Who remembers Yellow Front where Convergys is at now??? That's where I did all my shopping.
1. Computers. A Macintosh PC 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.
2. 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. So it's actually stayed pretty steady.
3. Gas. In the mid '80s, the average was $1.12 a gallon, or $2.63 with inflation. Today, the national average is $2.77. So it's actually still pretty close to what it was.
4. 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.
5. 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. And eggs are cheaper too . . . $1.38 now compared to $2.39 then, with inflation.
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.