Living for today - Planning for Tomorrow
In 1980, Americans were still reeling from the stagflation of the 1970s. And unfortunately, they didn’t get a break from economic turmoil at the start of the new decade. The cost of living in 1980 was still hard to afford due to rampant inflation. According to Investopedia, the year-over-year inflation rate was a whopping 12.5%. In an attempt to halt inflation, the Fed raised interest
Once considered havens for affordable living, certain cities across the United States have evolved from budget-friendly locales to high-priced urban centers. From the eclectic streets of Portland to the heart of country music in Nashville, these 13 formerly cheap places to live have undergone dramatic shifts in housing costs. 1. Portland, Oregon Portland’s quirky charm and relatively low cost of living once attracted many newcomers
If you’re a history lover who’s also interested in finance, you might be wondering, what was the cost of living in 1940? That year, World War II was raging in Europe. The demand for supplies began to stimulate the American economy and aided in our recovery from the Great Depression. The unemployment rate was still relatively high in 1940, so we weren’t totally out of
The cost of living in 1935 was hard for Americans to afford. The country was still in the grips of the Great Depression, the worst economic downturn an industrialized nation had ever experienced. The depression didn’t end for several more years until around 1941. The economic activity spurred by war helped lift the nation out of the deep recession it was stuck in. Let’s take
According to The Hill, social media influencers have claimed that the economy in 2023 was worse than the cost of living in 1930. Clearly, they don’t know enough about the Great Depression and the struggles American families faced! The 1929 stock market crash and the bank panic that began in the fall of 1930 both helped kick off the Great Depression. Due to the market
The 1970s was a rough decade for Americans financially. Families had to contend with two recessions, multiple oil crises, and widespread inflation. Unfortunately, households didn’t get any reprieve at the end of the decade. The cost of living in 1978 shot up yet again due to the second oil shock of the 70s. To understand this financially challenging time, let’s take a closer look at
The cost of living in 1973 was greatly affected by the oil crisis. That year the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries implemented an oil embargo against the United States. This caused the price of gas to skyrocket and rocked the economy, helping kick off a recession. The 1973 oil crisis wasn’t even the only oil shock of the decade. Americans had to contend with
If you think the inflation that’s happened in the past few years is the worst the country’s ever seen, you probably weren’t alive during the stagflation of the 1970s. According to NPR, prices started to rise in the middle of the 60s, mainly due to government spending on the Vietnam War and social programs. The cost of living in 1970 was already hard on families
Before the Great Depression began at the end of the decade, the Roaring Twenties was an economically prosperous time in history. Wage growth and increased availability of credit allowed many consumers to purchase new luxuries like electric household appliances and cars. However, the cost of living in 1927 wasn’t low enough to give anybody a free ride. Americans still had to work hard and save
If you’re a history buff, you may be curious about the cost of living in 1924. Although the 1920s started rocky with a recession, the rest of the decade was economically prosperous (until the Great Depression of course). According to the Economic History Association, the gross national product increased by 4.2% per year from 1920 to 1929. Advances in manufacturing contributed to economic growth and
