What have you given up due to inflation?

Sac Arrow

Sac Arrow

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Snorting his way across the USA
We have runaway inflation. We do. Just why we do isn't the point of this thread so let's please not get in to it.

In my entire life, I don't think I've ever given up a daily routine item solely because it was too expensive. Yesterday I did. And I'll tell you what it was. It was a grocery store cafe coffee.

It has been a ritual for the past XX years to go to the grocery store next to the gym, and get a coffee, and chill out with my Coffee Girls and browse the Internet on my telephone. But, a small Americano, previously priced at $2.75, which was already way overpriced, went to $4.00. The Coffee Girl commented on the price shock and noted that they needed new signage to reflect the increase. If she would have told me up front it was going to be $4.00 before making it and ringing it up, I actually would have declined it.

I'm not a cheapskate, but at some point, too much is too much. I already gave up side salads at Habit Burger about a year ago, partially because I realized I didn't really need a lettuce wrapped burger plus a side salad, and partially because it was now five bucks. That is way too much for a fast food side salad.

Needless to say, I won't be getting coffee from the grocery store cafe any more. Unless they get their prices under control but that won't happen. I might switch solely to tea, which I can drink at home for on the cheap. Or maybe I'll get a Keurig for home. I don't need it that bad.
 
I like steak, don’t get it often, but like a good grilled ribeye. I was at Costco last week and looked at the ribeyes, four steaks $85.

Nope, I don’t need steaks that badly. It’s not that I can’t afford them, it just offends my sensibilities. Nope!
 
Bill said:
I like steak, don’t get it often, but like a good grilled ribeye. I was at Costco last week and looked at the ribeyes, four steaks $85.

Nope, I don’t need steaks that badly. It’s not that I can’t afford them, it just offends my sensibilities. Nope!
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Filet at the store is $30/lb. Nope. Yesterday I bit at $17/lb for a big T bone, but I didn't like the price. The steak itself was awesome.
 
I gave up chipotle.

I love it, but I'm not paying $20 for a steak burrito bowl with guac and a drink. Just no.

And especially aggrevating is listening to their earnings calls for work where they talk about how they keep jacking up prices and don't see a dent in demand. At some point they will.
 
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172andyou said:
No, we just don't. Even when it was at it's worst a few years ago it was FAR from runaway inflation. And it hasn't even been high, by any objective measure, since early 2023.


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The CPI is not accurate. There are many, many legitimate criticisms about the CPI and how it's entirely divorced from reality. The owners equivalent rent methodology and the way they compute health insurance are two notable factors.
 
Nothing given up except the amount I save per month for no particular reason except it has been a habit. Overall Cost of Living Inflation hasn’t really affected my “normal” spending habits.

I might not spend the winter in Steamboat next year since housing costs have gone thru the roof, more than doubling or tripling in the past three years. That’s inflation from a different universe and pretty common for CO mountain towns.
 
172andyou said:
No, we just don't. Even when it was at it's worst a few years ago it was FAR from runaway inflation. And it hasn't even been high, by any objective measure, since early 2023.


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As stated, the CPI is a joke. It's a classic example of "give me an observation, and I'll hand you a stat to back it up." No, it does not reflect reality.
 
The chart is a bit deceptive. Year over year doesn't represent your wallet. If it was truly "transitory" there should have been negative numbers after the spike in '22. Prices spiked by a ridiculous amount and continue to creep up, just by a lesser amount.
 
I remember when avgas 'skyrocketed' to, I think, $2.50.
"That's IT, I'm out of aviation" many said.
Yet, here we are.
 
Sac Arrow said:
We have runaway inflation. We do. Just why we do isn't the point of this thread so let's please not get in to it.

In my entire life, I don't think I've ever given up a daily routine item solely because it was too expensive. Yesterday I did. And I'll tell you what it was. It was a grocery store cafe coffee.

It has been a ritual for the past XX years to go to the grocery store next to the gym, and get a coffee, and chill out with my Coffee Girls and browse the Internet on my telephone. But, a small Americano, previously priced at $2.75, which was already way overpriced, went to $4.00. The Coffee Girl commented on the price shock and noted that they needed new signage to reflect the increase. If she would have told me up front it was going to be $4.00 before making it and ringing it up, I actually would have declined it.

I'm not a cheapskate, but at some point, too much is too much. I already gave up side salads at Habit Burger about a year ago, partially because I realized I didn't really need a lettuce wrapped burger plus a side salad, and partially because it was now five bucks. That is way too much for a fast food side salad.

