Chapter 11 (ECO)
STUDENT 1 POST
When you compare my basket of goods and services from those of the typical household I feel that there are a couple that are a larger part of my income then the typical consumer. One service is Dr's appointments and medication. With having a total of six family members in our family we pay a lot in medical bills. My oldest son is also autistic and requires a lot of care that we pay for as well. Another good that I would say we pay more for than the typical consumer is also groceries. With having a large family (3 boys, 1 girl) and me and my husband the amount of groceries that is needed to feed our family is high. With the ever rising cost's of health care I can only imagine that it will get worse. Each year as I receive a pay increase from my job, the costs rise of health care so it evens itself out each year.
STUDENT 2 POST
Changing your life style can be very expensive. When I think about where most of my income goes it would have to be toward medical bills and groceries. Now I know that veganism is a choice and a lot of people are going vegan but, nobody talks about how expensive it is. How expensive plant based foods are. Yes, you can always budget but then you would have to only consume a certain amount to save up for next time. A healthy life style isn’t easy. Which brings me to medical bills, I have been doing sports since I was little and now my knees are starting to feel all the pain from the past 15 years. So there are personal trainers, physical therapists, chiropractors, MRI’s, x-rays etc.. All those bills add up, but I guess it’s worth it because in return you are living a healthier life style.
When I think about me and my families current CPI, there are several areas that differ greatly from the CPI of families 10 years ago. The biggest area of change in CPI for my family, and for almost all Americans, would be increased spending on electronics and on the networks to run those electronics. To put things in perspective, in 2007 75% of Americans had cell phones but as of 2016, 95% had cellphones, in addition to Americans owning cellphones, now 92% of Americans between 18-29 have smart phones and 78% of all US adults have a laptop (PEW Research). The cost of all of these electronics contributes a significant amount to individuals CPI, because not only do people buy the electronics themselves but they must also buy the data, cell plan or internet to make them work. I personally believe that these added costs of technology have increased my families CPI considerably. While I am sure that there are other categories where CPI has changed in the last ten years, I think that spending on technology has absolutely been the biggest change in the basket of goods for my own family, and many American families.
http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/