On Monday, March 9, 2015 at 2:59:22 PM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 3/9/2015 1:31 PM, wrote:
>
> >
> > Also, there was clearly a mistake in the book - the mother said they spent
> > $450 a month on food, so unless she meant $400, that would be just under
> > 74 cents per person per day (using 365.25 days a year, I mean), not 66 cents!
> >
> > Thoughts? Granted, I'm sure there are all sorts of reasons food might be
> > cheaper now - someone also once said that in the 19th century, too, food
> > was pricey but servants were cheap, which was why Louisa May Alcott, in
> > "Little Women" could get away with calling her family "poor" even though
> > they had a servant, Hannah.
> >
> >
> > Lenona.
> >
>
> Using your inflation calculation, the multiplier is 7.8
>
> Prices I remember from working in a grocery store in high school in 1961-62
>
> Ground beef .49 then should be 3.82. Actual ranges is about $3 to $4
> depending on grade
>
> Deli ham 1.29 should be $10.00. It is about $8 to $9 today
>
> Campbell's tomato soup. .14 should be 1.09 Not sure of actual.
>
> Loaf of bread .35 should be $2.73 I see higher and lower
>
> Quart of soda .25 should now be $1.95 I can get 2 liters as cheap as
> 78¢ for generic store brand but name brand is $3.29
>
> When we first married in 1966, a trip to the grocery store very two
> weeks was about $20 for 4 bags of groceries. That would be $156 today.
> Probably not far off.

In 1975, I know that a fifteen,dollar grocery load was good for a week, plus a couple of eat-outs with a 'friend." I have old checkbook registers and my average check was about 15 bucks. ( Yes, anal me here has pumped all this into Quicken.....I kid you not.) I had a great apt for 150 a month, including water and heat.