Inflation Savings Calculators

[Oli Becker]

As savings rates remain low, what is the best way for me to understand how inflation is eroding the value of my savings?

[snafu]

As example...
I just got my combo electric and water bill. The per unit cost of each has increased on the last 5 bills so in spite of the fact that consumption has gone down the sum owed is higher. Costs of some foods I buy bi-weekly or monthly have increased substantively which I ascribe to increased transportation costs. This summer fresh cherries are nearly double last year's per kilo cost. Every week the cost of gas fill-up has inched forward but holiday weekends it jumped 7 cents a litre.

Meanwhile the interest paid on my linked savings a/c is is less than 1%. If I extrapolate what has been happening for the past 6 years to my expectation for the next six years, I don't like what I see. What will happen in the future when I retire and live on a 'fixed' income? We are living longer and basic costs are escalating, the amount of product and service is increasing which is a horrid combination. Seniors who do not have company pension and live off savings must wonder if they will out live their money. Assisted living in this community costs $ 5,000. per month for modest accommodation all medical intervention is extra.

[97guns]

Seniors who do not have company pension and live off savings must wonder if they will out live their money. Assisted living in this community costs $ 5,000. per month for modest accommodation all medical intervention is extra.

yep, its really scary, just put my dad into an assisted living facility and its just over 5K for everything. he has his own studio, has medicine administered, and is on their most expensive care plan. we hope to get his care plan knocked down a level or 2. it scares me of what it will cost when i get there

[97guns]

How much did it cost to stock Thanksgiving tables in 1961?
These prices were advertised in The Daily Record [Morris County New Jersey], November 20-22, 1961


Meat, fowl & fish
Bacon, sliced, Shop Rite, .49/lg
Beef, chuck ground, .59/lb
Beef, round roast, Lancaster, .85/lb
Cheeseburgers, Lancaster, frozen, .49/8 oz pkg
Ham, canned, Lancaster, 5.99/7 lb can
Ham, smoked, .49/lb
Lamb chops, shoulder, .69/lb
Pork chops, .39/lb
Sausage, Lancaster, .55/lb
Shrimp, frozen, 4.89/5 lb box
Turkey, under 16 lbs, .39/lb
Turkey, 16-20 lbs, .35/lb
Turkey, 20+ lbs,.29/lb
Vegetables
Beans, lima, Fordhook, frozen, .49/2 pkgs
Broccoli, Andy Boy, large, .29/bunch
Corn, Del Monte, cream style, 1.00/six 17 oz cans
Onions, white, .29/2 lbs
Peas, Green Giant, /59/three 17 oz cans
Potatoes, baking, .39/5 lbs
Pumpkin, ideal, .29/two 29 oz cans
Soup, Campbell's, Tomato, .10/can
Succotash, frozen, /47/2 pkgs
Sweet potatoes, .29/3 lbs
Tomatoes, Progresso, canned, .24/35 oz can
Turnips, yellow, .09/2lbs

Fruits
Apples, Golden Delicious, .19/lb
Applesauce, Mott's, .49/three 15 oz jars
Cranberries, Ocean Spray, fresh .15/lb box
Cranberry sauce, Ocean Spray, canned, .25/two 16 oz cans
Dates, Dromedary, pitted, .49/lb box
Figs, Turkish, .39/lb
Grapes, Emporer, .29/2 lbs
Lemon juice, Realemon, .33/16 oz bottle
Pears, Anjou, .29/2 lbs
Strawberries, frozen, .95/five 10 oz pkgs
Dairy & cheese
Butter, Lion brand, .59/lb roll
Cream cheese, Kraft, Philadelphia, .23/two 3 oz pkgs
Gouda, baby, .39/9 oz pkg
Margarine, Parkay, .30/lb

Baking, cereals, spices & condiments
Biscuits, Pillsbury, sweet or buttermilk, .29/three 8 oz pkgs
Cake mix, Duncan Hines Deluxe, 1.00/3 pkgs
Crackers, Nabisco, Premium saltine, .27/16 oz pkg
Crackers, Nabisco, Ritz, .33/stack pack
Flour, Hecker's, .49/5 lb bag
Pie crust mix, Flako, .20/10 oz pkg
Shortening, Spry, .69/3 lb can
Stuffing mix, Bond, .29/pkg
Desserts
Cookies, Burry, Choconut, .39/10 oz pkg
Fruit cake, Virginia Lee, .99/lb pkg
Fruit cocktail, Del Monte, 1.00/three 30 oz cans
Ice cream, Farmdale, .50/half gal
Marshmallows, Burry, miniature, .49/lb pkg
Mince meat, Crosse & Blackwell, Rum & Brandy, .49/18.5 oz jar
Pie, apple, Nancy Lynn, .49/each
Pie, mince, Virginia Lee, .69/8 inch size
Pie, pumpkin, Virginia Lee, .59/8 inch size
Walnuts, Diamond, in shell, .49/lb

Beverages
Cider, sweet, .69/gal
Coffee, Borden's, instant, .71/5 oz jar
Coffee, Chock Full O'Nuts, .75/lb can
Juice, orange, Snowkist, frozen, /99/5 cans
Juice, tomato, Ideal, 1.00/four 32 oz bottles
Tea bags, Tetley, .25/16 count pkg

[KTP]

The minimum wage in 1961 was $1.15.

Today it is $7.25.

Thus you could buy about 2 pounds of ground beef with an hours work in 1961.

I just bought some 91% ground chuck for $3.79 a pound. Thus I can buy almost 2 pounds for an hours work in 2013.

Seems reasonable I guess.

[KTP]

It is also hard to compare the expense of caring for elderly like the assisted care facility because people are living quite a bit longer than they did 50 or 100 years ago. It was pretty inexpensive to care for elderly in 1961 because you died at age 70, not 95 like today.

That being said, I do agree that recently healthcare costs have skyrocketed past the regular inflation rate the government publishes. But then again, we don't die from polio or smallpox, and open heart surgery is almost an outpatient thing now.

[feh]

As savings rates remain low, what is the best way for me to understand how inflation is eroding the value of my savings?

When considering inflation, you really need to look at what you purchase. Everybody has their own "personal" inflation rate, that will surely vary from CPI.

Regardless, what is your definition of "savings"? It doesn't make sense to keep any large sum in a standard savings account that's earning < .1%.