The cost of living for 2024 increased by 3.2%. We received a letter today with our total increase between the 2 of us is $54 each month on our Social Security.
Cost Of Living
- Thread starter LightOfMyLife
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Tall_Timbers
Well-known member
They have been lying about inflation figures for a long time. If you want the real numbers, just compare what you pay for the things you use. Prices are up 50% over the last 3 years. When you hear a politician say prices or inflation is down, they know they are lying. The rate of increase may be down, but prices and inflation are still going up.
This is true on spending as well. When they say they cut spending what they actually mean is they cut the rate of spending. Spending is still going up.
The cost of living and raises never match the reality in most cases and i know at my job or other jobs in the area that this is true because the cost of parking alone, which can be sometimes $3000 a year cannot be covered by a 3% increase or it's barely covered.
However the larger point besides being grateful for what we have, is the family unit itself.
I've noticed that the family unit is not as strong in U.S. and families are separated in their own ways and they don't pass down generational wealth. They want kids to be raised on their own once they reach 18, so they can be their own selves or some philosophy like that.
Doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but the society at large would benefit if families were a bit more closer and not so detached.
However the larger point besides being grateful for what we have, is the family unit itself.
I've noticed that the family unit is not as strong in U.S. and families are separated in their own ways and they don't pass down generational wealth. They want kids to be raised on their own once they reach 18, so they can be their own selves or some philosophy like that.
Doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but the society at large would benefit if families were a bit more closer and not so detached.
The groceries that I buy are at least twice what I paid for them 2 years ago.
I think that Biden inflation figure is to convince us that he's doing REALLY GOOD JOB of keeping inflation down. 3.2 % Is the figure that he pulled out of his diaper.
I lost track of fuel increases . He is shutting down coal plants to force the states into solar and wind electric generation. We live in the coal state and the coal fired electric plants are now charging more to pay for their transition to solar "farms." They have 2 so far. Once it's done, our bills will likely more than double.
The universities will pick up where the public schools left off.
It's making sure that nursing homes are growing. The family units have been thrown away for the dreams of big careers
The universities will pick up where the public schools left off.
It's making sure that nursing homes are growing. The family units have been thrown away for the dreams of big careers
Yeah i dunno but wealth doesn't mean you need to forget your family, although i know some people do just that. It's like they're mad at the family or something.
Even at the church i see elderly couples who are alone or who seem 'abandoned' to me by their kids.
When my kids were born, my parents raised them when we were working and i was paying my parent's bills.
And now that the kids are gown, we are taking care of the parents and they live next to us.
In my town, very few families have 3 generations under one roof and after speaking to most of them, they don't want to leave a whole lot to their children either, although most parents do pay their child's student debt if they can.
That's a good situation to have your own mom or parents help care for the children rather than strangers. Your whole family has something most do not. That is a blessing.
The schools never foster unity for families and a relatively few percentage of churches.
Nothing wrong with pursuing a good career, but it looks like our country has placed the love for money as the highest virtue to pursue. I guess there's lots of reasons for the broken families, but that seems to be one that's rarely addressed.
Well, it has to do with this strange philosophy that they need to be their own people or find their own path or something like that.
I find this odd when dealing with family members such as your children because the point of having a child is to give them a better future than yours, so they don't start from zero. This is called generational wealth and is transferred from one generation to another so the next generation doesn't have to start from zero and it makes their life easier to expand the wealth further.
I find churches where the as soon as children turn 18 they dont go to the same church or as their parents and leave home never to see them again. Then churches complain theres no young people. They drive them away and dont offer them any employment or minsitries after leaving school. Their youth groups are hotbeds of vice where youth just hang out at 'events'
Churches then turns out to be just social clubs for baby boomers as they are the majority.
sorry. Thats just the way it is for many, and younger pastors are stuck with the system. They rent out the manse insted to unbelievers. When theres no jobs churches dont even help. They want people to work for them for nothing (not even food) and dont give references either. Pastors now want salaries. Their jobs are advertised like any other jobs, instead of being a calling, its just a hiring, because churches are now businesses. They dont train people, you have to pay through the nose to go to college for that then compete with hundreds of other graduates.
Nobody can just walk in and find a job and do it on the same day anymore. Its been like that for decades (in nz) and gets worse, now you must go online and never get even a response back sometimes. When you do land a job, you do the work of 3 people without a break and the employer can fire you at anytime during 90 days.
Churches then turns out to be just social clubs for baby boomers as they are the majority.
sorry. Thats just the way it is for many, and younger pastors are stuck with the system. They rent out the manse insted to unbelievers. When theres no jobs churches dont even help. They want people to work for them for nothing (not even food) and dont give references either. Pastors now want salaries. Their jobs are advertised like any other jobs, instead of being a calling, its just a hiring, because churches are now businesses. They dont train people, you have to pay through the nose to go to college for that then compete with hundreds of other graduates.
Nobody can just walk in and find a job and do it on the same day anymore. Its been like that for decades (in nz) and gets worse, now you must go online and never get even a response back sometimes. When you do land a job, you do the work of 3 people without a break and the employer can fire you at anytime during 90 days.
Homes arent big enougn to house 3 generations or subdivision means greedy homeowners just rent out their extra homes for cash and income. Not their own family, they make them pay board.
Its basically like monopoly. This is what happens in the UK and how theyve always regarded land. They then colonise other lands with the same idea, so people can get on what is known as The Property Ladder.
The cost of living is renting, which is dead money. You may pay rent to a landlord but never own the place even if you stay there a whole liefetime and the combined accumulated rent has been enough to buy the place outright, more than what the landlord paid for it in the first place.
Its basically like monopoly. This is what happens in the UK and how theyve always regarded land. They then colonise other lands with the same idea, so people can get on what is known as The Property Ladder.
The cost of living is renting, which is dead money. You may pay rent to a landlord but never own the place even if you stay there a whole liefetime and the combined accumulated rent has been enough to buy the place outright, more than what the landlord paid for it in the first place.
That might buy you each a meal. I paid over $90.00 for a single bag of groceries the other
day. Mind you, that included two types of over-the-counter flu-type meds, and two packages
of hot deli food (my fave- chicken done various ways plus fries; it was about three meals?
Maybe four). Still, that's a whole heck of a lot more than a 3.2% increase in cost of living.
Some things have doubled and more in price here. Including rent.
The effect has been cumulative. In the US, it will be only a little over 3% for 2023. But over the last 3 years it is recorded over 20%. But these numbers aren't actually accurate. During Obama's presidency, they changed how the percentages were calculated. Under the old configuration, it would be double. And this is why people are hurting. Prices for meats have increased 50%. Gas even as it is going down is still up 40%. The cost of insurance is up 30-40 percent.
This is why there is now record numbers of people working 2nd and 3rd jobs.
So while inflation being lowered is good, the cost of goods and services is still increasing. And when everything goes to pay for necessities, there just isn't much leftover.
3.2%?
That's all?
The real cost of living (rent, groceries and other consumer goods) has increased substantially....like 25-40% in most instances.
Sounds like you got a pay cut to me.
It makes me scared about the future. I mean how much will groceries cost in 10-20 years? How much will college be for younger generations? Will I ever be able to buy a house and pay it off? It just kinda freaks me out.
I would say have faith not fear. Good things can happen when you trust God's promises. No matter what, 'all things are possible with God' and 'have faith in God' are 2 favorite verses of mine...along with a thousand others, lol.