Inflation Comparison
The following chart is a comparison of total change in prices for consumers. Spending more money on these day to day items limits housing affordability. That goes for renting or buying. Paying 30% more for utilities, 50% more for gasoline and 20% more to replace an aging car sucks a lot of money out of every paycheck. This inflation comparison pulls numbers form the federal governments statistical site for inflation and consumer prices. More information can be found here.
This is just for a start. Rampant federal government overspending and vote buying has increased long term interest rates by a factor of 2-2.5x and short term interest rates by a factor of 20x. So replacing a car doesn’t cost only the 20% higher price, it increases the pain of total payment. What might have been a $25,000 car financed at 3% for 60 months is now a $30,000 car financed for 60 months at 8%. The payment is nearly 35% higher, going from $450 to $610.
