Lately, my wife and I have noticed that our dollar isn’t stretching as much as it used too. As a dad, I worry about stuff like this all the live-long day. I worry because I have very little input (none, in fact) on how the prime rate will fluctuate throughout the year. Bernanke never calls me for my opinion. I never get included on those meetings that ultimately decide how the price of gas will change next week or supply restrictions from OPEC will be loosened.

I can only take comfort or actually - discomfort in the facts. I read the articles. I pay attention to the news. I pinch my pennies and my wife cuts coupons, and I love her for it. Here’s my latest scribblings on post-it pads and they are somewhat illuminating. These numbers are based on the three years we’ve lived here in sunny LA:

Price of Gas (average June 2004) = $2.25 /gallon
Price of Gas (now) = $3.55 /gallon
DIFFERENCE = 58% increase

Price of Disposable Diapers (Costco June 2004) = $29.99
Price of Disposable Diapers (Costco now) = $37.99
DIFFERENCE = 26.5% increase

Price of Whole Milk (June 2004) = $2.75/gallon
Price of Whole Milk (now) = $3.79/gallon
DIFFERENCE = 38% increase

Now I take that and look at my salary increase over the same period of time is approximately 10-12% increase. Wow.

Just for giggles, I took a snapshot of Exxon’s Financial Profit/Loss chart for the three years (to the day) as it’s reported on Yahoo Finance. I chose them since they have the most market capital ($467.5 billion to be exact) for the industry. Interesting, right? I was never a finance major in college but if I am reading this chart correctly, they are experiencing an 87% increase in their share price during the same three year period. Hmph.

Price of Exxon Share (May 23rd, 2004) = $43.82
Price of Exxon Share (now) = $82.28
DIFFERENCE = 87% increase