Inflation

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It’s really amazing how much more things cost now than they did when I was in high school. What really concerns me is how will my grandchildren be able to cope with this if the current trend continues,

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Inflation

From the time I was in the eighth grade until the time I graduated from Phillips High School (1956 to 1961) my Mom gave me 35 cents for lunch each and every school day. With that 35 cents, I had two choices for lunch. I could eat a hot meal at the school cafeteria or I could go to the cafe on the way into town a block away. The school cafeteria served very good food and gave large portions for a growing boy. There was a bunch of old ladies from the town of Phillips that did a good job of cooking and planning the meals. Probably two thirds of the time I spent my 35 cents at the school cafeteria having lunch there. Occasionally, they would have some meals I didn’t like. On these days, I would head for the cafe up on the highway. I could get a jumbo cheeseburger with mustard, onions, lettuce, pickles, and tomatoes, plus a large order of French fries made from fresh potatoes, plus a bottle of coke for my 35 cents including taxes. This was real home cooked food and not the fast food we get today at most places.

A full meal for 35 cents in 1960 when I ate at the Cafe on the road into town.

If you compare this meal price to the fast food we get at Goldies today, a Cheeseburger with mustard, tomato, lettuce, onion, pickles, and frozen French fries is $7.89, plus $2.50 for a coke plus $0.83 tax for a grand total of $11.20.

By simple division, the same meal of lower quality costs 32 times more today than it did back then. Assuming similar inflation from now until the time my oldest grandson gets to be my age, he will be paying on the order of $400 for a cheeseburger, French fries, and a coke. What a world we live in. I think in the past six years, our president may have made the inflation rate even worse.

Thanks for reading Inflation,
Bill