FishProfiles.com Message Forums

How many people hear have heard, "When I was your age, I was only paid $0.25 an hour!" or even LIVED during that time

Burger were only 5 cents and milk was a dime!

Yes, that is obviously cheaper, however, what were you being paid? Correct me if I'm wrong, but when you were getting paid only 25 cents an hour, you were only paying 5 cents for a burger. Thats effectivly 5 burgers an hour (Wendy's commercial ). Now, with minimum wage being $5.25 (in ohio, and many people live off of that) how many burgers can you buy with that? After taxes, only one (may 1.5 or something but BK doesn't sell half burgers). With the recent advent of $1 menus, this is a little different, but $1 menus are small portions, not whole.

Anyway, someone who may know, what were the prices of the following compaired to minimum or average wage:

Milk
Gas
Burger
House (a $175,000 house today
Car (a $15,000 car today)
Movie
etc....

my dad paid 300 dollars for his first car 33 years ago and my mom paid a penny for a gum ball 30 years ago now a gumball is 25 cents and a avrage car is 7000 to 20000 dollars

33 gallon 7 neon tetras-5 platys-3 bleeding heart tetras-2 corys-1 rainbow shark-2 L83 gibby plecos

you have to remember too that in america, our money was backed by the gold standard. it wasn't until around the 1970s that our money became worthless -- er, i mean changed to a floating value tied to inflation so, yes things were valued differently "back then". also keep in mind that your wages don't go up at the same rate that prices do, so every year your money is even more worthless than it was the year before based simply on buying power....

---

"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

My parents paid 150,000 for the house they've lived in since 1985. The same house would probably go on the market for $350,000-400,000 in today's market.

As for gas, today it's at $3.56/gal. The lowest prices I ever remember seeing (during the time when I've had my license, as I didn't pay attention before that), was $0.87/gal around 1999-2000. I don't remember exactly when it was, but I know it was during the time I was going to the local community college. Mom and dad like to talk about when gas was $0.10 and $0.25 a gallon, around the time when they first started driving.

Mom bought her first car (new) for around $3,000 I think, a Plymouth Valiant Scamp. I'm not sure of the year, but doing a quick search, it was only made from 1971-1976. I believe my mom's was right in the middle of that time range. In any case, she was able to purchase as her very first car one that was brand new.

My first car was a 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais, about seven years old when I got hold of it. The car cost about $1000 at that point (and sold for the same price 5-6 years later). My current car cost about the same with the additional price of needing a new engine. It's a '94 Cutlass Supreme, bought around 2002. Yeah. I still think my mom got the better deal out of it all. She had her car for 15+ years before it gave out. My car is deciding to fall apart at the seams (some major parts replacements as well as being on its THIRD engine).

Anyone familiar with the White Castle chain of fast food restaurants? I remember my dad and uncle playing a joke on a friend, telling him that he HAD to go there and get the hamburgers, as they were $0.25 cents a piece! They failed to mention that they are also mini-burgers as he found out when he got his drive-thru order home. Although I honestly can't remember how much a Slider (affectionate name for the White castle burger) is now, I know it's a lot more than a quarter! If I stop by in the near future, I'll let you know how much it's gone up.

In Illinois, current minimum wage is $6.50 but I can't seem to find a listing of what the wages were in previous years. Seems to me that around the time I got my first car, minimum wage was about $5.35, but don't quote me on that!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

cheapest I ever paid was .75 a gallon in 1993. and least since then was november of 2001, on my way out to st louis, I filled my tank for .99 a gallon.

and now in michigan, we're at record highs, between 3.35 and 3.70. then i talk to my sisters (one in st louis and one in myrtle beach) and their around 2.75..... I dont know about the rest of you, but back in Feb for a bout a week, It was down to $1.69 a gallon.

i'm glad i'm going to be out of the country soon. 3 weeks i wont have to put any cash into buying gas

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

Minimum wage was $3.35 or $3.65 when I started working, although that was 100 years ago

My kids were watching the Price is Right the other night...they laughed when I said I remembered watching it when car prices were only 4 digits.

I'm always amazed at how expensive homes are here in MD. The house I had built in MI (4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths) would sell for maybe $250,000 now but the same house here would be close to a million!

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Sorry to hijack the thread. Monkeyboy where are you off to? (maybe post new topic instead of using up this one?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Anyway, someone who may know, what were the prices of the following compaired to minimum or average wage:

Rasco, it will be different for each country (and regions within each country)

In Australia a new car (& a not v fancy one) is not going to be in the neighbourhood price-wise that you list. No local car industry. Many cars are driven for 10+ years by original owner. Then sold 2nd hand and driven for another decade or so. Not unusual to see lotsa old cars, 20+ years (Babel has commented on this before).

Average income in Aussie dollars $1115 per week (sourced Aust Bureau of Statistics website)
Sorry but I think they need to use a median not average. Averaging is flawed... they know that. Which is why they, of course, present it in that way. Makes it look like most people earn that much. In reality is the the big earners dragging the average up.

