We have some stuff in storage (see PODS versus PACK-RAT for moving and storage). The monthly storage rate was bumped last month by 8 percent (over a price quoted in June 2021).
A local (Palm Beach County) dentist said that he’d raised hygienist wages by 20 percent to partially compensate them for the increase cost of rent (our building has boosted prices for new tenants by 70 percent compared to a year ago).
Back in February, Ford did an unusual mid-year price increase on the F-150 pickup truck (“All Trims See A Minimum Price Bump Of $1,500 USD”).
Our Netflix subscription will be boosted by 11 percent compared to a price set at the end of 2020. (I think we will cancel this $186/year service because they don’t show too many high quality movies and I don’t have the patience for long series.)
The local car wash is up to $29 from $25, a 16-percent increase compared to fall 2021 ($37 with tax and tip to remove the Happy Meal residue):
What have you all seen lately?
Those car wash prices are cheap considering that they are *all* hand washes and even the *least* expensive one includes vacuuming the interior. My local *automated* car wash that uses brushes, no wheel cleaning, no vacuuming, is now charging $16 for the three minute trip through their machine with the basics. They allegedly include some spraying of various wax on the surface, and the attendant does a “once over” before you drive into the brushes using a pressure/foam gun and a brush on a long stick to stab at the grille and back hatch and hopefully get the bugs off before the wash begins.
That was $12 a year ago, so the cost is 33% higher. $29 for their best hand wash with Rain-X treatment and hand-applied spray wax is a bargain in my book. Do they Rain-X all the windows? Using the proper method?
Afterward you drive over to the vacuum machines and plonk in $2.00 for 5 minutes to use their vacuum machine, then either let the car air dry or use their air dryer for similar prices. They are both up from $1.50 a year ago.
That $29 job, in other words, with all the hand labor and especially the window cleanings, etc., (particularly if they do the interior glass) is a BARGAIN where I live in MA. You’re living the good life.
By the way, once the weather warms up a little more, I’m going to be doing a paint correction / buff, wash and wax on the FEH using my own mixture of tools and supplies (which cost me over $100.) I’m going to reserve an entire day for it, because I also want to fix some paint chips, which require sanding and some multicoat detail work. Anyway, I have a friend who runs an auto detailing business in Florida. He does professional-grade full paint corrections including wet sanding, chip and scratch mediation, and can make a 1992 Honda Civic look incredible…but he charges a few hundred dollars for the privilege.
I asked him for a “last coat of wax” recommendation and here it is. If you ever decide to press-gang the Children into indentured servitude, this stuff is the bees knees. If I still lived in Jersey I’d say it was “SWEET!”
It’s flammable and smells incredible, and he recommends it without reservation for its “last step” finish on anything, including ostentatious cars that I can’t afford like the high-end marques he occasionally works on:
https://www.collinite.com/product/no-845-insulator-wax/
And finally, one more product plug: if you want to apply Rain-X to your windows, the first thing you want to do is get them *really, really clean* — as in microscopically clean. I recommend: 1) Wash with Dawn Dish Soap and warm water using microfiber mitt 2) Rinse generously 3) Use **MOTHER’S SPEED CLAY 2.0** on the windows with liberal amounts of plain water and/or soapy water.
https://mothers.com/products/speed-clay-2-17240
Why is this “weird?” Because Speed Clay 2.0 is normally thought of as a paint cleaning product. However, I’ve found that it works beautifully to clean the windows to a microscopic level without any danger of scratching the glass. It’s not abrasive, but whew does it clean glass well.
Fourth step is then to rinse the windows and use isopropyl alcohol on a soft microfiber cloth. The isopropyl alcohol dries so quickly that you can spot any schmutz that you missed.
At that point, your window glass is CLEAN. Then you apply the Rain-X according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.
I did this a year ago and the Rain-X still WORKS (degraded a little, but basically still about 50%) on my front, back and side glass. It took about an hour to do the relevant windows but it was worth it.
