Fixed Basket
An inflation index that never swaps steak for chicken
What it does
Official inflation lets the basket change — when steak gets expensive, it assumes you buy chicken. This one doesn't. The same 17 categories, priced monthly since 2000 from primary sources, with zero BLS CPI. A 2000 dollar now buys 41¢ of that cart. Build your own basket and see your number.
How fast is the dollar really losing value? We price the same cart of essentials — rent, groceries, gas, healthcare — every year, with no cheaper substitutions the way CPI makes. A 2000 dollar now buys about 41¢ of that cart.
We price one unchanging cart of everyday essentials — rent, groceries, gas, healthcare — and never swap in cheaper substitutes the way the official CPI does. That cart costs 147% more than in 2000, so a 2000 dollar buys about 41¢ of it today. Both rebased to January 2000 = 100. The Fixed Basket runs 1.00 pp/yr hotter than CPI-U (3.55%/yr vs 2.55%/yr) — CPI adjusts for substitution and quality; the fixed basket does not. Both series are not seasonally adjusted , so each shows a real intra-year cycle (energy-driven); rates are quoted year-over-year, which cancels it. BLS CPI-U (CUUR0000SA0) is shown for comparison only — it is not used anywhere in the index. Year-over-year change in the…from fixedbasket.org
Does the same job
all alternatives →
Inflation Scenario Simulator by Corrily2022 · ▲98See how inflation affects your SaaS revenue and plan ahead
US Dollar Inflation Calculator2020 · ▲108Calculate the value of the US dollar adjusted for inflation
More life & fun this month
the category →- TL
Life & fun · 10d ago · louisabraham.github.io
Photosynthesis fires two of your iPhone
Life & fun · 28d ago · photosynthesis.camera
SoloUno▲310Take control of hair pulling, nail biting & skin picking
Life & fun · 28d ago · solouno.io
Scroll through all 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 reachable Rubik's Cube permutations.
Life & fun · 26d ago · everycube.alen.is
Hi HN, I built Eigendrum, a web tool that solves the 2D wave equation for arbitrary shapes so you can hear what they sound like as drums. How it works: * Solves -∇²u = λu using finite element analysis (Kφ = λMφ) on a triangle mesh. * Validated to <0.1% error against closed-form solutions for circles (Bessel zeros) and rectangles. * Sound model factors in strike location, Rayleigh damping, and mallet width. * Includes Kac drums I & II to demonstrate identical sound spectra from different geometries. * No frameworks, build steps, or dependencies. Repo and tests:…
Life & fun · 26d ago · baselashraf81.github.io
Launched alongside, August 2026
the whole month →- TL
Life & fun · 10d ago · louisabraham.github.io
- SA
Hello HN! I found that picking out plausible but diverse skin tones for my digital art and game development projects was kind of difficult, and I got curious about if there was a way to define a color space that made it easy. I've built a color picker and procedural generation algorithm based on the space as well as a bunch of other fun js features and demos throughout the page that use the equations. If you find it interesting, I have lots of explanations of how I built it and what properties the space has. The methodology might be a bit shaky, but hopefully the result is as helpful for…
Life & fun · Aug 2026 · toneyalexander.github.io
I trained a 125M-parameter transformer to autocomplete piano performances in real time (~108 notes/sec on an iPhone 15). The idea is basically GitHub Copilot or Tabnine, except instead of prompting it with code, you prompt it by playing a few notes on a MIDI piano. The model then continues what you played, entirely on-device. The app is free if anyone wants to try it. Happy to answer questions about the model, training, Core ML, or the many things that didn't work.
AI · 16d ago · simedw.com