Needless to say, I won't be getting coffee from the grocery store cafe any more. Unless they get their prices under control but that won't happen. I might switch solely to tea, which I can drink at home for on the cheap. Or maybe I'll get a Keurig for home. I don't need it that bad.
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Eating out as much, have cut way back on that. Doing all grocery shopping at Ralphs, would be the same for another major. Go to Grocery Outlet and Trader Joe’s first where you can find some good deals. Then to Ralphs for what’s left on the list.
 
Cameras and GPUs are crazy expensive now. I was awaiting the Fuji X-E5, the series I like as a backup, take everywhere camera. The X-E4 was $850. I was flabbergasted to see the newest entry is $1700!!

Pre-pandemic you could get a top of the line GPU for $700 or $800. Those days are long gone and the RTX 5090 is $2000, assuming you can even find one at MSRP. One who really wants a 5090 is likely paying almost $3k. I refuse.
 
I don't have a control to say what I have or haven't given up. I went from being single, to taking on a wife, two kids, and three dogs right when all the prices started to go crazy. Must not have given up much food wise because I'm the most I've ever weighed.

:rofl:
 
I had to think about this. I guess maybe I pay more attention to meat prices, because we enjoy ribeyes and they have gotten pretty expensive. But other than that, I don't think our shopping habits have changed. I am mostly retired, income is from RMDs and social security, and a disability payment from the VA. We are certainly not wealthy, but our income is exceeding our expenses every month. Being debt-free (other than a mortgage) seems to be the key. I still bring in a bit of income from flight instruction, just a few hundred dollars a month.
 
Baked Potato said:
Pre-pandemic you could get a top of the line GPU for $700 or $800. Those days are long gone and the RTX 5090 is $2000, assuming you can even find one at MSRP. One who really wants a 5090 is likely paying almost $3k. I refuse.
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I'm living with my 2080TI till it dies.
 
Baked Potato said:
Cameras and GPUs are crazy expensive now. I was awaiting the Fuji X-E5, the series I like as a backup, take everywhere camera. The X-E4 was $850. I was flabbergasted to see the newest entry is $1700!!

Pre-pandemic you could get a top of the line GPU for $700 or $800. Those days are long gone and the RTX 5090 is $2000, assuming you can even find one at MSRP. One who really wants a 5090 is likely paying almost $3k. I refuse.
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They’re using GPUs for bitcoin mining. Also AI LLMs. Very much in demand.
 
I picked the wrong week to give up sniffing glue.

Haven't given up anything in particular, we're just more careful about how we shop. Still buying steaks, but wait for a sale or a coupon and then stock up. Paying more attention to gas prices and being choosy about where to fill up. Waiting for sales to buy things. And so forth.

I really REALLY need to switch cell providers. AT&T is eating me alive.
 
We gave up looking for the next house about 18 months back.
 
Why don’t you relocate up north. A Tim’s medium coffee is less than 2 dollars CAD. Mind you a medium isn’t what a medium used to be.
 
Speaking of coffee...

I noticed that Eight O’Clock coffee has begun packing only 10 k-cups to a box instead of the former 12.
 
Half Fast said:
Paying more attention to gas prices and being choosy about where to fill up.
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Luckily our travels take us by Costco often enough to fill up there, Top Tier rated gas that is 4-5 cents cheaper than the local name brand stations and you get an additional 4% cash back if you use the Costco Visa card.
 
Bill said:
I like steak, don’t get it often, but like a good grilled ribeye. I was at Costco last week and looked at the ribeyes, four steaks $85.

Nope, I don’t need steaks that badly. It’s not that I can’t afford them, it just offends my sensibilities. Nope!
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Yup, $16.99 lb for choice. $12.99 six months ago. $14.99 3 weeks ago. I avoided looking at the price for prime ribeyes. Roast brisket is my choice these days.
 
Half Fast said:
I picked the wrong week to give up sniffing glue.

Haven't given up anything in particular, we're just more careful about how we shop. Still buying steaks, but wait for a sale or a coupon and then stock up. Paying more attention to gas prices and being choosy about where to fill up. Waiting for sales to buy things. And so forth.

I really REALLY need to switch cell providers. AT&T is eating me alive.
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I left AT&T for Consumer Cellular….cut the bill in half.
 
