inflation what's it about

[crazyliblady]

I guess I must be lower class. My annual salary is $64,989. That's sad. I thought I was middle class.

[kork13]

I guess I must be lower class. My annual salary is $64,989. That's sad. I thought I was middle class.

The class wars (and the practice of defining who's "upper -lower-middle-class") is meaningless & counterproductive, as evidenced by crazyliblady's response. Someone can be reasonably satisfied thinking of oneself as "middle class" with a $65k/yr income, but then upon getting labeled as "lower class" the same income seems insufficient & disappointing. Funny how perspective & labeling can make a situation better or worse....

[ua_guy]

We should really be talking "income level" and not "class". As we all know, "class" doesn't necessarily follow income. By using terms like lower income, upper income, etc, we're actually talking about a range or distribution of incomes as numbers versus how people choose to live on that money.

[crazyliblady]

. Re
The class wars (and the practice of defining who's "upper -lower-middle-class") is meaningless & counterproductive, as evidenced by crazyliblady's response. Someone can be reasonably satisfied thinking of oneself as "middle class" with a $65k/yr income, but then upon getting labeled as "lower class" the same income seems insufficient & disappointing. Funny how perspective & labeling can make a situation better or worse....

I did not mean my response to sound like I am disappointed, because I am not. I do hope my income continues to go up. And regardless of what label anyone puts on me, I am very happy with my life because money isn't everything.

[srblanco7]

As someone who recently had to buy a used car, I can say that at least for my area, used cars are really hard to find. A lot of the car lots have maybe 20 cars in a space that would fit hundreds. It was very frustrating trying to find something that was in very good condition. I also checked carvana and vroom, but they seemed even more expensive. However, I did wind up settling on a 2015 Chevy Malibu that was in a lot about 5 miles from home, so that's good. The best thing is that I did not have to go into debt to buy it. I had my mechanic check it out before I bought it and he says it is in very good condition and just needs some minor maintenance, some of which I will be taking care of next Friday.

I'm also in the market for a "new to me" vehicle. Read an article (think it was in the WSJ) that indicated the wholesale prices for used vehicles had dropped about 15% since January 2022, but that it had yet to translate to the retail market because the many of the major players (e.g., carvana, carmax) had yet to clear their inventory that they purchased at higher prices. With rising interest rates and improvement in supply chain issues related to chip availability, the availability of new cars seems to be improving. Thus, I'm "crystal balling" that used car prices should start to drop in the relatively near future. We'll see....

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I did not mean my response to sound like I am disappointed, because I am not. I do hope my income continues to go up. And regardless of what label anyone puts on me, I am very happy with my life because money isn't everything.

Another issue is the discrepancy of where you live. It's insane that people on the coasts are forking out down payments more than people's total home costs in parts of the USA and this sort of income discrepancy is considered okay.

I also heard that car prices are coming down.

[crazyliblady]

Another issue is the discrepancy of where you live. It's insane that people on the coasts are forking out down payments more than people's total home costs in parts of the USA and this sort of income discrepancy is considered okay.

I also heard that car prices are coming down.

I agree. I guess I am fortunate to not be living on either coast. I know that as of September, the costs of used cars had gone up considerably where I live. I don't know about now, as I am not paying attention to it.

[ua_guy]

Hey but the price of gas is way, way down right now. Diesel has come down a bunch too. Is that the administration's fault, too? (Asking for a friend..)

[rennigade]

Just switched car insurance from Geico to nationwide. Geico went up almost $500 for 6 months which was insane. Had enough of them. Also switched umbrella to nationwide so home, auto and umbrella are under nationwide. Saved about $800/year now. Guess I should have shopped for different insurance years ago.

[srblanco7]

Just switched car insurance from Geico to nationwide. Geico went up almost $500 for 6 months which was insane. Had enough of them. Also switched umbrella to nationwide so home, auto and umbrella are under nationwide. Saved about $800/year now. Guess I should have shopped for different insurance years ago.

Though it can be a pain in the backside, I think it makes sense to shop insurance every 2-3 years. Last time we did - a couple years ago, we saved around $1k. Do those on this forum go direct to insurance companies for quotes or thru a broker?

[disneysteve]

Though it can be a pain in the backside, I think it makes sense to shop insurance every 2-3 years. Last time we did - a couple years ago, we saved around $1k. Do those on this forum go direct to insurance companies for quotes or thru a broker?

For auto insurance I go direct to the companies. It’s all online now so no need to talk to anyone and deal with salespeople. For life insurance I’ve used one of the online services that give quotes from many companies. Again, all online so no salespeople or commissions to deal with.

[bjl584]

Though it can be a pain in the backside, I think it makes sense to shop insurance every 2-3 years. Last time we did - a couple years ago, we saved around $1k. Do those on this forum go direct to insurance companies for quotes or thru a broker?

I went through an agent. I've shopped around multiple times since, but my current rates have always been lower

[ua_guy]

Though it can be a pain in the backside, I think it makes sense to shop insurance every 2-3 years. Last time we did - a couple years ago, we saved around $1k. Do those on this forum go direct to insurance companies for quotes or thru a broker?

It's become clear we need to shop around. It's too cumbersome to go site-by-site and enter field-by-field all our policy information and needs. Infuriating, like having to reconstruct a career resume field-by-field in a job application instead of just uploading the formatted version.

I've been dreading this so will probably use a broker to find the best setup, give them a copy of our current Declaration pages and set them loose.. I believe we would then be direct wherever the broker finds a match.

I do wonder how much that might add to the cost though, if the rate we receive from whichever company includes perpetual or one-time commission for the broker.

[srblanco7]

It's become clear we need to shop around. It's too cumbersome to go site-by-site and enter field-by-field all our policy information and needs. Infuriating, like having to reconstruct a career resume field-by-field in a job application instead of just uploading the formatted version.

I do wonder how much that might add to the cost though, if the rate we receive from whichever company includes perpetual or one-time commission for the broker.

I kind of like the idea of a broker as I presume they shop your policies at each renewal. A quick search says the typical broker fee is between 2% and 8%. Personally, I wouldn't blink at 2%. However, 8% seems a bit on the steep side.

[QuarterMillionMan]

This is the first time my weekly grocery bill topped $125. When before $50 or $60 tops. This is only 1/2 of my grocery purchase (couldn't fit the other 1/2 in the screen shot). One dozen large eggs (not extra large or jumbo) is $4.99. Just a short while ago was $1.29 a dozen. I purchased a 12 bottle Modelo Negra $17.99 which brings the total higher than without an alcohol purchase but takes a lot more dollars these days. Gasoline is $4.09 in Los Angeles.