The Eclipse and Inflation

Except for visiting some friends, there is no reason to go back to the Permian Basin. But after having an annular solar eclipse that took place on October 14, 2023 in Midland, there was another reason to go back and visit some friends:

Odessa, Texas is the place where I moved in the summer of 2013. A meal #2 from Whataburger with one slice of cheese would cost $8.11 after taxes. I went there again as I would have normally done every week and paid $11.41 for the same meal. That's about a 40.7% increase over the past decade. My starting salary as a teacher back then and my current salary right now went up about 47.4%, but that includes the fact that I now have ten years of experience, which pays a little more than starting teachers. Whataburger restaurants in the Permian Basin are a little more expensive than the ones in Dallas.

According to this website, the dollar has lost about 32.1% of its value, as an item that used to cost a dollar in 2013 now costs about $1.32. This was confirmed on this government website. 

While inflation has taken a huge toll on us lately and teacher salaries have not caught up since COVID started, it appears that teachers like me have had some modest increases over the past decade overall. 

Whataburger prices have gone up more than the cost of inflation. It gets worse when I now add two slices of cheese instead of one.