I don’t like the commonly used inflation metric of year-over-year price comparison. After a long period of inflation, at some point, the monthly inflation numbers become very small. This is seen as “taming inflation”, as though the problem has been solved. But the price of everything is still inflated. There is never deflation to correct the inflation.
I thought this article was interesting.
Price control???
Exactly, so basically after the dust settles, $15 an hour is worth exactly the same as it was when it was $7.50 an hour.
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We just discovered that the inflation raise I got put us in a higher tax bracket. You just can’t win sometimes. That along with SAT prep for our soon-to-be college bound daughter is taking its toll. So Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club is our new home for food and shopping. I wanted to get a kilowatt floor speaker system with an oversized subwoofer, worthy of neighbors calling the police during an Avengers marathon. That went to taxes 
but there’s plenty of thump from the system we have.
One small nitpick. Your marginal tax rate went up. Doesn’t mean your pre-raise income will be now taxed at a higher level. The new tax bracket applies only to the extra $$ you received as your raise.
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H is always glad to have a bit more money, even when it puts us in a higher marginal tax bracket. Maybe your acct can help you figure out if you can lower your taxable income in some legal way?
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That’s exactly what happened according to Turbo Tax. No monster stereo system for me 
We’ll definitely be going to a tax pro next year for some damage control.
Actually, I’d go now to a tax pro, so you and your H can try to do some tweaking now, not after tax year ends. After year is over, you can just learn what you may do for following year.
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Are you saying that your raise is proving to be a net loss? Or that the bump on the marginal tax rate makes it less of an increase than it should be?
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I’m saying that the extra taxes made me mad because I had to use money I would have used for a kick a** stereo system. I have a mid-life crisis to handle!
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Sounds like someone did not withhold/paid enough taxes during the year so that there was an amount owed at tax time. Poor planning, but that doesn’t mean the raise resulted in a net loss.
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Which means less money in my paycheck or money paid at tax day. Taxes went up and my midlife crises is ruined. 
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But you still made more after tax money with the raise.
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Initially I had assumed that the point is that if you get a raise equal to the inflation rate, then your gross income is unchanged in real dollars, but your net income isn’t keeping up with inflation.
But that isn’t really the case, for two reasons:
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tax brackets are indexed to inflation
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the point was not my technical issue, but the desire for an audio upgrade
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I think @coolguy40 situation proves inflation. Even though he got a raise, he can’t afford a luxury item he wants. He needs to use all the ‘new’ money just for the living expenses he has, including taxes.
We’ve not only had a raise in income taxes but in sales taxes to pay for all the things people vote for - homeless fund, scholarship fund, save the wolves…our sales taxes have risen over 1% in the last year, so instead of 8.X% they are now 9.X%, and you really do notice the difference every time you shop. Buy a new car and REALLY notice it.
My biggest inflation complaint is going out to lunch. Used to be I could do it for about $12 and have a salad or burger. This week I went out twice and once was $32 (salad, but a really good one) and the other $25 (tacos). These were not fancy places.
Eating out is really the place I notice inflation. We used to consider a local Mexican food place our “easy, fast, cheap, satisfying” place. But now, burritos that were $8 in 2012 are $15!! We may go again sometime, but we will think twice about it. Pretty much everywhere is $18 for a meal, even burgers and fries or pizza around here.
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It likely does. However, the claim that new tax bracket reduced his take home pay in absolute $ is simply not accurate.
Consider this hypothetical
$100k income taxed at 20% = take home is $80k. Cumulative tax rate: 20%.
Pay was bumped up $10k (10% raise) all of which is now taxed in the new tax bracket of 25%.
Take home:
$100k minus 20% tax = $80k
$10k minus 25% tax = $7.5k
Total take home = $87.5k (sum of the above).
Cumulative tax rate though went up: 22.5/110 —-> 20.5%.
Back to inflation. 
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Yes, We notice increased food prices as well. We used to be able to go out for breakfast for $20 or $30 at locsl coffee shop for the 2 of us. Now it’s often $40 or even $50 after tax & tip! It’s encouraging us to cook at home more, which is healthier and cheaper.
My trips to Costco for “just a few things” used to be mostly under $100 but now it rarely is.