Thank you sir! So far she loves it and she much needed the break from Forcecom units.

 

Not the best non-answer but it's in the top 10.

 

Read up on why many people don't automatically take the published stats at face value

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/ans...dden-inflation

If your purchases match exactly what they measure then sure, you are experiencing inflation similar to what the published data suggests. But if your purchasing pattern deviates from the official basket, then all bets are off.

 

Funny that you say that because our purchasing patterns changed drastically around the beginning of the mentioned 20% inflation jump since 2020, and we've kept records instead of relying on common sense. We started a subcontracting construction company in the commercial field in 10/2020 after my father retired, and I just checked our first material quote against the most recent.
Out of our five most used items, which make up about 75-90% of our material purchases the percentage increases are:
79.72% increase
76.91% increase
68.02% increase
94.80% increase
25.40% increase
The first four are made from metal, the last is man made materials. Before my father retired, the materials had scheduled percentage increases twice a year from the manufacturer, usually around 5% IIRC. During the shortage times we had a span of 6-9 months (I'm too lazy to dig through emails to find the right number) where our materials increased up to 10% monthly. I'm sure you remember pictures of things like a stack of lumber knee high that cost what a truckload a year before did...

My point is that those increases in pricing will never drop back down. And if your pay hasn't increased right along with it then yes, things are very tight nowadays. That's the reason our topout pay has increased 20% over what my father paid in less than 4 years since we started...

 

The cost of building a new 24' X 32' workshop Full concrete foundation and floor in July of 2019, bid $20,000.
Finished and paid for August 2022, $42,000.

... 2011 XL work truck $36,000 ..... 2016 XLT F150 $43,000

... 2024 XLT F150 $63,000 ... Odd of ever owning personal vehicles 2040.....00000
I get the property values of fine homes are going up in value $14 - $15,000 + a year.
But the taxes are exploding, also the Insurances.

$20,000,000 annually after taxes in 2040 just to get by.

 

Here are some inflation FACTS as it relates to my household only. While we feel the inflation every time we shop it doesn't seem to affect the bottom line for us since most of our income is COLA adjusted annually. .

Our only income is Social Security, VA disability and Annuity checks which are COLA adjusted. No wages

I just looked at Social Security income and in 3 years it has increased 18.89%

Fortunately our income has exceeded our expenses every month. Each month I move excess to savings. Our excess monthly income that I moved to monthly savings has increased monthly, not decreased since 2021.

We are debt free so there is no interest expense.

The biggest increase has been Homeowner Insurance which just this year increased 50% on one home and 12% on the other.

Our net worth has increased much faster than inflation due to investment holdings and real estate values.going up.

 

We too are on a fixed income with COLA adjustments for VA disability and military retirement. Although, with the COLA increase of 8.7% in 2022 which was the highest increase in a long time, that is a clear indication that inflation was/is high. We used to spend $300 - $350 on our grocery shopping and now we are always above $400 and usually closer to $500. We get the store brand at Wal-mart and not shopping at Publix or someplace fancy. We buy frozen hamburger because that is the cheapest way to buy it. I greatly appreciate COLA increases as without that, we would be back in the working force just so we could eat and have a home.

Perhaps I misunderstood your percentage figure calculation. My math brings the COLA increase to 17.8%, which again is greatly appreciated.

Image source - https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/colaseries.html

 

I supposed that's one way to brag.

 

Sarge Sous,

You are correct that the chart shows total of 17.8% when you add the monthly increases, but when you compound it the result is 18.89%. Look at your 2021 monthly deposits and the 2024 deposits. If you do the math it's 18.89% higher in 2024 vs 2021. .

We discovered Walmart online grocery ordering with curbside pickup during Covid. Those folks risked illness and worked though the pandemic. True heroes. We always left a tip for them in when they put our goods in our truck cooler and insisted they accept it. We still use Walmart curbside when ordering food staples about 1/month. We use Publix primarily for "Buy One Get One" deals. Costco for bulk items. . Got to save where you can.

I found when shopping at at the commissary or BX at local AF Base that their prices aren't always competitive. We still search https://www.shopmyexchange.com/ for bigger items.

 

Said the person who posted"

"This economy has been tremendously profitable for those of us who have investments, I made more in the market in the last six months than my annual income"

 

Sure hope none of are using Russian Software!

 

to no one’s surprise you cherry-picked one line from my entire post

well, at least I had the minimal decency to acknowledge that for many people things are tough. But don’t you be rushing to quote that part now. Let me go ahead and do that to refresh your memory.



let me put that side by side with yours in whole so folks can decide for themselves if both are the same level of bragging.

 

Yeah I'm gonna say that 99% of the time a person speaking about investments to a retiree on a fixed income will be seen as the braggart. Hell, your investments might be part of the reason my materials were increasing 10% monthly for a while...

 

,

“Minimal decency”. :OK. 👍

 

I noticed today that Wyoming has discovered over 2 billion tons of minable Rare Earth elements, maybe 100 + sq miles of the stuff.
Sure, the world of electronics just exploded. That will teach the Chinese not to mess with "The Digger Dirt." Over night the USA
has become the #1 exporter of the stuff.