These Things Are Not More Expensive Than 30 Years Ago
It seems like everything is more expensive than it used to be. But that's not always the case, especially when you adjust for inflation.
Here are five things that have actually gotten cheaper in the last 30 years, or stayed about the same:
- Computers. A Macintosh in the '80s cost $2,500, which is like six grand today. New Apple desktops start at $1,300 now, or you can get a Dell for about $400.
- Movie tickets. An average ticket cost $3.55 cents in 1985. With inflation, that's $8, compared to $8.97 for an average ticket today.
- Gas. In the mid '80s, the average was $1.12 a gallon, or $2.63 with inflation. Today, the national average is $2.77.
- Stamps. In the mid-80s, it cost 22 cents to mail a letter. Now it's 50 cents. But with inflation, they've actually gotten cheaper. 22 cents would be 52 cents today.
- A gallon of milk. It cost an average of $1.09 in 1985, which would be $2.56 with inflation. Today, the average is $1.96. So it's actually much cheaper than it was.
Something that has skyrocketed in price are newspapers. "The New York Times" cost 40 cents back then, or about $1 with inflation, now it's $3.
And homes are much more expensive too. The average home today is $377,000 compared to $96,000 then, or $226,000 with inflation. But homes are also bigger now, 2,700 square feet compared to 1,800 square feet in 1985.
Read more at Kiplinger.