Remember when

Everyone seems to be talking now about the increase in prices. Food prices, gas prices, utility bills, the price of a new vehicle, and everything else is going up. It is true.

I have this conversation with others around my age, that I remember when this or that was a certain price, which is way less than it is now.

I actually do remember when gas was 19 cents a gallon. I don’t know what year that was, but when I think of that price now, it doesn’t seem possible that it was ever that low.

I bought my first car when I turned 21. It was a Mercury Capri, red with manual transmission. What a great car! I bought it brand new, and I paid $2,600 for it.

When I moved to Haiti in 1977, I remember their gas price was $1.03 per gallon. I thought that price was higher than a cat’s back. I could hardly believe it.

I also remember when a postage stamp was a nickel. Wouldn’t that be a dream now? On July 12, 2026, the price of a postage stamp will increase to 82 cents. 

I was thinking the other day about the vast increases in prices I have seen over my lifetime. I’m not exactly a young person, but I think even much younger people have also seen prices skyrocket in their lifetimes.

Forty years ago, the year 1986, a dozen eggs cost 35 cents. A loaf of white bread was 8 cents. A half-gallon of milk was 26 cents, and the average cost of a new car was $9,281.

Today’s prices are somewhat higher. 

The average price of a dozen eggs now ranges from $2.20 to $2.60. You may purchase of loaf of white bread from $1.59 to $4.00. The average price of a half-gallon of milk is $4.22, and the average cost of a new car is currently $49,000. 

Using examples of those same items, I did a little calculation using the same increases. If the percentage of increases are the same forty years from now as they were over the past forty years, here is what they might be.

The average price of a dozen eggs will range from $13.90 to $19.32. You may purchase of loaf of white bread from $31.61 to $200. The average price of a half-gallon of milk will be $68.49, and the average cost of a new car will be $258,720. 

So, in 2066, someone who is my age now may say, “I remember when the price of gas was only $6 a gallon. Wouldn’t it be nice to go back to those prices?”

At that, I’ll have nothing to say.

Have a great weekend!

— My love to all,

Nancy

• • •

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

— Romans 8:28