Our office goes out to lunch a time or two a week. Now that soft drinks are ~$3.50 plus tax and tip, I've downshifted into "I'll have water" mode. A (net) $4 or more soft drink is more than I'm willing to pay for casual dining at lunch.
 
I’ve never splurged on coffee shops. So I’ve got many years of not wasting $$ on mediocre coffee - and that has allowed me to not have to cut back on things today. So I cannot say that we’ve given up anything because of inflation.
 
Hasn’t happened yet, but I’m trying to convince the wife to switch to tap water (for krine out loud water falls from the sky, and we have indoor plumbing that provides it on demand for only the tipence of electricity it takes to pump it from the well). Bottled water has gotten ridiculous, I actually saw an add paper from the local grocery store last week that was advertising “specials” and had Pabst blue ribbon thirty packs that were cheaper per volume than water.
 
Sac Arrow said:
As stated, the CPI is a joke. It's a classic example of "give me an observation, and I'll hand you a stat to back it up." No, it does not reflect reality.
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Okay so if you refuse to believe the CPI, what is another measure of inflation that is more reliable and why? Is it showing “runaway inflation”?

Waving one’s hands and saying “obviously this is true” is not how science or rational thought works. One needs evidence to back up one’s claims, not insistence of obviousness and anecdotes.
 
Although inflation is relatively low now compared to years prior, as we know, it’s cumulative. So prices of most everything compared to 4 or 5 years ago seem totally inflated. Individual items we look at in grocery stores are sometimes 50% higher for some items. What have I given up? Eating out at restaurants. We now rarely eat out and try to have fun cooking at home. London Broils, Sirloins, Pork Tenderloins, split and boneless chicken breasts to name a few, can still be gotten at fairly reasonable prices at the grocery store for < $4/lb (chicken <$1.50/lb) if you watch for the sale adds, at least where we live in AZ. Yeah, you’ve got to kindof embrace the cooking process and cleanup is there too. I’ve noticed when returning home to visit family in FL, it’s more difficult to find the weekly prices I mentioned. Wisconsin as well. I still think cooking in is a major savings these days even if the baseline prices are higher.
 
AKiss20 said:
Waving one’s hands and saying “obviously this is true” is not how science or rational thought works. One needs evidence to back up one’s claims, not insistence of obviousness and anecdotes.
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In principle, I agree.

But normal people feel with their wallets and you can't tell people "you don't know what you're talking about since you didn't collect recent price data!". That argument doesn't hold.

Lots of data collection begins specifically because you don't trust the numbers that are released. It's why no one puts any stock in China's published figures. They're bogus. People might not have a more scientific way of measuring it than the Chinese government, but they know for certain that however the government is doing it is wrong.

Why is it such a leap to think that our numbers, which have tremendous political implications that can swing elections, impact interest rate policty, etc -- might also be incorrect or manipulated? Especially in light of recent issues documented like this, this and this.

In the face of known issues like OER, child-care, health insurance and college loans (and vehicle prices being a burgeoning issue) -- multiple well known and documented shortcomings of CPI --why would you assume it accurately reflects current expenses? For a normal household it's common for those expenses to dominate their income statement. Yet their representation is what? For reference, here is the CPI-U weightings. Does it approximately reflect where your money is spent? Cuz it sure doesn't for me.
 
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ArrowFlyer86 said:
But normal people feel with their wallets and you can't tell people "you don't know what you're talking about since you didn't collect recent price data!". That argument doesn't hold.
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No one denies there was a period of higher than typical inflation for several years that is causing people to feel price pressure. The CPI itself shows this. But if you’re going to claim that inflation is “runaway” (what does that even mean) and has been continuing since that period, you should be able to show that with some form of objective evidence. This isn’t quantum physics, observing the system won’t suddenly alter it.

I never once claimed the CPI is the gold standard (or even useful) and that government data isn’t having increasing reliability issues (most especially under this administration). All I’m saying is that if one is going to make broad statements about the entire state of the economy, not just their own experience of it, one should be prepared to defend that claim with evidence. My household doesn’t have to deal with any of those costs (childcare, expensive health care issues and insurance, student debt, paying off vehicles) but obviously I’m well aware that’s not the norm because there is lots of data showing that my household isn’t typical. But if I just applied my own anecdotal data to the entire economy (exactly what I’m saying one shouldn’t do to be clear) I’d be claiming there wasn’t much of an issue with inflation.

