The Bureau of Labor Statistics released their monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday, Sept. 13, and there is some relief from skyrocketing inflation — at least for certain goods.
According to the CPI report, inflation is actually up 3.7% from August 2022.
But is everything more expensive? Actually, no! Prices on some items and services have been getting cheaper since 2022, when Americans felt some serious wallops to their wallets. Here are 10 goods and services you can expect to pay at least somewhat less for now than you may have a year ago (or even a month ago).
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Biggest price drops over the past month and year:
1. Health insurance is still ridiculous, but it had the biggest price drop over the last year — 33.6% less.
While the American healthcare system is still incredibly more expensive than most of the developed world, health insurance did reduce in price by a massive 33.6% since August 2022. Prices dropped 3.6% alone between July and August 2023.
For millions of people, Amazon One Medical could be even cheaper than traditional health insurance. Same goes for Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs when it comes to prescriptions.
2. Smartphones dropped 17.2% in price.
Smartphone prices have the biggest drop of all products tracked by the government, registering a steep 17.2% reduction from August 2022 to August 2023. Prices dropped a tiny bit (0.2% between July and August 2023), but that new phone is gonna be way cheaper now than it was a year ago.
Want an iPhone? We’ve got all the ways to save on Apple products.
3. Natural gas bills are 16.5% cheaper in 2023.
Although overall energy prices were 5.6% more expensive in August 2023 compared to a year before, if you use natural gas in your home, there’s some good news. Utility gas service costs dropped 16.5% compared to a year ago.
We’ve got lots of ways for how to save on electricity.
4. TVs are 10.1% cheaper in August 2023 than the same month last year.
When’s the best time to buy TVs? Maybe now; with prices dropping 2.1% between July and August of this year, they’ve overall dropped 10.1% in price since August 2022.
TV deals are all around (if you know where to look, and we do).
5. Major appliances are 8.3% cheaper than August 2022.
If you’re in the market for a major appliance — think washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, stoves, ovens, dishwashers — you may have been wise to wait until 2023, because prices have dropped 8.3% since last August. (Prices remained the same between July and August 2023.)
And those prices can be even lower with our tips on how to save on appliances.
6. Car rentals are 6.8% cheaper this year.
Road trip, anyone? Car and truck rental prices have dropped by 6.8% since August 2023. And even between July and August 2023, we saw rental prices tick down 4.2%. Not bad for the pre-Labor Day rush.
We’ll help you spend less on rental cars.
7. Bacon is 6.4% cheaper than this time last year.
Bacon price jumped a bit (4.1%) between July and August 2023. However, overall bacon is getting cheaper. Not that long ago meat prices were bonkers, but now, we’ve seen bacon prices drop 6.4% year over year since August 2022.
Save with Bacon coupons on KCL
8. Computers are 5% cheaper than they were in 2022.
The price of computers dropped 5.0% since this time last year. This also includes smart home assistants (think of Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant). These items dropped in price 0.8% in one month (between July and August 2023). Computers are getting cheaper? Fantastic.
We can do even better than 5.1% off with our computer deals.
9. Citrus fruits dropped 1.3% in price in just one month.
Citrus fruit prices dropped slightly between July and August 2023 (1.3%), and overall prices are barrrrely down 0.1%.
Did you know you can freeze citrus?
10. Tomatoes are slightly cheaper (1.1%) than a year ago.
Tomato prices are getting cheaper. We’re paying 1.1% less year over year since August 2022, and since we saw a month-to-month price drop of 0.5% (July to August 2023), it looks like that trend will continue. BLT, anyone?
Did you know you can freeze citrus?
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