Your Dollar Buys Less Every Year and Nobody Voted for That
Let me explain inflation the way nobody in economics class ever did. You know that $20 bill in your wallet? It’s shrinking. Not physically, obviously. But what it can actually buy you? That’s getting smaller every single year. And the wildest part is you never agreed to this.
I think about this stuff constantly because I trade for a living. Inflation isn’t some abstract chart on CNBC. It’s the reason your grocery receipt looks like a car payment.
The Grocery Store Is Ground Zero
Let’s get real specific. A dozen eggs in 2019 cost about $1.40. By early 2023, that same carton hit $4.80 in most cities. That’s not a typo. Eggs tripled in under four years. Your salary didn’t triple. Mine didn’t either.
Ground beef was $3.80 a pound in 2020. Now you’re lucky to find it under $5.50. A gallon of milk went from $3.20 to over $4. None of these are luxury items. This is Tuesday night dinner for a family of four.
Gas Prices Hit Different When You Commute
Remember $2.15 gas in April 2020? I do, because I filled my tank for like $30 and thought the world was ending (it kind of was). Fast forward to June 2022 and the national average crossed $5. That’s a 130% increase in two years. If your portfolio did that, you’d be popping champagne. When gas does it, you’re just broke.
And here’s what kills me. Gas comes back down a little and everyone acts like we got a deal. Bro, $3.50 gas is not a deal. We just got used to getting robbed at $5.
Rent Is the Silent Killer
The average U.S. rent in 2019 was around $1,465 a month. By 2024 it crossed $1,700 nationally, and in cities like Austin or Nashville it jumped 30-40%. I know guys making six figures in Miami who have roommates. Six figures. Roommates. That sentence shouldn’t exist.
The Fed talks about “shelter inflation” like it’s a line item. For normal people, it’s half their paycheck disappearing into a landlord’s pocket.
So Who’s Actually Doing This to Us
Short answer: everybody and nobody. The Fed printed trillions during COVID. Supply chains broke. Companies realized they could raise prices and blame “the environment.” Wages went up a little, but prices went up a lot. When your raise is 4% but inflation is 7%, you got a pay cut. Nobody frames it that way, but that’s the math.
I watch CPI prints like other people watch playoff games. And what the numbers keep telling me is that the “2% inflation target” the Fed loves to talk about means they’re PLANNING for your money to lose value. Two percent a year doesn’t sound bad until you do the math over 20 years. That’s roughly 33% of your purchasing power gone. On purpose.
This Is Why I Trade
I’m not saying this to be doom and gloom. I’m saying it because understanding inflation is literally the first step to not getting wrecked by it. Cash sitting in a savings account at 0.5% APY while inflation runs at 3-4%? You’re losing money by doing nothing.
Traders get this intuitively. Every position we take is partly an inflation bet. Stocks, commodities, forex, all of it moves on inflation expectations. The people who understand this game protect their purchasing power. Everyone else just wonders why everything costs more and shrugs.
Your dollar is melting. Slowly, quietly, and with the full blessing of monetary policy. The least you can do is pay attention.