Die Hard was a box office hit. People were whistling Bobby McFerrin’s Don’t Worry Be Happy and George Bush was elected president of the U.S. over Michael Dukakis.
The median household income in America was $25,872, which in today's dollars would be about $55,000.
Financial analysts claim the U.S. economy is facing one of the worst periods of inflation since the recession.
“Level of revolving debt, 30 years ago is was at $172 billion and it’s now over a trillion,” said Sugar Land-based Money Management International's Thomas Nitzche.
He said there's a five to sixfold increase in the level of unsecured debt.
And, we have expenses and services we didn't have back then.
“With movies, most people will have Hulu and Netflix and they have other sort of entertainment expenses. Cable is a big expense,” said Nitzche.
He said more households have higher levels of credit card debt, medical debt, multiple student loans, car payments and housing--rent or mortgage.
Nitzsche said most of their clients have never done a household budget before, knowing exactly what's coming in and going out. They know an hourly wage or yearly income, but not each month. And, raises haven't kept up with the inflation and rising costs.
People now have side jobs that they didn't 30 years ago, or have family or a friend living with them to split the costs.
From apples to stock in Apple, there’s many everyday items that cost much more than they did back in the day. Here's 25 everyday items cost 30 years ago
1. A college education
1988— tuition at private four-year colleges was $15,160 and $3,190 at public four-year institutions.
Currently— $34,740 for private colleges and $9,970 for state residents at public colleges.
2. A wedding
1988— $10,000
Currently— Average $30,000
3. Bacon
1988— $1.90 per pound
Currently — $5.25 per pound
4. Movie tickets
1988— $4.11
Currently — $9.27
5. Gas
1988— $0.96/gallon
Currently — $2.87 per gallon
6. Milk
1988— a gallon of milk was about $2.19
Currently —$2.89.
7. Houses
1988— At the end of the first quarter of 1988, the median sale price of homes in the U.S. was $110,000.
Currently — At the end of 2017, the median home sale price was $323,100.
8. Apples
1988— $0.80 per dozen
Currently — A pound of Red Delicious apples cost an average of $1.32 in late 2017
9. Apple stock
1988—shares were trading for around $0.10 apiece
Currently —Apple became the first American company to have its market capitalization cross the $1 trillion mark, with its shares closing at $207 apiece that day.
10. A first-class stamp
1988—$0.22 to $0.25.
Currently —$0.50
11. A personal computer
1988— $1,400
Currently — $400
12. Eggs
1988— $0.71 per dozen
Currently —$1.63
13. Magazines
1988— $2
Currently — $6.
14. Cell phones
1988— $2,500
Currently —A new Apple iPhone X, starts around $1,000.
15. Bread
1988— $0.60
Currently — A one-pound loaf of white bread recently cost an average of $1.28
16. Big-screen TVs
1988— $3,000
Currently — $700 or less.
17. Ice cream
1988— A half-gallon of ice cream cost an average of $2.44
Currently — $4.66, in mid-2018.
18. Rent
1988— $550
Currently —$950.
19. Internet access
1988— $6 to $47.50 per hour -- which would be about $13 to $101 in today's dollars.
Currently — $50 to $60 per month.
20. Sirloin steak
1988— the average cost of a pound of USDA Choice sirloin steak was about $3.85
Currently — $8.51 per pound
21. Coffee
1988— A pound of ground roast coffee cost an average of $2.74
Currently —averaged $4.29
22. Hard drive memory
1988— cost per MB at about $10.
Currently — 1TB capacity for $50 or less, putting the price per MB at $0.00005 or less.
23. Camera
1988— Canon EOS 650, which sold for around $600.
Currently —Canon DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) between around $400 and $800.
24. Electricity
1988— A kilowatt hour of electricity cost an average of $0.084
Currently —averaged $0.139
25. Color printer
1988— a fancy one cost around $995
Currently —a Brother color laser printer can be found for less than $175.