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Almost Everything Costs More!
My cost of living in 1988.
Bass guitars are cheaper today.
Rick Beato has a good video where he says only rich kids make it in the music industry today. I really connected with his recollection of how bands had to work jobs — and work together as a community — to keep themselves going. It was collective effort that allowed musicians to seek their passions of making music. That said, things were just more affordable back then — even adjusting for inflation. In this article, I will provide figures for cost at the time followed by today’s adjusted for inflation number, to give an example of how the cost of living was less at the late 1980s.
I write about my work experience before Nirvana became famous here.
In this article, I want to focus on the year 1988. I was living in the North End of Tacoma. I worked at various industrial job sites, mostly painting the Simpson-Craft Paper mill in the Port of Tacoma or driving to Tukwila to paint at the Boeing Oxbow facility.
I earned $7.00 (1988) / $19.76 (2026) an hour. Before payroll deductions I was making $1,120.00 / 3,147.56 per month.
I bought a 1965 VW Beetle for $50.00 / $140.00 and put a good engine in it from another wrecked car. I did the work myself and took me about four hours with hardly any more costs to get this car going.
Gas was $0.96 / $2.70 per gallon. The VW would go around 300 miles on $10.00 / $27.00 worth of gas. I did not pay auto insurance because it was not mandatory at the time.
I rented a 2200 sq. ft. house in North Tacoma for $450.00 / $1,264.65 per month. My rent expenses were shared. Renting a house in Seattle was out of the question due to the high cost.
I won’t get into groceries and other costs, but look at how much I was spending on my rent. It was 40 percent of my income — and rent was shared.
I drove to Seattle all of the time to catch Rock shows and play many myself with my band.
Then came 1991 and, beyond my wildest dreams, I was in a whole new tax bracket. Nevermind was a hit record. The first thing I did was by a house in Seattle on 54th street, between Green Lake and I-5. I paid $270k / $638k for a nice 2500 sq. ft. Tudor style. I checked, and a couple of years ago, that house sold for around $1.2M — that’s 136 percent inflation.
All kinds of Growth
Washington's population has grown by approximately 3.48 million people since 1988, an increase of about 75 percent .
In 1988, the operating budget for Olympia was $8.08B / $22.33B. Today Olympia costs $79.4 billion for the 2025–2027 biennium. Our state budget has expanded 256 percent since 1988 .
While Nirvana ended as a band in 1994, the decade fostered revolutionary growth in Seattle and Washington business. Startups like Microsoft and Amazon exploded into global giants which created a lot of wealth.
There have been contractions over time, but our state is still a global economic powerhouse. People are moving here from all over the world because of the prosperity.
There’s pressure on people — much of it resulting from the consequences of public policy. Gas costs $.50 more today because of the state Climate Commitment Act. Olympia also taxes things like temporary labor and professional services.
The federal government has imposed tariffs on imports. Neoconservative foreign policy, supported by both major parties, has resulted in higher fuel costs. Then there’s the $40T debt hanging over us like a marine layer in the early morning.
Nevertheless, I hear economists tout the resiliency of our current economy in the face of all this.
Top Lists
It’s reported Washington is ranked 11th in CNBC’s list of Top States for Business . That’s great!
There are all kinds of lists as a way to measure success.
Top 100 Albums, Top Rock Bands — lists are a good way to generate content and clicks; but I never seem to crack the Top 10 list for “Best Bass Players”!🤷🏻♂️
It’s all about how you look at it.
When I meet fans, many tell me how they started playing bass from listening to Nirvana albums. So many kids have picked out, by ear, those easy Nirvana bass riffs!
My hunch is I would rank high on a list of bass players who influence beginner musicians. Again, it’s about how you look at it. So, congratulations Washington on making the Top 20 for business friendly states!
There is more good news — this is a great time to start making music — even if you’re not a rich kid, and here’s why: I bought a used 70s era Ibanez Black Eagle bass in 1988 for $300.00 / $843.00. New and used basses cost less today. An entry level new bass costs $150.00 to $300.00 in today’s dollars.
There you have it — affordability in 2026!
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