Do you remember when it was possible to buy a pretty decent used car for $2,000? I do – because I bought several of them, including a $700 '74 Beetle I bought in the early '90s as a daily driver after I got out of college.

Some will say it's just "inflation" – that things don't actually cost more. They just cost more dollars. Is the distinction valid?

I typed the $700 I paid for my '74 Beetle back in the early '90s into the government's inflation calculator. It says that it takes about $1,800 today to buy what I bought back then for $700. The trouble with that math is you probably aren't going to be able to find a daily-drivable old Beetle today for $1,800. Today, that number of dollars will buy you a parts car Beetle that will need a lot of work to be viable as a daily driver. A Beetle equivalent to the one I bought back in the early '90s for $700 would probably cost you at least $3,000 – based on my survey of asking prices on Facebook Marketplace, Craigs list and so on. I found one – same year as my old one – in about the same general condition; mechanically sound (according to the seller) with faded paint and a well-worn interior. The asking price is $5,500.

You might be able to find one for less. But not for $700 ($1,800 in today's dollars).

Back in the early '90s, I was a young guy recently out of college who wasn't making a lot of dollars yet I was able to easily pay cash for my '74 Beetle because $700 wasn't a lot of dollars back then. Today, $1,800 dollars doesn't buy much, but it's also a lot of dollars for most of us – me included. And it's now more than 30 years later. I'm no longer a young guy and for that reason, I ought to be able to buy something like my '74 Beetle today more easily – on the assumption that I ought to be in better shape financially today than I was back then. But – like probably a lot of people – I'm not. And it isn't because I'm irresponsible or profligate with money. I haven't got any debt. I have never even taken out a loan on a car. I have always paid cash for the vehicles I've bought, including my '74 Beetle. And also my '76 Trans-Am, which I bought just a little bit after I bought the Beetle, which I was able to do because the TA only cost $4,500 back then. The government says that $4,500 back then is the same as $11,700 today except it isn't – because to buy a car like my TA today would cost easily twice if not three times that much.