My question was an earnest one asked in good faith. I’m guessing economists either use or have proposed alternative inflation metrics that capture some of the things you say are missing. Are you aware of any? If so, what do they indicate has happened over the past 2-3 decades?
 
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Flatiowa said:
Hasn’t happened yet, but I’m trying to convince the wife to switch to tap water (for krine out loud water falls from the sky, and we have indoor plumbing that provides it on demand for only the tipence of electricity it takes to pump it from the well). Bottled water has gotten ridiculous, I actually saw an add paper from the local grocery store last week that was advertising “specials” and had Pabst blue ribbon thirty packs that were cheaper per volume than water.
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People drink bottled water at home? Get a filter.

Tell her about microplastics, maybe that will change her mind.
 
We bought a house 10 months back - that's where most of our money has been going lately. Oof. Between than and the kiddos, there hasn't been much time to spend money on frivolous stuff, so inflation has really only hit the amount of leftover money that gets funneled to savings.
 
AKiss20 said:
…Waving one’s hands and saying “obviously this is true” is not how science or rational thought works. One needs evidence to back up one’s claims, not insistence of obviousness and anecdotes.
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Using CPI, cumulative inflation from 2014 - 2019 was 7.4%. Since 2019, cumulative inflation is 21-23% depending on 2024 or 2025 data.

BLS’ CPI calculator backs that up. $100 today has the same buying power as $80 in 2019. In 2019, $100 had the same buying power as $95 in 2014.

https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=100.00&year1=202501&year2=201905 CPI Inflation Calculator

Wages haven’t kept up with inflation and they really can’t because employers can’t pay more without charging more, which continues to pour coal on the fire.

https://www.epi.org/nominal-wage-tracker/ Nominal Wage Tracker | Economic Policy Institute

Now, let’s throw in the word value, which is what many people use to judge whether something is worth spending money on or not.

Bottled water is one of my favorites thing to pick on here, because Coca Cola (Dasani) figured out people value tasteless water and most tap water actually has a tase to it. Run that tap water thru a Brita filter pitcher and you end up with Dasani without the label.. Put either in a glass and they’re indistinguishable, but some people place 10x or more value on bottled over filtered tap. The plastic bottle and label are the only difference.

But at some point people also determine what was an acceptable value for their own basket of goods is no longer acceptable, and their purchasing behavior changes. If enough people change their behavior over time, the market shifts to reflect that. Thirty years ago, Dasani didn’t exist as a product and your grocery store coffee aisles were dominated by Folgers or Maxwell House.

Tracked broadly, the Consumer Sentiment Index shows people really haven’t gotten back to 2019 and earlier levels. Put differently, for the last five years, we just don’t feel nearly as positive about much in an economic sense as we did for the previous five year period.

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/consumer-confidence United States Michigan Consumer Sentiment

I suspect we’re on the brink of some contraction in consumer discretionary spending simply because other measures like debt load and delinquency have been rising.

https://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/news/research/2025/20250213 Household Debt Balances Continue Steady Increase; Delinquency Transition Rates Remain Elevated for Auto and Credit Cards - FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DRCCLACBS Delinquency Rate on Credit Card Loans, All Commercial Banks (DRCCLACBS) | FRED | St. Louis Fed

Maybe I’m wrong, but to discount value concerns from a segment of the population that has pretty decent disposable income seems to ignore the human component of the economy.
 
The thing about runaway inflation is that it is followed by wage inflation. So the initial shock of that $4 cup of coffee wears off after a couple of hundred dollar raises.
I don't generally give up stuff because of inflation, but I do get choosier. Eggs are a classic example. One brand or another is always on sale. That's what I buy. And if it's a good sale I'll buy extra, but not enough that I won't use them all before they get too old. But even though the price of eggs has gone way up, they are still a cheap source of protein.

Coffee, yeah. I gave up cafe coffee, but I still buy good (expensive) coffee to brew at home. And I'll often give up an occasional avocado if the price gets too high, but I still buy them, just not as often or as many.
 
Some items have risen more than average. Here's a clip of an invoice from aircraft spruce in June 2022 showing inner tubes for $17.50 each.

Qty Ship B/O Item Unit Price Total Price
2 2 0 06-00716 LEAKGUARD INNER TUBE 11X400-5 TR87 17.500 35.00

Here's a screenshot from today:
Screenshot_2025-06-16-05-56-53-21_ffb2f5e1b976ff98cfc94f359fbce8de.jpg

I just bought inner tubes from napa aircraft parts and more from amazon.
 
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