OK that’s it for me today. Bottom line: price of a basic automated car wash in my area is up 33% year/year.
I’m going to try your window cleaning recommendation.
To restore cloudy or UV-damaged headlight lenses this 3M rubbing compound goes on easy and works great!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AR7KVA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Rain X makes my windshield worse off after it wears off. The water smears and the wipers skip along the glass.
I prefer using the same wax on the windshield as on the car.
@Deplorable @Sam: I was impressed enough by the Speed Clay 2.0 that I keep it in the car now. If you need to clean windshield at most gas stations, esp., the swamp water they keep in the squeegee bucket is inadequate. It helps if you follow my steps but it works well with just plain water, or you can put some windex in a small bottle and spray that on as you use it while on the road.
https://i.ibb.co/1XgQFZJ/2010-FEH-WINDSHIELD.jpg
Here is my 11 year old Ford windshield after the procedure from my post. I had just finished with Rain-X, after the isopropanol and the MSC 2.0. Most of the “tough stuff” – e.g., bug residue and tree sap – came off with the MSC 2.0. I was impressed. It looked even better “in person” and the MSC2.0 was easy and ergonomic to use. Then you just rinse it off. What can I say, when something works like that on the 1st try, I’m going to keep using it.
@Sam: I had never used it before but I am noticing some of that. I’m going to try something different next time around. My friend in the detailing business recommended this. It is not cheap.
https://www.opticoat.com/product/optimum-opti-glass-coating/
@Deplorable: Sqrt(-1) on the 3M polishing compound for headlights. In fact I think it is the exact same polishing compound that 3M repackages in their headlight lens restoration kit. The kit I link to only does a couple of cars but if you have extra compound….
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/3m-headlight-lens-restoration-system-39008/7100089-p
I’m doing this next weekend on a 2011 Subaru Outback with faded/yellowed headlights.
As the months wear on, the lion kingdom has begun to not expect any tightening from the fed. More likely, they’ll start quantitative easing back up as repo operations & make another 1 & done interest rate hike of .25%.
I’m predicting the same. Just bought some new issue two-year GM bonds paying 4%.
One more, sorry: I just spoke to my version of Senior Management: the small storage area we rent has jacked its price for a monthly rental from $220/mo. to $260/mo. 18% increase. I suspect our trash removal/recycling involving emptying a dumpster 2x/mo. has increased similarly, but I don’t pay those bills directly.
In my experience keeping stuff in storage never is usually never worth it. Usually it is just cheaper to sell whatever junk you have then buy new stuff when you will need it. If you can provide a mailing address I am happy to send you some Joe Biden, I did that stickers. Truly a fun game for the whole family. We put them just about everywhere even menus. Not sure why the car wash menu doesn’t have a few.
TS: In a country afflicted with galloping inflation and sold-out everything, I think storage makes more sense than in the U.S. pre-2020. We have some IKEA furniture in our containers, for example, and there wouldn’t be any way to buy replacements right now since IKEA is sold out of almost everything. I’m looking at some of the stuff that we bought at Room & Board. If ordered today, it would be delivered in August (maybe!).
(Imagine if we’d had the foresight to store GPU cards!)
Fair enough…. I managed to find your mailing address on your website. I hope you enjoy the stickers I mailed you and hope to see you and your family put them to good use.
Not too long ago, the news media was celebrating the pay raise entry level jobs were getting and how it will help those most in need. What about now? Is the pay raise high enough to offset inflation? It is not. The fix? How about more “free” money from Uncle Same to fight the high cost of living.
Btw, where prices has not gone up, either quantity or quality has gone down.
My $1.19 Barbasol shaving cream from Publix went from 11 oz to 7 oz, with a nearly imperceptible change in can size.
I’ve just noticed that a quart of bleach is really 3/4 of a quart of bleach.
Grocery shopping yesterday, noticed prices jumped from last week: fresh pizza $6 -> $7, tomato juice $2 -> $2.30, potato chips $1 -> $1.30, frozen chicken breasts 1.8kg -> 1.5kg (smaller package, same price).
