According to the U.S Labor Department, the cost of living in the United States increased in April at the quickest pace since last summer. The higher rate of inflation combined with stagnant wages is making the price of the American Dream ever more expensive. In my post, Are You (Financially) Better Off Than Your Parents, I mention the increased costs of housing and higher education as one of the problems with achieving the American Dream compared to our parents’ generation. While I don’t want to sound like my father and say, “back in my day, XYZ ONLY costs $X.YZ,” I’m going to do it. Even things 10 years ago have risen in costs which surprises you. Check out the below infographic and my comments about the price increases.

Cost of Living in the US – An infographic by the team at vouchercloud

College
My co-worker’s child is starting college next fall, and when I heard the cost, I almost fell out of my seat. Though, it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, I graduated just over 10 years ago, and the amount that tuition has increased in the last 10 years is incredible. Honestly, I think the rate of increase is just unsustainable and with the issues of our youth saddled with large amount of student loan debt, something has got to give. Possibly a student loan bubble burst, much like the housing bubble?

Gas
I remember back in the days when the price of a gallon of gas was under $2.00. Now, the prices have pretty much doubled. However, with the arrival of hybrid and electric vehicles, maybe we won’t have to rely on gas powered vehicles for much longer. For now, I use a 5% gas cash back credit card and Gasbuddy.com to save on gas.

NFL Ticket and Movies
My father told me that back when he was in college, he was able to get tickets to nosebleed seats for the Seattle Supersonics for like $5.00. When I was a kid, he’d say that we were better off watching the game at home. Tickets for sporting events were too expensive and the view on T.V is much better. I’m not sure I was too happy about that at the time, but now as a grown up, I have to say I feel the same way. The face value of the ticket may be $82.00, but I know many who pay much more to attend NFL games. With big flat screen televisions that many people have nowadays, you just might be better off watching at home. Same goes for those movie tickets. Well, of course, you have to be patient and wait for the movie to come out on DVD.

What else have you noticed that has increased dramatically in price?