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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWith all this talk about tarrifs, recessions, continued high prices, I thought I’d share some information from an article I recently read about the cost of several things being less today than years ago.<\/strong> That was hard to believe, but we’ll examine that later.\u00a0 Generally, prices continue to rise as does income, but mostly not at the same pace. So, I did a little research of my own. I decide to look back to the year 1975. I picked that year mostly because it was easy math to go back 50 years. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1975 I was five years into my ten-year teaching career, at Tustin High School<\/strong>. I can\u2019t remember what my salary was in 1975, but I do remember that when I left teaching in 1980 my salary was $19,000, yes, a year!\u00a0 Sounds ridiculously low, but I checked and the average salary in 1980 in all of Orange County was only $21,000.<\/p>\n\n\n In 1975, the average income in Orange County was $7,396; while today the average is $136,000 \u2013 that\u2019s a growth of 18 times.\u00a0 But, the average price of an Orange County home in 1975 was $41,600, today it is $1.2 million \u2013 that\u2019s a growth of 29 times! In 1975 the average home buyer was 29 years old, today it\u2019s 38 years old. If you were going to rent<\/strong> a nice four-bedroom house instead of buy, in 1975 the rent would have been around $400 a month, today, closer to $5,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The average price of a new car <\/strong>in 1975 was $4,800 \u2013 just take that times 10 to get today average price.\u00a0 OK, I\u2019ll do the math for you – $48,000. The price of everyday goods and services, as measured by the CPI, saw a\u00a0586% increase\u00a0from 1973 to 2023.\u00a0In other words, \u2018Purchasing Power\u2019 decreased; meaning that $13 in 1975 had the same buying power as approximately $83 in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OK, OK, enough with the numbers, where\u2019s the information about how much cheaper things are today? Here you go . . .<\/p>\n\n\n Clothing: <\/strong>In 1975 the average American family spent about 10% to 12% of their household income on clothing. Today, that figure has dropped to around 3%. It\u2019s not because people are buying less, it because more and more clothes come from out of the county, and thus cheaper. Same logic goes for toys<\/strong> that are now cheaper because most are made overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Televisions:<\/strong> A \u2018big\u2019 screen TV in 1975 cost around $3,500. Today, a big screen TV with high-definition cost less than $500<\/p>\n\n\n\n Air fares: <\/strong>I only found the rate in 1941 for a fare from L.A. to Boston – $5,000! So, in \u201975 maybe it was down to $2,500. Today you can find it for $300-$400<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, finally what you\u2019ve all been waiting for, the price of . . .<\/p>\n\n\n Bananas:<\/strong> For those living during the Civil War, bananas were $3 a pound! In 1975 they dropped to .20 and today they are .55 a pound, so while bananas are cheaper than they were during the Civil War, they are more expensive today. But I kept them on the list for those Civil War vets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if you’re looking to save money, go buy clothes to wear as you’re either flying from L.A. to Boston, or watching that new high-definition TV. Eating bananas while doing either is optional.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow With all this talk about tarrifs, recessions, continued high prices, I thought I’d share some information from an article I recently read about the cost of several things being less today than years ago. That was hard … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/download-1.jpg\")
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