Inflation's Silver Lining

Yes, his time-price thing reflects the massive improvements in worker productivity that have occurred in the last 200 years. And the "ten percent is yours to keep"....my wife and I saved 25% of our salaries for our working years, and invested it with a skilled investment advisor, who happened also to be a friend. And the result is a very comfortable retirement, and our heirs will be nicely taken care of, too. The best financial advice I ever got, I got at age 29. "Pay yourself first". Meaning, put you "ten percent to keep" aside BEFORE you pay any other bills. This is a crucial budget step, and almost always people pay off all the things they must, then the things they want, and THEN, if by some miracle something is left over, some of that might get saved. Pay yourself first.

There is an inverse to the math method as well...I "Fix" stuff, that is what I do. When I have a potential client balk at the price, and the time it will take I mention to them "Your weekend/vacation/off the clock time is worth more than DOUBLE whatever your salary wage is" You work 5 days to get 2 days off, so those two days hours are worth 2.5times your at work hours..on that basis how much would it cost you to DIY this? Particularly in that I have done the task for years and am MUCH more efficient and better at it than you are, I already have all of the tools and know in advance exactly what will be needed for tools/materials and have already dealt with the inevitable unforeseen problems that often arise on similar prior jobs, will have the fix with me if it shows up again.....For those who generally work 6days a week? Your time on that one day off is 600% of your salary/wage. I use the same rubric when hiring others to do work for me...at my home, vehicles, farm, business.

Time is money, and with convenience food you pay for the convenience and its often not worth it. That's why the oldest advice for getting out of debt is to simply start brown-bagging it instead of eating lunch at a restaurant. Most of our modern life has been built on the extra price of convenience. Start to do for yourself, become self-reliant and money goes further.

I like Aldi, and have recently started shopping there...if you are interested, you tube has a multitude of videos on Aldi...basically they reduce costs in novel ways...and it was originally, I think, started in Germany. You won't find a lot of 'national' brands, but you will find their own brands, which are comparable and at times superior to the 'chain' stores...one item, their Chocolate, is superb..it is German, and Kcups are 1/2 the price...much better..and they have their own wines at substansially reduced prices...but it will cost you a quarter to get a cart, and you have to bring your own shopping bags...

I read the Substack. The Mark Skousen reference, alone, raised an eyebrow. Have Americans been thoughtless spenders? Yes. And does the discussion highlight improvements in productivity? Yes. But the system in which they occurred is at risk of extinction and the underlying assumptions are risk of evaporating. That pickup truck the author tries to justify? Try to get one. Uses half as much gas? That now costs twice as much. (And doesn't have to...) Safer? More efficient? In a world with the supply chain problems that are developing, let's see you keep it that way. In fact with its modern complexity, let's see you keep it running. Blue collar workers? Fewer and fewer jobs. Even fewer employers providing them. And government impeding them every step of the way. Fundamental changes in the underlying assumptions are occurring. They are not improvements. Unless the (real) adults once again, take the controls, the life he describes as having developed is about to change in ways the author doesn't seem to fathom.

Re #2. Some of us really enjoy doing DIY stuff, and like accumulating the tools. I can literally do all the building trades, and have, but I freely admit and have often said, "I can do that, but I'd never do it professionally, because I'd starve, I am too damned slow and too much of a perfectionist." The key to doing those jobs professionally is to do a good enough job to satisfy the customer, while cutting all the time wasting stuff out, and working efficiently from years of doing the same thing and developing tricks and shortcuts, and often just SKILL. Some jobs are just too big, and i will be contracting for a substantial house addition, which requires a basement be dug, with lots of limestone to remove, the basement poured and then the whole addition built on top, and all joined to the existing house. And I'm in my 70s, slowing down, and I do pay for a lot more stuff to be done than I used to, that's for sure. But I did lay a bunch of oak flooring, completely rebuilt the rough-only stairs (had been carpeted) to finished oak, and repaired, replaced boards, sanded and revarnished all the floors in this house, with much help from my wife. And we liked doing it. Tiling the basement....no fun, hired it done.

At the age of 30, I finally went to work for a company with a 401K. I got in it as soon as I could, and contributed what I could. After a few years, I started contributing raises every other year to it. Seven years before I retired, I had to go to work in an office that used a higher pay scale due to its location. It meant a 9% raise; I put it all in the 401K every year until I retired, and carpooled with two other co-workers. I realized that younger people in my office all drove newer cars than I did, and didn’t think much about the future. I didn’t start withdrawals until I had to, at 72, by which time it had grown another $200,000. When I retired, younger people said I was “lucky”. I told them that luck had nothing to do with it. I’d been planning for it for thirty years. The man is right: pay yourself first.

I spend lots of money with delivery services such as Uber Eats, Door Dash, Instacart, amazon, etc. Part of it is laziness. Part of it fear of crime. But for me the extra money it costs is worth it. When I do actually go to a store I haven't seen any bargains. Was laughing at a young guy talking to someone on his cell phone in a supermarket who was laughing at the price of bacon because it was higher than prime rib used to be. If the dims get their way they plan to create a meat tax to save the Planet. Wonder if eggs and honey will be classified as meat. Spend your money while you've got it. The government can't take away what you don't have.