Will The Cost of Living in NJ Continue to Rise?

In short, yes. According to a recent article on the Asbury Park Press website, there’s eight things that will cost you more this year. What’s the most recent increase on people’s minds? Tolls. As you all know, the tolls on both the GSP and the NJ Turnpike went up 50% on January 1st. Personally, I’ve noticed a significant increase in the amount of drivers on Route 9 in Sayreville in an effort to avoid the Driscoll tolls. Although this alternate route always had heavy traffic during rush hours, it’s even more so now that the tolls have increased. I’m sure once the newness of the toll increase has died down, people will revert to using the GSP in that area again, but the increase in costs doesn’t end with the tolls.

This year, food goods are expected to rise 2.5-3.5%. I’m sure some of you may have already noticed the price increase in dairy products and coffee. Our local pizzeria increased their prices to reflect the pinch they’re feeling from an increase in flour costs. Our local Foodtown is working toward its closing, and with less supermarkets in the area, that means less competitive pricing, and for all of us that’s bad news for our wallets.

The cost of heating oil has risen 14% over the past year. Gas prices are continuously rising. Tuition increases have been made across the board at colleges, and the list goes on. How do all of these cost increases affect the common New Jersey citizen? The kicker here is that wage increases have not kept up with the rate of inflation. Smaller raises or no raises at all means that New Jerseyans have less to spend, and with less to spend, our economy will keep up this downward spiral.

You’ve heard of the phrase, “You have to spend money to make money,” right? Well, in order for our economy to get better, one thing we need to do is increase our consumer spending, and in order to do that, we need wage increases that are competitive with the inflation rate. Until that happens, our cost of living will continue to rise in this great Garden State, which makes it, well…not so great at all.