unless you drive, eat, pay utilities, and get completely free health care.
okay…
Gasoline is past $3. Oh the horror! It costs me whopping $4 to drive my BMW to work every day (20 miles each way). If I were working as a burger flipper, it would be 1/2 of my hourly salary or 6% of my total budget. I happen to make a little more than a burger fliipper. I think I’ll manage even if gasoline gets past $10 mark.
Food … hmmm … somehow I don’t see any growth in food prices. Actually no, I do. Chipotle burritos are about 50c more expensive now than they were in 2002. That’s like 10% increase. And again, I don’t eat so much that my budget would hurt from a 10% increase in food prices.
Utilities and healthcare… I’ll pass here… I don’t remember how much utilities cost 5 years ago, and my employer pays most of my health insurance anyway.
Now. Where do I _really_ spend my money?
Cars. In 2002, I could buy a new Toyota Corolla starting at $12.5k or a new BMW 330 (225 hp) for $37k. Today I can buy a new bigger Toyota Corolla starting at $14.5k or a new BMW 328 (230 hp) for $32k. Weak dollar you say? What weak dollar?
Rent. In 2002 I rented a 1br apartment in UTC for $1100 a month. Today these apartments go for $1350.
Electronics. Today you can get a nice 19″ LCD monitor for $250 or a 50″ plasma TV for $1500. How much did they cost 5 years ago?
