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Thread ID: 86782	2008-01-28 20:26:00	So you think you have it tough making ends meet?	Billy T (70)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
634844	2008-01-28 20:26:00	While going through some family papers on the weekend I found some old receipts for appliances and Xmas gifts. Using the NZ CPI Inflation calculator ( www.rbnz.govt.nz) I found the 4th quarter 2007 values for the prices paid. All but the last item were staff purchases at The Farmers Trading Company so the actual cost to the shop customer would have been greater. I have converted the original prices to $ & cents for those too young to fathom pounds shillings and pence 1949 small tabletop budget radio/gram $86.25 > $2620 1951 Simple agitator washing machine $93.50 > $2332 1951 Billy's Pedal Car for Xmas $24.70 > $613 1951 My big sister's tricycle $19.15 > $480 1954 Our first refrigerator $212.00 > $4677 By way of contrast: 1945 14 pints of milk $0.35 > $12.42 1957 Two doctors appointments $1.50 > $30.31 Don't you wish doctors were still that cheap!! And they sent out bills every six months too, no cash at the door. By strange twist of fate, that same Doctor's son is now an ENT surgeon and has treated both my wife and my son. You could argue that the radiogram was the home-entertainment equivalent of today's flat screen TV, in which case there is some equivalence in dollar values, but the other appliances (and toys) are now far cheaper in real terms. Don't last as long though! Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
634845	2008-01-28 20:55:00	Yes, but you kept your radio/Washing machine/lounge suite/etc forever. Occasionally they got a small repair. Unlike disposable appliances these days.	pctek (84)
634846	2008-01-28 22:50:00	That's not relevant really pctek; inherent in the difference between current pricing and the purely theoretical projected prices I posted based on inflation (and zero development in manufacturing techniques) is the recognition of today's manufacturing, sales, usage and lifetime expectations . Judging by the number of broken-down lounge suites put out for the inorganic we don't get value for money today unless we spend top dollar . The quality is still available, it just costs more . We went looking for a new lounge suite last year and gave up in the end . We had the old one fully restored and recovered in a top quality fabric for less than we'd have paid for equivalent quality new, if you could find it . Interestingly, older appliances were not all that reliable either (there was an appliance repair shop in every shopping centre and repairs were costly) so prices in dollars per hour of working life are probably significantly better today for all but the crappiest of Warehouse appliances Found another receipt, this one for the vacuum cleaner which cost $34 . 20 in May 1947 . That would be $1179 today . My post was really for fun and was intended to illustrate how much our parents (or grandparents) had to pay out of much lower incomes to obtain luxuries we now regard as necessities . An executive wage was $30-$40 per week and a labourer was lucky to get $10 . All very interesting in a brief and passing fashion, but we live in today's world and quite frankly I'm sure that in most ways we are a great deal better off . Cheers Billy 8-{) :)	Billy T (70)
634847	2008-01-28 23:42:00	There is a basketball player . . . let me emphasize that . . . A BASKETBALL PLAYER here in Los Angeles with the following monthly expenses: $156,116 on mortgages . ($200,818 NZD) $110,505 on vacations . ($141,146 NZD) $60,417 on gifts . ($77,716 NZD) $26,560 on babysitters . ($34,165 NZD) $24,300 on gasoline . ($31,258 NZD) $22,190 on maids . ($28,547 NZD) $17,220 on clothes . ($22,153 NZD) $12,775 on food . ($16435 NZD) It takes a big man with deep pockets to spend $1,300,000 USD ($1,672,240 . 80 NZD) a month . . . . . on expenses so extravagant they'd make Paris Hilton jealous . Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal is that man . Again . . . THESE ARE HIS MONTHLY EXPENSES!!!! On top of that, the tax man gets his share: O'Neal, 35, pays about $500,000 a month in income taxes . ($643,169 . 54 NZD) That's . . gulp . . . $15,000,000 USD / $19,292,604 . 50 NZD a year in expenses! Plus taxes of over $6,000,000 USD / $7,716,049 . 38 NZD each year! All this for tossing A BALL through A HOOP while people try to keep him from doing it for 1 hour a day . . but not even every day!	SurferJoe46 (51)
634848	2008-01-28 23:59:00	That's not relevant really pctek; inherent in the difference between current pricing and the purely theoretical projected prices I posted based on inflation (and zero development in manufacturing techniques) is the recognition of today's manufacturing, sales, usage and lifetime expectations . Electrical appliances have got a lot cheaper . But other things have gone up a lot in price, compared to our wages . This includes basic service fees, such as getting a plumber or electrian to do a job for you . House prices, land prices, and construction prices .	robbyp (2751)
634849	2008-01-29 00:16:00	In the sixties, I used to own a dairy in Auckland (before I escaped to Napier) For years after this, when my kids were small, I used to tell them how many Jaffa's you could get for a "Quid". $2 in todays terms!! They were 4 a penny and there were 240 pence in a Pound - that works out to 960 Jaffa's. Their eyes used to boggle thinking of that many. I think they are around 10c each these days. Big difference! Mind you... kids never had a quid in those days, more like thruppence at the most. Ken	kenj (9738)
634850	2008-01-29 00:30:00	Interesting thing that calculator . I used to pump petrol as a youth in the early '50s - petrol was 3s 4d / gallon(around 35 cents) Extrapolated out to 2007 it comes out at approx $1 . 77 per litre . Who said we were paying heaps more for petrol? Ken	kenj (9738)
634851	2008-01-29 00:35:00	4 winegums for a penny, 24 for sixpence. My first introduction to inflation was when we switched to decimal currency. 4 for 1c, 20 for 5c. (and for those too young to know 6d=5c so it was 4 less for the same price) I gave up on the winegum inflation chart a few years ago. How much are they worth now?	Mercury (1316)
634852	2008-01-29 02:01:00	the following monthly expenses: $156,116 on mortgages . ($200,818 NZD) $110,505 on vacations . ($141,146 NZD) $60,417 on gifts . ($77,716 NZD) $26,560 on babysitters . ($34,165 NZD) $24,300 on gasoline . ($31,258 NZD) $22,190 on maids . ($28,547 NZD) $17,220 on clothes . ($22,153 NZD) $12,775 on food . ($16435 NZD) It takes a big man with deep pockets to spend $1,300,000 USD ($1,672,240 . 80 NZD) a month . . . . . I'm sure you've missed a few zeroes or something there Joe, because those figures do not add up to anywhere near $1,300,000 USD on my calculator .	FoxyMX (5)
634853	2008-01-29 04:15:00	Those figures don't add up in more ways than one SJ, $800 plus per day in petrol? The man couldn't drive, eat shop, vacation etc that much even with half his family helping him. Sounds like urban myth material. Cheers Billy 8-{) :groan:	Billy T (70)
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