Prices 35 years ago were very different. I’m not sure when prices seemed right to you, but if you are of a certain age, it wasn’t today.
While gray hair, a receding hairline, or a “comfortable” waistband are hallmarks of aging, so is the tendency to think everything is “too high.” It’s why so many of us walk through the aisles of the local Kroger, shaking our heads side-to-side ever so slightly, muttering, “Too high, too much and ‘You’re kidding me, right?'”
If we look back at the price changes in our lives, we think that ground beef was probably the tipping point.
A buck and a half per pound for hamburger quality. Two bucks for the good stuff. That seemed about right. When seemingly overnight, ground beef was four, then, five, then, six dollars per pound, the little head shake began.
Here are some prices from 35 years ago. See which ones look right to you. The others are, well, too high!
Your electric bill:
Electricity was on average, $0.084 per kilowatt-hour in August of 1988. The electric company gets about 14 cents per kWh today.
While that is an increase the main reason your bill is higher today is that the computer/printer team is in use most of every day and your television is bigger and thirstier than it was in 1988.
Your morning cup(s) of coffee:
A standard brand pound of coffee cost $2.74 in 1988. That same pound runs $4.29 today. Oh, your coffee outlay has grown by much more than that? That’s because the coffee drinker in your family doesn’t drink, Folger’s, Maxwell House or MJB. Designer coffees are the ones you should have invested in back in the day because they are draining you now.
Your evening bowl of ice cream:
What’s better than sitting down in front of your favorite sitcom with a big bowl of ice cream. In 1988 that would have cost $2.44 per half-gallon, watched in front of the number one show, “The Cosby Show.”
My how things have changed, perhaps least the cost of the ice cream. Today it is $4.66 per a half-gallon.
Your loaf of bread:
Bread prices are higher now than in 1988. White bread prices are up about 55%. But it is the varieties of loaves of bread in 2018 that would baffle a person dropped into today from 1988.
Oats, grains, sprouted wheat seeds, and fibrous bits of what we can only assume is wood are all present in a piece of toast.
Your tank of gas:
Remember when the family used to hop in the car for a Sunday drive? If you aren’t a Kardashian, you probably haven’t done that since about 1978, much less 1988.
The average gallon of 87 Octane regular is $2.87 in August 2018. It was hovering just under a buck a gallon in 1988. Most people, though, are driving cars that are far more fuel-efficient than they were 35 years ago.
Your breakfast bacon:
Since 35 years ago bacon made inroads into lunch and dinner that no one imagined back when it was America’s favorite breakfast meat. Now, bacon shows up on burgers, pizza, and sub sandwiches alike.
Its price has risen from $1.90 a pound to $5.20 a pound in the last 35 years, but its growth rate is undaunted.
More reason to go vegan/vegetarian, or at least, get in the habit of Meatless Mondays.
Need some meatless recipe inspo? Check out this plant-based Instagram.
Is there good news since 35 years ago?
Of course, there is. The prices of televisions go down even as the tech inside them goes up.
Entry-level personal computers can be had for a song. But, on this list is a time machine for when “everything” just got so high!
Keep reading: Where the richest Americans live