Also, our expectations on doo-dads has increased. Dvd players, microwaves, cable tv that have become baseline instead of luxury. Not saying that is wrong just expensive is all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

They arent really expensive anymore. I know DVD players and such used to gor for big money for what would now be a basic model. Now you can find one for $40?! Same thing with computers, radios, TVs, CD players, and most other electronics. Microwaves go for $50 now for what im sure cost a few hundred when they first came out. They cant be called a luxury when you can buy them with your pocket money. Technology is advancing at a rapid rate. Just think, a VCR was pretty new 20 years ago but now you cant even buy the tapes to go in them anymore. Same with audio cassettes.

If we want to talk about prices skyrocketing in comparison to wages look at college tuition. Why does college need to be $40,000/year?

And kitten, I think your problem might be that it is a GM made car.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

Those things may not be that expensive anymore but they do seem to be considered necessities rather than luxuries by many people. I need to buy food for my family, gas for our (used) cars, pay the rent to so we have a roof over our heads...but I don't need a cell phone, ipod, microwave, dvd player, etc.

There really isn't an exact definition of expensive. They cant be called a luxury when you can buy them with your pocket money. With 6 children, that isn't pocket money for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

'Weird22' I can see your point, the cost of things comes down. My point (and I think TheresaM's) is, we can live without a microwave if we have a stove. Not to start a debate on microwaves, it is a principle we apply across a host of things.

DVD player itself is no longer expensive. Generous family pooled financial resources & gave me one (4 yrs ago). Wow - lucky me! ButI had not bought one up to then, reason ====> a story in Chicken Soup for the Soul

The story bit: The tale was of a Vietnamese family that started over in the USA. To begin with they lived behind the shop very modestly, ate some of the leftovers from the bakery and spent very little of their profits. They chose not to buy a car.
Rationale: once you have the car you want to go places and spend money.
They stayed focussed on their financial goals. By putting all their resources into paying back a family member who lent them money they eventually owned their own business outright.

That lesson stayed with me.

I didn't buy myself a dvd player. Not because the player's cost was prohibitive but because if I had one I would want to buy/rent dvds. I only have about 25 in my collection. I often borrow from friends, not buy/rent.

The story in the chicken soup book made me question how I spend my money.

I am mindful of what I can do without.
For economic and environmental reasons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Weird22... it's not the fact that it's a GM (and had Oldsmobile not died, I would never buy any other type of car), it's the fact that old cars were built to last and new cars are not. Despite the fact that my car is now 13 years old, you couldn't tell it by looking at her, she's shiny and pretty and has only one spot of rust that is being fixed. Besides, it's Ford that's Found on Road Dead, not GM.

I think that's another thing that you need to take into account... things in the past were made to last. (i.e. "They don't make things like they used to!" ) Sure, it's cheaper to make things user lesser materials, and the philosophy seems to be similar to one witnessed in what I believe was the movie, Mrs. Santas Claus. That being the idea that "it only has to last until Christmas."

Also, with the technologies such as DVDs, TVs, etc, it's always going to be more expensive when the technology is newer. Once they sell more and more of the product or technology, it's more cost efrfective and they can lower the price without bringing down the profits.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

As a rule of thumb, technology prices always go down where as commodity prices always go up. While in school in the late 70's, my first Texas Instruments calculator cost $70 and was the size of an 8-track tape. A similar one now is the size of a credit card and can be gotten for free as product advertising.
When I started driving, gas was around 50-60 cents and I was making about $2.50 an hour. The funny thing is, when adjusted for inflation, I'm paying/making about the same. At least I've got a free pocket calculator.
Things I remember:
The Dime Store (think Dollar Store only 30 years ago).
When discount movie theaters came out they were Dollar Cinemas. Back in the 70', a first run movie matinee was about $2.50. At the matinee of Shrek III this weekend I paid $7 ($14 including the wife)and don't get me started on the cost of the wife's manditory large soda.
Penny candy: Rootbeer barrels, Butterscotch bites and Anice candy. Mm!
5-10 cents for a candy bar.
10 cent sodas in 12oz glass bottles out of a side rack vending machine.
Candy cigarrettes. You knew you were cool when you were "smoking" your candy cigarrettes.
Dots-little drops of candy on a sheet of paper. I never understood these. I always got a mouthfull of paper.
A large pizza (serves 4) at Frank's in Silvis was $10. Now it's $35.
25 cent coney dogs at the A&W Drive-In and the real glass souvenier rootbeer mugs. I still have one. We used to load up in the parent's '63 Chevy wagon and go there every Tuesday night. Mm!
And to end the food theme-Long John Silver's meals used to come in little paper boats. They still give away the same paper captain's hats.

And dont forget this, while technology and other items made keep going higher in prices for us, the cost keeps going lower and lower as they find cheaper places to make them.

theres why cars dont last as long any more. their produced to last so long then die. thats why it always seems like your tv, computer or videogame console dies 2 days after the warranty expires.


Fish tanks are an expensive addiction