Category: Cost of Living
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Home insurance premiums rose as much as 43 percent above inflation since 2018, and non-renewals more than doubled
Forty-three and three-tenths percent is the steepest inflation-adjusted rise in the average homeowners insurance premium recorded in any of the four regions the National Association of Insurance Commissioners tracks, measured across 2018 through 2024. The gentlest regional increase over those same seven years was 18.3 percent, also after inflation is stripped out. Both figures come…
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Drones 25 kilograms or under face a 25 percent tariff September 3
A Section 232 proclamation sets a 25 percent duty on imported drones weighing 25 kilograms or less starting September 3, and 100 percent on heavier aircraft and components.
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Electricity is up 4.2 percent and utility gas 4.3 percent over the year, while rent rose 2.9 percent and groceries 2.7 percent
In the July CPI, electricity rose 4.2 percent and utility gas 4.3 percent over 12 months, above the 3.4 percent headline, while rent rose 2.9 percent and food at home 2.7 percent.
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The extra tariffs on Canadian cars, dairy and alcohol are on hold until August 22, and duties already collected must be refunded
Additional duties on certain Canadian alcohol, dairy and vehicle imports now start at 12:01 a.m. eastern on August 22, and duties already collected are to be refunded.
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The cattle herd is the smallest in 75 years, and beef is forecast to cost 10.7 percent more this year
Beef is doing something the rest of the grocery bill is not. While overall food prices are rising at a rate most households would call ordinary, the meat counter is running four times faster — and the reason sits in a cattle inventory that has been shrinking for years and cannot be reversed in one.…
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Kroger has already closed 39 stores and is targeting about 60
Kroger set out a store-closure program more than a year ago and put a number on it in a quarterly earnings release. What the company has never published is a list. That gap is why the count of stores actually closed has been assembled by reporters rather than announced, and it is worth separating the…
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Utility rate increases now reach 116 million electric customers across 49 states
Rate increases at electric and gas utilities have stopped being a local story. A running tally kept by the Center for American Progress and the Natural Resources Defense Council now counts 275 utilities that have raised rates, won approval to raise them, or asked to raise them since the start of 2025. Together those cases…
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About 18 states have won federal approval to bar SNAP from buying soda and candy
For families that use SNAP benefits, what the card can buy is starting to depend on the state. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a wave of state waivers that bar SNAP dollars from purchasing soda, candy, and similar items, and after a court paused several of them, roughly 18 states now have restrictions…
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Home insurance premiums have climbed 46 percent since 2021, outpacing inflation threefold
The homeowners insurance bill is one of the fastest-rising costs many households face, and it has quietly reshaped the math of owning a home. Premiums are up about 46 percent since 2021 — roughly three times the pace of overall inflation over that stretch — and 2026 is on track to be the fifth straight…
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ACA health plan payments more than double in 2026 as a boosted tax credit expires
The extra help that held down Affordable Care Act premiums for the past several years is gone, and the difference is showing up as a much bigger monthly bill. The enhanced premium tax credits expired at the end of 2025, and the health-policy research group KFF estimates that the amount marketplace enrollees pay out of…
