Better Off?

 Better Off?

I regularly see posts, usually from Republicans, who are cheering their lower gas prices. They just filled up and noticed the difference. For them and others I thought a little reflection might be in order.

Gas prices are very slightly lower. Gasoline was $3.20 in October of 2024 and dropped to $3.06 in 2025. You are paying $2.80 less for 20 gallons than a year ago. If you fill up once a week, your annual gas savings would be $146.

Grocery prices are up around 3.2% from a year ago if you avoid coffee, beef and certain fresh vegetables which have seen significant increases. A $100 grocery bill will be $3.20 higher than your 2024 bill. That’s an annual increase of $192 for a household spending the national average of $500 month.

General consumer goods, excluding food and energy, increased by 2.9% from a year ago. With the average American spending $77,280 a year for housing, insurance, etc., you will annually spend $2,241 more than you did a year ago.

If the ACA (Affordable Care Act) enhanced premium tax credits expire as predicted, the average family with an income of $85,000 will see an annual increase of $3,768.

So, are we better off today than we were a year ago? A quick look at the figures above shows you will be saving $146 each year on gasoline. But, if we then deduct the increases in groceries, consumer goods, and healthcare which total $6,201, we find that you will be $6,055 poorer than before. So, before you run out and treat your family to a nice dinner with that $146 you saved at the pump, perhaps you might want to spend some time looking for a second job that will bring in an extra $6,000.

Note: All of this assumes that you are not an American farmer who must now rely on a federal bailout, or a former federal worker now out of a job, or you just lost your job because your employer’s business depended heavily on imported goods, or you lost your job because your industry relied directly or indirectly on federal contracts that just got cut.

Your mileage may vary, some settling of contents may have occurred during shipping, and objects in the mirror are closer than they appear. As always, that plastic bag is not a toy and it should be kept away from small children and dumb politicians. On second thought, ignore what I said about politicians.