Are costs up or down

Every month the cost of living goes up just a lil more and a lil more. It may not be the same item but every item goes up just a lil bit. Afterall the holidays are over and we are still paying .20 more a gallon of gas then we did around thanksgiving! Why is that? I have no idea! It's not summer so need for reformulated gas. Is there a big travel season after new years that I am unaware of? I've noticed too with some of the sales either they are REALLY good or just not much of a sale at all. BOGO's are ok depending on what the item is. Or grocery items you never see for 50% off you snag KWIM? Like our local grocery store has 5 for $10 on Quaker products (cereal, granola bars, ect) & then they have a $3 coupon in their own flyer!! It's like paying Aldi prices for brand names! But other times you look on the shelf and see something where it's saving you a whole .09 WHOOPTI-DO-DA- DAY! KWIM? But it's in the flyer like "what a deal" .09? nope.... 50%, same or better price then Aldi's you got my business!

I think everything is getting expensive period. I cannot seem to catch a break. Everyone wants a piece. I cash my check and I am broke [BROKE, BROKE] like 2 days later. There are some things that I can catch on sale or for a good price, but by the time I go to get them, I am broke because I was spending almost $10 for a pack of smokes! It is crazy. Seems like every month the cost of living gets higher and higher. I cannot wait until the economy is stable again, I want to indulge in the luxuries again.

Hi there Pat Yes prices have gone up by a lot here in the UK it is due to the VAT going back up here in the UK and it is hitting the prices a lot

Up, up, up! That is why I still shop sales at more than one store, use coupons when I can, and stock up on good bargains when I find them. It helps keep costs down; but, even that only helps so much.

I went to the mall yesterday to buy clothes, cause my clothes won't fit me anymore..due to the fact that I'm pregnant. For some reason, the clothes are more expensive...even the ones with no brand are expensive as well.

Hello, I think the price of everything went up since the New Year start. I went to get my grocery the other day is also high too. I spent more on less items... lolz. I dont know why but everything just high

Hard for me to say. I have not shopped in a couple of weeks. Mostly what I see is prices going up. Makes me pretty certain to have a better garden this year than last. I am also going to start shopping more at Sam's Club and Aldi stores.

The new year comes with a big bang by making everyone feel the pinch more painful than last year. What has been affordable stuff could now make us think twice in buying. Even the cafes are raising their prices almost double. It is hard to make ends meet now with the ever increasing prices in the market. We should learn to tighten our built in the wake of the worsening world economic situation. No need to live the life we used to enjoy before instead we should only stick to necessities.

I think it's more expensive than last month. I've noticed a lot of prices going up, nearly everything is more expensive! Gas is supposed to get more expensive, too. I think they'll continue to rise, especially food items. That's why I'm having a big garden this summer!

More - but not because of groceries, because of insurance premiums!

Hey pat! I'm just not really sure! I shop at the same grocery store, but wait each week to read the their circular to see what's on sale! I try to pick the best week of the month to go shopping for the "big shopping for the month"! And that depends on what I need and what's on sale! Whatever else I need I will pick up in between! I have no car, so I have to get the bulk and heavy items all at once because I have to take a taxi home! So, I really try hard to catch the best buys I can all in one week according to what is the top things on my list!

I live in a different country to you and I feel that in Australia grocery prices have jumped up dramatically and until now I have not felt any reprieve. Items seem to go up each week 20 or 30 cents which overall adds up considerably. For us we’ve also had huge increases in the cost of utilities especially electricity and we’ve been warned of more increases in the near future. All that and higher mortgage interest rates have made life pretty tough for a lot of us over here.

Over here we still have January sales. And in the grocery stores, there are lots of offers for items reduced or buy two for the price of one, and that sort of thing. If they are what you need to buy, you can do well. I have stocked up on some things I know I will need in the future. But this does distort the cost analysis and I fear I'm spending as much, if not more, than usual.

Every time I compensate or cut back in one area, something else increases in price. There really seems to be no end in sight as to prices going up rather than down...unfortunately. karen