Thread: Inflation Calculator

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http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

This is a fun page...type in your salary for your chosen year and it calculates the current value.

Or enter the price of gas for some year and it will calculate the equivalent price today....

For instance, I bought a new 1970 Z28 in 1970 for $3376 which converts to $18,849 in 2008 dollars...I'd buy one for that!

mike in tucson

Hehe, I put in $ 25 for 1963 and it came up $ 176.00 for 2008. In '63 I was buying a lot of $ 25 cars, but I can't seem to find any of the $ 176.00 ones today. I guess inflation for cars is more than the National average.

Don

our $40,000.00 racing budget from 1975 (sprint car) came out to $164,064.68 for this year....Now I remember why we quit!!!!!!

I like that one. Here's another that does it 6 different ways and there can be a fairly decent spread on the numbers.

Kitz

http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

our $40,000.00 racing budget from 1975 (sprint car) came out to $164,064.68 for this year....Now I remember why we quit!!!!!!

I bought a new Torino GT 390 Fastback in 1968 for ~$2900. That same car would now be costing me $18052.67. My new 1986 Mustang GT was $10065 and now would be $19,894.17. Why does that same basic car at my dealers have a $32K+ sticker. MAYBE this calculator is just plain wrong !!!!

Dave, the reason is that a car built today has $$$ more stuff on it....like A/C, power everything, crash bumpers, air bags, radial tires, longer warranty, safer interiors, etc. Cars
are substantially more today.....

For fun, look up a $450 1932 Ford in today's dollars....as I remember, it is about $7K.

Originally Posted by robot

Dave, the reason is that a car built today has $$$ more stuff on it....like A/C, power everything, crash bumpers, air bags, radial tires, longer warranty, safer interiors, etc. Cars
are substantially more today.....

For fun, look up a $450 1932 Ford in today's dollars....as I remember, it is about $7K.

Yep - I'm well aware of the gov't mandated gadgets and electronics. The simple fact that a calculator, and a financial one at that, can't take all those "contingency factors" into account. I do believe that the calculator is figuring somewhat low, based on today's prices and costs. Most of these are based off the high costs of energy and the trickle (gusher?) down effect. Get me started on that subject and for sure I'll bore everyone to sleep.

Then there was the $295 Ford A roadster - just about the price of an Edelbrock electric choke carb today

Well, that wasn't much fun. I put in $3695.00, the price I paid for a new Honda Civic in 1980, and the inflationary price to day was $9,714.00

For that price, I couldn't even by a used Civic with 100,000 miles on it today.

Obviously, some products are way ahead of inflation.

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Hehe, I put in $ 25 for 1963 and it came up $ 176.00 for 2008. In '63 I was buying a lot of $ 25 cars, but I can't seem to find any of the $ 176.00 ones today. I guess inflation for cars is more than the National average.

Don

Don I put in 700 for what I paid for my 1968 Mustang, and it came up with $2,088.74 today.
I guess it doesn't work for classic cars! I punched in my mom's income from 1980, and it came up with my income this year. That was interesting!

The first link above uses only the CPI (Consumer Price Index) bases. If you consider the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) basis the results are usually 2x.

You say tomato, I say tommatto.

Kitz

1967 was kind of a water shed year for me, I got married, had our first child, made the most money ever to that point in my life ($13,000/year) wrenching in a Ford Dealership, purchased my first home shortly after 1967, and I'm certain that I had more "play money" during that time than any year since. It did not seem like it at the time, but THEY WERE THE GOOD OLE DAYS!

The chart shows the income number adjusted for today would need to be $85,000 income. But I can assure you that no twenty year old kid making $85,000 today can buy a house, with a baby to feed, and make a car payment, and do it today in Southern California. That's way day care and two income families have become accepted as normal today. Not sure how my grand kids will do it in twenty years?

Once again and for the last time from me, one cannot simply use inflation numbers to account for these differences.

And California? Don't even go there .................

Kitz