The table
To buy what $100 bought in August of each year, you needed this much in August 2026:
| August of | What you'd pay in Aug 2026 for what $100 bought then |
|---|---|
| 1970 | $859 |
| 1980 | $402 |
| 1990 | $255 |
| 2000 | $194 |
| 2010 | $153 |
| 2020 | $129 |
Read it the other way and it stings more: $100 today buys what $51.59 bought in 2000. Almost half of its purchasing power is gone in 26 years.
Where the numbers come from
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks the prices of a basket of everyday goods and services: food, rent, fuel, transport, healthcare and more. That basket becomes one number, the Consumer Price Index (CPI). In August 2000 it stood at 172.8. In August 2026 it stood at 334.980.
The one formula you need
Price today = old price × (CPI now ÷ CPI then)
Example: $100 × (334.980 ÷ 172.8) = $193.85.
You can do this for any year with the BLS numbers and a phone calculator.
What "3.4% inflation" means right now
Between August 2025 and August 2026, the CPI rose 3.4%. In plain words: the same basket costs about $3.40 more for every $100 than it did a year ago.
Add the Rule of 72 (divide 72 by a yearly rate to see how long until something doubles): 72 ÷ 3.4 ≈ 21. If prices kept rising at that pace, the cost of the same basket of everyday goods would double in about 21 years.
Three things worth checking this week
- Your raise vs. prices. If your pay rose less than 3.4% over the last year, your pay buys less than it did, even though the number went up.
- Your savings rate vs. prices. Money earning less than inflation keeps its number but loses purchasing power. Look up what your savings account actually pays.
- Your "old price" memory. When something feels expensive, run the formula. Sometimes it is just inflation. Sometimes it really did get pricier faster than everything else, like homes have over the past 25 years.
Why this keeps happening
Prices rising every year is not a law of nature. It is the result of how today's money works, and that is one of the things that Chapter 1 of Reschooled captures: Why your money loses value.
Sign up to view more short video lessons that explain this concept from the ground up, at reschooled.life.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted, 1982-84=100. August values: 1970 39.0; 1980 83.3; 1990 131.6; 2000 172.8; 2010 218.312; 2020 259.918; 2025 323.976; 2026 334.980. Via FRED, series CPIAUCNS.
- BLS CPI news release for August 2026 (released September 11, 2026): all items up 3.4% over the last 12 months to 334.980.
Educational content, not financial advice.