Just a few cents now separate the national diesel average from the record AAA logged less than a week earlier, a gap narrow enough to watch closely. The average stood at $6.4709 a gallon on September 27, compared with the all-time high of $6.5276 set on September 22. Regular gasoline, tracked by the same daily…

A single fuel line explains more than a third of last month’s rise in the overall cost of living. Gasoline prices climbed 27.4% over the past year and rose 3.9% in August alone, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported, enough on their own to account for over one third of that month’s total…

Regular gasoline is now averaging at least $4.35 a gallon in every state in the country, according to AAA’s daily fuel price survey. Delaware has the lowest state average at $4.3519 a gallon, and Hawaii has the highest at $5.5703. The national average has climbed to $4.4798, more than a dollar higher than a year…

The produce aisle is forecast to get noticeably pricier this year. Fresh vegetable prices are headed for a 5.7% increase in 2026, according to the Food Price Outlook that USDA’s Economic Research Service released Sept. 25, more than double the 2.4% increase the agency projects for food at home overall. That gap puts fresh vegetables…

Coffee drinkers and soda buyers alike are facing a steeper grocery bill in 2026. The Sept. 25 Food Price Outlook from USDA’s Economic Research Service puts nonalcoholic beverages, the category that covers coffee, tea, soda and juice, on track for a 4.2% rise this year. The agency singles out coffee specifically as the fastest-moving item…

A meal eaten at a restaurant is on track to get pricier faster than the same ingredients bought at a grocery store this year. USDA’s Economic Research Service, in its Food Price Outlook published Sept. 25, forecasts food away from home rising 3.5% in 2026, compared with a 2.4% increase for food at home. The…

In its latest Food Price Outlook, released Sept. 25, USDA’s Economic Research Service forecasts supermarket beef and egg prices moving in opposite directions this year. Beef and veal are projected to average 9.4% higher in 2026 than in 2025, while egg prices are expected to fall 29.4% over the same period. The swing reflects a…

The White House says the two forces squeezing the beef aisle are moving in opposite directions at once. In a fact sheet issued September 4, 2026, the administration states that the national cattle herd is at a 75-year low while demand for beef has climbed almost 10 percent over the past decade. The document accompanied…

Costco closed its fiscal year with 84.1 million paid memberships, up 3.8 percent from a year earlier, and a renewal rate of 92.3 percent among members in the United States and Canada. Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip disclosed both figures on the September 24, 2026 earnings call covering the fourth quarter and full fiscal year.…

Two pantry staples got cheaper at Costco at the same time. Kirkland Signature Colombian whole bean coffee fell to $19.99 from $21.99, and Kirkland Signature coarse black pepper fell to $5.99 from $6.99, both disclosed as part of the fourth-quarter results Costco reported on September 24, 2026. The two cuts arrived alongside reductions on two…