Has the war made life in the US incredibly expensive as well? (Page 1/8)
Cliff Pennock JUL 15, 05:15 AM
Please do not turn this into a political thread. 😉

Here in Europe (and especially in the Netherlands), everything has become incredibly expensive since the war in the Ukraine. Gasoline prices are up by 35% since last year, while gas and electricity prices are up by almost 300%. I used to pay around €175 per month for gas and electricity. That's is now €285 per month even though I have almost halved my gas consumption (by simply not heating my house anymore).

Grocery prices are up by 17% and the Euro has dropped to where 1 Euro is now about 1 US Dollar. Making everything else a lot more expensive as well. And it's going to get worse before it's going to get better... 😕

How is this on the other side of the ocean?
Patrick JUL 15, 05:45 AM

quote
Originally posted by Cliff Pennock:

Please do not turn this into a political thread. 😉



Good luck with that. You know what some of these guys are like. They can't take a dump without blaming whomever for the need to do so.

Here on the west coast of Canada... food (grocery and/or restaurant) and especially gasoline prices have shot up dramatically. No one likes paying more for anything, but for me the price increases are tolerable.

Perhaps though because it's generated here with hydroelectric dams, electricity prices haven't seemed to have taken off.

For a wide variety of reasons, I feel very fortunate to be living in this part of the world.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 07-15-2022).]

TM_Fiero JUL 15, 07:28 AM
Sounds similar to what we have going on here. Electricity isn't that bad, yet. Cars (new and used) are getting more expensive. New cars are in short supply supposedly because of chip shortages. Fuel prices are starting to go down, but not very much. The prices of meat are likely to get very expensive in the coming year due to the price of fuel and extremely high price of fertilizer and other chemicals farmers use. Life is certainly getting expensive here, I would attribute it to a perfect storm of multiple reasons, the war, COVID, unethical companies, bad leadership, etc.
olejoedad JUL 15, 07:58 AM
Things in the USA are more expensive, but I doubt our inflation is being impacted as much as European inflation by the war between Russia and Ukraine.

As stated above, it's a perfect storm scenario - supply chain issues, COVID, increased demand, too much money flooded into the economy by governments.

Sadly, conditions may get much worse before they get better.
82-T/A [At Work] JUL 15, 08:28 AM
Very little of our inflation in the United States is being caused by the war in Ukraine.

Things have costed more, but I'd say on the range of about 20%.

Leading up to March of this year, just prior to Russia rolling tanks into Ukraine, the cost of gasoline was about ~$3.80 a gallon, national average. That's about $1.60 more than it was in January of 2020. So since the 2020 election, gas has doubled in the United States.

Since almost everything in the United States is either transported by truck, plane, or train within the country... the doubling of fuel costs resulted in a significant impact of everything else being sold in the U.S.


The United States, up through January of 2020 was completely energy independent. Unlike Europe, we produced the vast majority of the fuel that we used in the United States, and we only purchased foreign fuel (at that point) if it was cheaper on the international market. To make something political of course, would mean that I would be imposing opinions. So I'm not going to do that. Our "energy policy" changed in the new administration, and the following changes were made:

- Cancelled the KeyStone XL Pipeline, which would have run Canadian oil directly to a refinery which would have increased production world-wide.
- Cancelled all drilling lease sales in Alaska and Gulf of Mexico
- Immediately ended all drilling in Anwar, Alaska... effectively cancelling any leases that existed.
- Made illegal fracking on all public lands (rendering the majority of the existing leases useless)
- Doubled the amount of regulation and red-tape required to get an oil lease passed
- Line5 was even cancelled, but was eventually reversed through encouragement from Trudeau.


This had a dramatic effect on the cost of everything in the United States.


All of that said, both European countries, as well as the United States, has been spending significantly above their GDP, and this has resulted in classical inflation of prices.

If we still had all of our energy policies of 2 years ago, the United States would not really be as badly affected by any of this. We would likely only suffer from the costs associated with products that come from Eastern Europe and any increased fuel costs associated with the price of goods coming internationally.
Hank is Here JUL 15, 09:26 AM
Yes I feel prices have gone up here in 2022; however to me it is not due to the war in Ukraine. Probably a small percentage of due to the war it is not the primary driver.
I would say gasoline inflation is similar to what you are seeing. In June our local utility increased their price by 38%.

Most of where I see inflation is in the grocery store and in chemicals (pool chlorine).

Most of what I see driving the price increases are
1) labor costs [increased wages due to labor scarcity]
2) corporate profits
3) increased transportation costs. Example: Expensive diesel fuel and or the ~10X cost increase for containers across the Pacific.

What am I doing personally in response to increased costs?
1) I work remote instead of going into the office. saves ~$10 per day in fuel
2) Drive an old car, still driving the Honda Accord my wife bought new in 2002 with 320k on it. [why do I need a new car if I don't drive it? see above bullet]
3) Using what we already have. I stock up on items in the pantry (not a hoarder, but close). since April timeframe if we have been trying to pair down the pantry and freezer due to increased retail prices.
4) Work on my own stuff. Example from last week: A/C stopped working....thanks to youtube indented it as bad capacitor. Ran to the local distributor and $10.42 and I fixed it that day. Alternatives were a $350 service call, or even ordering the capacitor from Amazon for $25 and have to wait a few days.
Wichita JUL 15, 09:46 AM
Recently reported that our CPI or overall inflation is above 9%.

Yes, things have been getting more expensive. Especially gasoline, but we also are aware that it isn't near the price that Europeans pay for fuel.

Utilities are up a bit, some commodities actually have decreased because we are finally getting some things moving since Covid lockdowns, such as lumber.

What has been utterly ridiculous, but doesn't much effect me other than property taxes, is the insane housing prices. I've never seen housing prices rise so fast and I have no idea how. It isn't like wages has kept up with these housing prices and I have absolutely no idea how a typical normal average family even affords them. It is beyond me.

Did people just suddenly inherit a load of money from dead boomer parents or something?

Anyways, brace for a worldwide recession and these prices to truly never come back down due to inflation and continued scarcity.

maryjane JUL 15, 11:15 AM
Yes, things are much more expensive in CONUS but for a variety of reasons, and not just the Russ/Ukraine war. Putin is certainly evil but our inflation problems began back in early 2021.

A Walmart entry level push lawnmower that just a few years ago was around $150 is now over $300.
Romex 12/2 w ground is an unbelievable $2/ft price now.
I've seen milk as high as $4/gallon and burger for $4/lb.
Chicken and pork not much cheaper.

I see your country has embarked on a 'let's get rid of some farming' path...
https://www.beefcentral.com...e-livestock-numbers/
RWDPLZ JUL 15, 11:20 AM
'officially' the price of everything is up 10%, in reality the cost of everything has about doubled. Most people are predicting a recession by the end of the year (if we aren't in one already).
Old Lar JUL 15, 11:41 AM
Everything has gotten more expensive since Biden was elected. Although in my area gasoline prices have dropped about $0.80/ gallon (to around $4.00/gallon) recently. Basic costs have risen i.e. my barber will increase haircut from $15 to $20 starting Aug. 1. Hotel rooms have dramatically increased the even Microtel or Comfort Inn rooms run $130 plus/night. Food costs have also increased. I just roll with it and haven't been traveling as much, but with the "covid crisis" not much traveling is going on for me. I don't believe the "war" has much to do with prices, but the socialist agenda of the current party in power and their incompetence is doing the damage.

[This message has been edited by Old Lar (edited 07-15-2022).]