Cost of Living
Grocery prices, gas prices, utility costs, inflation impacts on everyday expenses, consumer sentiment, and the real-world financial pressures facing households.
Latest in Cost of Living
Filing a homestead exemption can cut thousands off a retiree’s taxable home value
One of the simplest ways for a retiree to lower a property-tax bill costs nothing but a form, and millions of eligible homeowners never file...
Utilities often offer a low-income senior discount, but a retiree must ask for it
A monthly utility bill is one of the largest fixed costs in most retired households, and for many older customers a piece of it is...
Health-law subsidies expired, and most Marketplace enrollees faced higher net premiums in 2026
The temporary expansion of Affordable Care Act premium tax credits ended after 2025, and most Marketplace enrollees faced higher net premiums in 2026. The increase...
Many states let homeowners 65 and older defer property taxes until the home is sold
Older homeowners in several states can postpone some or all property taxes without giving up their homes. These programs do not erase the bill. Instead,...
A defensive-driving course can shave hundreds off a retiree’s car-insurance premium
Older drivers often watch their car-insurance premiums drift upward with age, yet one of the reliable ways to push the bill back down sits almost...
Many states bar utilities from shutting off heat or air conditioning in extreme weather, protecting seniors behind on the bill
In much of the country, a utility cannot legally cut off a household’s power during a dangerous heat wave or a hard winter freeze, even...
A federal program pays part of a low-income household’s summer cooling bill
As summer electric bills climb into triple digits across much of the country, a federal program stands ready to cover part of the tab for...
Homeowners 65 and older can cut hundreds off property taxes with a circuit-breaker rebate
Hundreds of dollars in property-tax relief slip past older homeowners every year, unclaimed by people who qualify for a “circuit breaker” and never file for...
Anyone on SNAP or Medicaid can cut a phone or internet bill by $9.25 a month through federal Lifeline
A federal subsidy can shave $9.25 off a phone or internet bill every single month, a break built for households living on tight fixed incomes...
Several states now freeze seniors’ property taxes, and New Jersey pays up to $6,500
Property taxes are one of the few retirement costs that keep climbing even after a mortgage is gone, and a growing set of state programs...
Illinois raised its senior property-tax freeze income limit to $75,000 for 2026
Illinois has lifted the income ceiling for its senior property-tax freeze to $75,000 for the 2026 tax year, up from $65,000, opening the benefit to...
Texas homeowners 65 and older can freeze school taxes and shield an extra $10,000
Texas offers homeowners a rare combination once they turn 65: a school-property-tax bill that stops rising and an additional slice of home value shielded from...
Seniors 60 and older can deduct medical costs over $35 to raise food-stamp benefits
For older Americans on tight fixed incomes, a small line in the SNAP rulebook can meaningfully raise a monthly food benefit, yet it is one...
Diesel reaches $5.37 nationally, up $1.64 from last year
Diesel’s year-over-year jump reaches far beyond the drivers who see the price on a pump display. Freight carriers, contractors, farmers and delivery fleets consume the...
Gas reaches $4.09 nationally, nearly $1 above last summer
The national average for regular gasoline reached $4.089 a gallon on August 4, up 93.6 cents from $3.153 a year earlier. The rounded $4.09 figure...
Americans saved just 2.7% of disposable income in June as inflation ran 3.7%
Households put away only 2.7 cents from each dollar of disposable personal income in June while the price index tied to their spending stood 3.7%...
$4.99 a month is Amazon’s new price for ad-free Prime Video, a 67% jump
The cost of watching Prime Video without commercials jumped to $4.99 a month in 2026, up from $2.99, a 67 percent increase that Prime members...
$159 a year could be Amazon Prime’s new price, its first increase since 2022
Amazon Prime could climb from $139 to about $159 a year under a projection from J.P. Morgan analysts, which would be the membership’s first base-price...
$19.99 a month is Netflix’s new standard-plan price after its 2026 hike
Netflix’s most-popular plan now costs $19.99 a month after the company’s 2026 price increase, the second hike in under two years and a fresh test...
A household with five streaming services now pays about $70 a month, before any live TV
A household juggling five streaming services now pays roughly $70 a month, or about $840 a year, before adding a single live-TV package. That total...