$60 Doesn't Buy What it Used To

I know that I'm risking sounding like a grumpy, old man when I write this, but I'll write it anyway. This is a right you earn with age, Rai, especially when you're as old as your Dad is.
In MY day, $60 was a lot of money. For $60, I could enjoy at least two summer weeks of movies, snacks, slurpees, arcade games, and meals out with friends. For $60, I could buy a few t-shirts, a pair of pants and some nice shirt.
If $60 could buy me 4 or 5 articles of clothing then it could certainly supply a baby with 10-20 outfits, right? I mean, baby clothes require just a fraction of the fabric of a teenager's clothing and the patterns are usually quite simple.
I couldn't be more wrong. Not about the amount of fabric or simple design, but about the cost of baby clothes. We have been warned, though. Baby clothes are expensive. Many friends told us. I didn't realize just how expensive they are until the other day when we bought a huge stockpile of new clothing for Rai as he has almost outgrown a lot of his 0-6 month old outfits.
In the photo is the pile of 57 (yes, we counted them) separate items that we bought for the bankrupting cost of $60. Can I say it one more time? $60 just doesn't have the buying power that it once did. And don't even ask how much that jumping toy thingy in the background cost.... Well, okay, if you must know. It was $15.
Wait a minute! I think I've got this story all mixed up. $60 today buys so much more than it did when I was growing up! The world is changing. More sharing and recycling is going on all around us. With websites like craigslist and freecycle around, we may never have to buy anything new ever again. This is the new consumerism. Today, items that were once discarded when no longer useful for one person are now passed on and on and on until they have been used to their full potential.
We get everything on craigslist (including this bounty of baby clothing for that low, low price). Raising a baby may not be as expensive as it's made out to be (I still haven't found used diapers on Craigslist, though). And, although Rai is crushing our Lonely Planet: The Travel Book as he jumps in his jumping toy, our travel dream need not be quashed since we're saving all this money.