If it feels like everyday life costs more than it used to, you’re not alone. From the grocery store to the gas pump, folks are seeing that their money doesn’t stretch as far as it did just a couple of years ago.

This is very real. The financial squeeze folks are feeling is driving routine decisions—what to buy, what to skip, how often to think twice before spending, whether to eat out and, if so, to opt for the restaurant that charges less or is a little bit closer to home.. Let’s look at what is going on through the prism of ten expense categories.

Check out the graphic VTT has put together below. It covers 10 cost items nationally. We’ll be back at you periodically to look at the situation in New England, the central Atlantic states, the south, the midwest, the mountain states and the West Coast.

Why Everything Feels More Expensive Right Now

Even as inflation has slowed from its peak, prices haven’t returned to where they were. That’s the thing about inflation. Economists say that a slight increase is healthy. That may be sound economically, but it doesn’t feel good. Many everyday costs rose quickly in recent years and have stayed elevated. The world simply feels more expensive.

That gap between perception and financial measurements is important. It reflects not just what prices are doing, but how people experience them in daily life.

What Has Gotten More Expensive Since 2024

Prices have increased since 2024 across a range of staples and common expenses. Our research finds increases in ground beef, orange juice, milk, chicken, gasoline and health insurance. No doubt it’s up in other areas as well.  Some of the shifts are due to broad economic conditions. Others reflect sector- or product-specific pressures. Regardless, the effect is straightforward: Everyday purchases add up more quickly than they did in the past.

What Has Gotten Cheaper Since 2024

At the same time, not everything is higher. A few categories have seen declines. Egg prices have dropped from earlier spikes, and there have been decreases in white bread and 30-year fixed mortgage rates. Still, these improvements can be less noticeable. For many households, occasional price drops don’t fully offset the steady increases in items they buy frequently.

Why Prices Feel Higher Overall

Taken together, the categories tracked show an overall increase of roughly 10 percent over two years. That kind of change may not stand out in a single purchase. But it creates a mood that builds as time goes by. Frequency plays a role as well. Costs that show up every week—such as food and fuel—tend to leave a stronger impression than those encountered less often. As a result, the sense that prices are rising can feel more intense than the numbers alone suggest.

What These Changes Mean in Everyday Life

The economy is shaped by many forces that unfold gradually rather than all at once. Shifts in prices are one of the most visible ways those forces show up in everyday life. Over time, patterns like this influence how people think about their financial situation and the choices they make both in how they spend their money. It also influences the candidates for which they vote–or if they vote at all. Areas such as healthcare and war are highly dependent upon who is in office others–such as food costs–influence costs, though perhaps to as great an extent. 

The story above was co-written by ChatGPT and CW. CW edited and rewrote sections. Following is the first of our cost and price comparisons between now and two years ago. It was researched by Claude.ai and written and edited by Claude.ai and CW. It’s a new world. AI cannot be beat for gathering information and writing in a style that appeals to search engines.   

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