Gasoline went DOWN 33 cents per gallon in northwest FL, from $4.15 to $3.82. Other tags all up.
Off topic: @philg’s Disney report cooled the better half’s enthusiasm for an Orlando vacay.
Wow, $3.82. I have not seen such prices, which are by the way too $1.50 greater then I paid for one gallon of regular gasoline in 2020, for a long while. Orlando vacation still makes sense – lot’s of action of children (Universal, Aquatica, Alligator parks, etc…) and adults – golf courses, dining, etc…
Only $3.82? TAKE MY MONEY
The $3.82 gas won’t get you to civilization, just to Alabama/Mississippi/Georgia.
Hi Alex. Thanks for posting your clay bar tip again. Waiting for spring here in Chicagoland for Collinite and RainX application
Property insurance for March 2022 – March 2023 for three FL properties was up 11%, 13%, & 23%.
Sep. 2021, I raised the rent on one tenant 10% and will raise it another 10% this coming Sep.
^ But the Sep. 2021 10% rent increase was the first rent increase for this tenant in five years. And I’m still $500 under market rate.
Storage Lockers: Years ago worked for Shurgard (now Public Storage) in a consulting capacity I won’t describe. The whole game is based on people storing lots of near-worthless stuff for years and years, and then finally, throwing nearly all of it away. Obviously this isn’t always the case, but mostly it is! Related, crazy documentary, maybe on Netflix- Finders Keepers.
Kind of related: Remember Blockbuster? I understood their revenue model was all about the late fees. Break even renting videos. Profit wildly on late fees.
I tried to convince our fine host of this but he sort of blew me off. He claims his Ikea furniture will appreciate at such a rate that makes the storage fees negligible. I hope our fine host posts a blog post when he moves to a larger home in Florida about analyzes the costs and benefits of storing the Ikea furniture. My guess is he will still be behind….. but I hope he enjoys the stickers I mailed to him!
I am pretty sure that for US residents the Boston Marathon entry fee for 2019 was $200 and for 2022 it is $205
Dave: https://www.podiumrunner.com/events/2010-boston-marathon-registration-open/ says that it was $130 for the 2010 race. So that’s almost 60 percent inflation over the 12-year period. Official CPI calculator at BLS says that $130 should have turned into $170 (i.e., the official rate understates what runners have actually experienced).
Unpatriotic Americans can sell their stockpiled toilet paper and buy ruples.
@Philg I was surprised that the 2019 to 2022 Boston Marathon entry fee increase was not higher. My perception has been that all race entry fees have jumped. I found some data here (runsignup.com/trends – jump to page 47) but as noted in the report, the fees are likely artificially lower as virtual races were included which are priced lower.
Hi Rick! and good luck. Remember that if you are taking your shiny car into the city – lock your doors while driving around there and show a lot of love. Mayor Lightfoot says that carjackers do what they do because they feel “unloved” – after her Film Office Director Kwame Amoaku was carjacked and savagely beaten:
“Chicago police reported that Amoaku saw three young men inside his car as he walked toward it at 7:46am, on the 2100 block of West 22nd Place. He confronted the intruders, who then attacked him and fled in a gray Dodge Caravan that was waiting nearby. Moments later, they returned to the scene, beating Amoaku a second time and robbing him, before driving off in his car.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10682245/Chicago-film-boss-hired-mayor-hospital-carjacking-Lightfoot-says-carjackers-unloved.html
Pres. Biden has extended the moratorium on student loan repayments for the fifth time to August 2022.
Oh, and another inflation example. In 2015, before Hurricane Matthew (Oct. 2016) and Hurricane Irma (Sep. 2017) strafed Florida’s east coast, I got an estimate from Lowes for installation of a whole-house 20KW Generac generator at $5500. I regret not taking the deal. In 2020, the price jumped to $11,000 for the same unit.