Author Topic: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators  (Read 5584 times)

arebelspy

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Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« on: June 25, 2012, 08:13:12 PM »
Calculating inflation is an important part of future financial projections.

Although the past is no guarantee of future results, here are two inflation calculators I've found useful.

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

Enjoy!
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velocistar237

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Re: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« Reply #1 on: June 26, 2012, 08:56:10 AM »
Joe Dominguez (author of Your Money or Your Life) tended to think that cost of living didn't necessarily track inflation. Is there any sort of calculator that might factor that in, or is CPI good enough?

darkelenchus

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Re: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« Reply #2 on: June 26, 2012, 09:28:31 AM »
Calculating inflation is an important part of future financial projections.

Although the past is no guarantee of future results, here are two inflation calculators I've found useful.

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

Enjoy!

Very handy, although the westegg one only has 2010 for the most recent year. :-\

arebelspy

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Re: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« Reply #3 on: June 26, 2012, 02:10:37 PM »
Joe Dominguez (author of Your Money or Your Life) tended to think that cost of living didn't necessarily track inflation. Is there any sort of calculator that might factor that in, or is CPI good enough?

I don't think there could be one for that, because it affects everyone differently based on their lifestyle and where they spend their money.

If it's important to you, you could track your expenses long term to find your own personal inflation rate versus CPI.

To me that's probably more of measuring with a micrometer and cutting with an axe, so while I think he's probably right, these rough numbers are good enough for me.  YMMV.
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MrSaturday

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Re: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« Reply #4 on: June 26, 2012, 03:26:29 PM »
Mustachians have way more control over the way inflation affects us than most people.

Gas prices rising?  Ride my bike more.
Rent rising?  Move to a less trendy neighborhood.
Cable TV rising?  Not applicable.

Chris

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Re: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« Reply #5 on: June 26, 2012, 04:53:00 PM »
I don't think there could be one for that, because it affects everyone differently based on their lifestyle and where they spend their money.

While true, the CPI is based on a basket of goods and services for the average American. It would be cool if there was a web tool that would show inflation of your basket of goods and services. So mustachians could remove cable TV and fine dining, vegetarians remove meat, non-smokers remove tobacco, etc.  The BLS has all this data...

arebelspy

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Re: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« Reply #6 on: June 26, 2012, 05:29:54 PM »
I don't think there could be one for that, because it affects everyone differently based on their lifestyle and where they spend their money.

While true, the CPI is based on a basket of goods and services for the average American. It would be cool if there was a web tool that would show inflation of your basket of goods and services. So mustachians could remove cable TV and fine dining, vegetarians remove meat, non-smokers remove tobacco, etc.  The BLS has all this data...

Ah, that's an interesting idea. 

I like it.

I wonder how easy it is to access their data (if it has to be done manually, or via API, or scraping, or what)...
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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Chris

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Re: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« Reply #7 on: June 26, 2012, 10:00:46 PM »
I wonder how easy it is to access their data (if it has to be done manually, or via API, or scraping, or what)...

Well, there is an API, but unsure if it's the right data.

I poked around a little, and what is needed is the value used for each item. It could be the percentage change since the last sampling period or some raw value. I haven't been able to find what I'm looking for via the API sampler. 

The data is in the CPI Detailed Report PDF, like this:

ItemImportanceApr '12May '12
Alcoholic beverages.984230.092230.766


Getting that via the API would be perfect.

velocistar237

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Re: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« Reply #8 on: June 27, 2012, 05:09:03 AM »
Aha! The MPI is born.

JohnGalt

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Re: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2012, 12:36:18 PM »
I use economic trend data at work and we like to hit the st louis federal reserve site for a lot of it.  I have not used the API before (though I could see a case for it coming up someday so I'm going to play around with it).  Here is a link to the documentation if anyone else wants to check it out.

http://api.stlouisfed.org/docs/fred/?utm_source=research&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=data-tools

sol

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Re: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« Reply #10 on: July 21, 2012, 01:03:06 PM »
These calculators are all well and good for what they do, but I'm a bit more concerned about future inflation rates than I am about past ones.

Can anybody recommend an analysis of expected future inflation rates?  Personal projections?

arebelspy

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Re: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« Reply #11 on: July 21, 2012, 01:28:01 PM »
These calculators are all well and good for what they do, but I'm a bit more concerned about future inflation rates than I am about past ones.

Can anybody recommend an analysis of expected future inflation rates?  Personal projections?

I agree.

Unfortunately I haven't yet found someone with an accurate crystal ball.

Let me know if you do.

;)
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sol

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Re: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« Reply #12 on: July 21, 2012, 05:38:52 PM »
Unfortunately I haven't yet found someone with an accurate crystal ball.

I'm not asking for accurate, just predictions.  I feel competent to judge for myself the value of such speculation, but less competent to do the analysis itself wholly alone.

arebelspy

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Re: Mustachian Web Tools: Inflation Calculators
« Reply #13 on: July 21, 2012, 06:05:52 PM »
Unfortunately I haven't yet found someone with an accurate crystal ball.

I'm not asking for accurate, just predictions.  I feel competent to judge for myself the value of such speculation, but less competent to do the analysis itself wholly alone.

Ah, okay.  Sure, I'd love to hear everyone's ideas as well.

You hear the whole spectrum from inflation to deflation to the fed can keep everything stable.  I'm curious what the Mustachians on here think is the most plausible or likely.

Want to start a new thread to discuss?
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.