Bringing the high cost of living down to earth
Perhaps you’ve noticed: Living is expensive. ¶ In January, you paid an average of 3.9% more for basics -- the roof over your head, the food in your fridge, the visits to your doctor -- than you did 12 months earlier in Southern California. ¶ You dump some quarters into the laundromat dryer and it stops turning sooner. The utility bill gives you heartburn. Campbell announces a 5% hike in soup prices because of the high cost of wheat. A government forecast says food in general will set you back 3.5% more this year. ¶ “I guess the good times are over,” says Serena Jen, an Angeleno who recently put herself on a budget. “You have to watch where the money goes now.” ¶ People are coping in many ways -- patronizing the public library instead of the bookstore, kicking the brand loyalty habit, negotiating (often successfully) with credit card companies, finally taking their fathers’ advice to check the tire pressure, mowing their own lawns. For tales from the front lines of frugality, turn to Page C4.
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Soaring prices
What’s going up? If you drive a car, buy food or rent a home you’re probably paying more for them all.
GASOLINE: 26.9%
Increase in average price of a gallon of self-serve regular in Los Angeles from January 2007 to January 2008.
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AUTOMOBILE MAINTENANCE: 25.8%
Increase in the annual average price of maintaining a car in the West from 2006 to 2007.
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BANK FEES: 24.6%
Increase in the average minimum balance required in no-fee, interest-bearing accounts from fall 2006 to fall 2007.
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1 EURO: 16%
Increase in the value of the euro versus the U.S. dollar between last week and the same week last year.
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PARKING TICKET: 8.3%
Increase in the fine for illegally parking in a handicapped parking spot in Newport Beach as of July 2007.
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GROCERIES: 7.1%
Increase in the cost of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ basket of food items in the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County area from January 2007 to January 2008.
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RENT: 5.1%
Increase in the average monthly rent in Los Angeles County from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007.