similarly TBH. There are times I feel like I am in the Twilight Zone. Or in Soviet Russia where there were lines for everything and not enough for anyone. Hopefully this is only temporary and not the new normal. At least that is what I keep telling myself. I was never one who wanted to survive in an Apocalyptic world. No thanks. I am just not made that way.

 

[bludiva]

I’m surprised how people, media, etc are labeling and accepting money grabs that are happening all over the place as inflation. Some of it is real inflation but there is a ton of opportunism too. It’s been a sad realization to see how US society responds to crisis the last couple of years. Some bright spots but way more ugly behavior than I would have guessed.

 

[Lookinagain]

I'm old enough to have lived through the last huge inflation and also when mortgage interest rates were 18% in the late 70's. I just try to remind myself that these things tend to be cyclical. Real Estate has always gone up and down over the years as have interest rates. I expect things to normalize at some point, but it will take a while. I haven't really adjusted my expenses lately, but I've saved so much money by not travelling these past two years, the increase in prices for groceries and gas, etc. hasn't come any where close to equaling what I would typically spend on travel.

 

[Austina]

Having come from England, there are things that are definitely more expensive here in the US. Housing, isn’t one of them, property where we lived in the UK, was substantially more expensive than the property we’re buying here. Fuel is also substantially cheaper here in the US. Income tax was substantially more in the UK, health insurance is exorbitant here compared to what we paid in the UK.

We needed a car as soon as we arrived here and had to pay a $7000 premium on the one we wanted. Other dealerships told us they couldn’t get us a new car (of the model we wanted) for at least 3 months.

Our house build has been held up by supply chain issues, so is several months behind schedule, but we signed a fix priced contract, so aren’t paying any more than the agreed upon price.

Food is definitely more expensive than the UK, but all in all, for us, we don’t anticipate being particularly worse off here financially, than in the UK.

My DH announced gleefully the other day that he had found something that was a lot cheaper here than the UK, the cost of cremation

 

[Calliecake]

I'm old enough to have lived through the last huge inflation and also when mortgage interest rates were 18% in the late 70's. I just try to remind myself that these things tend to be cyclical. Real Estate has always gone up and down over the years as have interest rates. I expect things to normalize at some point, but it will take a while.

If Dancing Fire were still with us he would be saying the same thing.

I remember those days well @Lookinagain!

 

[bludiva]

I agree with you about the 3rd world comparison particularly when I'm walking down grocery store aisles that are empty or look like they've been attacked by a swarm of locusts.

I'm guessing the severity of shortages really varies by location. Our stores have been full except for the first big supply chain pileup from COVID, and another few days of shortages a year ago due to a winter storm. But both times a lot of the paper goods and easy snack or frozen food was gone but the healthier/less tasty stuff was still plentiful, which was kind of amusing.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

I was at Stop and Shop last week and there was absolutely no fresh chicken. Went to Aldi and they were fully stocked, so if you are having trouble finding something, try a different store.

 

[Matata]

I'm guessing the severity of shortages really varies by location.

I was at Stop and Shop last week and there was absolutely no fresh chicken. Went to Aldi and they were fully stocked, so if you are having trouble finding something, try a different store.

I used the empty shelves as the easiest example because I didn't want to get into heavier stuff but I should have been more specific:
Among comparison with other various countries our global ranking is:
-- last in healthcare,
-- 33rd out of 36 for maternal and infant mortality,
-- some studies our education system rank us #1, in others we're not in the top 10. Even with a #1 ranking, our students fare poorly in math and sciences compared to other countries.
We have a crumbling infrastructure.
We see increased preference for autocracy and, imo, our system of government is a cesspool of frauds.

 

[bludiva]

I used the empty shelves as the easiest example because I didn't want to get into heavier stuff but I should have been more specific:
Among comparison with other various countries our global ranking is:
-- last in healthcare,
-- 33rd out of 36 for maternal and infant mortality,
-- some studies our education system rank us #1, in others we're not in the top 10. Even with a #1 ranking, our students fare poorly in math and sciences compared to other countries.
We have a crumbling infrastructure.
We see increased preference for autocracy and, imo, our system of government is a cesspool of frauds.

gotcha - i thought you were talking literally about the groceries. i hear it used as an example of whatever PoV a lot around here even though the stores are stocked

agree with all of the above being a serious problem, but that's a whole other ball of wax - seems like we as a society are content not to fix it and i am not really understanding why.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Yes, sorry @Matata, I took your empty shelves as literal empty shelves

 

[TooPatient]

Yes, sorry @Matata, I took your empty shelves as literal empty shelves

Given this was the produce section at my favorite store on Monday (also where area restaurants shop), I thought it was literally empty shelves too...

ETA: we had snow. Lots of snow. All passes shut down so very difficult to get trucks through.

 

[Lookinagain]

I know @Matata meant more than empty shelves, but I did want to comment that although some of the shelves are not fully stocked at my local supermarkets, I've heard the manager's tell customers that it isn't lack of supply, but lack of workers. They have the goods, but so many people are out with Omicron, they have no one to stock the shelves.