Food as a percentage of our annual total expenditures dropped 2% since 1984, from 15% of our annual income to 13% in 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And the prices for items like ground beef fell more than 30%, while coffee fell more than 55%. Even high-priced items like computers have seen incredible decreases in prices, where a PC in 1981 on average cost $3,693 and today costs about $700, a decline of more than 80%.