I was eight years old, so I can't remember the cost of things in 1986. I think a soda was 25 cents, a phone call 10 cents, a candy bar 25 cents. Ferris Bueler's Day Off was playing in the theaters. How much was a bag of chips? Did they have the grab sized bags? I've been looking for websites with no luck.
Old newspapers and magazines are your best bet, but it won't be easy. Most of them won't have prices in the ads, unless you can find one with a supermarket circular insert still present. Libraries probably won't have them, but an attic or a yard sale with boxes packed around that time may have wadded papers as packing material. I lived in those times as an adult, but I couldn't tell you off the top of my head what various grocery items cost back then with any reliability.
I've been trying to think of movies and novels written around that time that mention the price of things.
search google for wiki.answers in the search bar type ' how much did ____ cost in 1986? ' i think i saw the price of a mcdonalds burger on there, when i quickly searched for prices.
i was in my mid-40s then, but couldn't tell you what stuff cost then, or in any of the many decades i've been buying things, other than recalling i used to see double features at the sat. matinees for only a quarter!... but that was in the early 50's... i think some creative googling will give you much of what you want...
http://www.1980sflashback.com/1986/Economy.asp this site helps with providing some general info and prices of gas, milk, and eggs at the time. $0.93 for a gallon of gas. I wish I lived to see that. I'll edit this post if I find more.
When I started driving, gas was at 99 cents a gallon. A twenty dollar bill was good for most of the week!
