After a couple of years of significantly elevated prices, inflation might feel like a fact of life we’ll never escape. But as we anxiously watch the price of many goods continue to creep up, the cost of others is actually falling.
A handful of items have gotten significantly cheaper over the past year despite overall inflation rising by 3.1% from November 2022 to November 2023, according to the federal government’s latest Consumer Price Index data.
The following items saw their prices drop as much as 30% over the past year, with most of them also dropping over the past month.
Lettuce
Price change from November 2022 to November 2023: Down 10.2%
Price change from October to November 2023: Down 2.9% (seasonally adjusted)
Lettuce is one of only two grocery items that made this list. Many grocery prices are still inching up. As a whole, they have risen 1.7% over the past year and 0.1% in the past month.
Utility (piped) gas service
Price change from November 2022 to November 2023: Down 10.4%
Price change from October to November 2023: Up 2.8% (seasonally adjusted)
Although natural gas prices have fallen considerably lately, electricity prices are still rising. In November, they were up 3.4% year over year and up 1.4% month over month.
Car and truck rentals
Price change from November 2022 to November 2023: Down 10.7%
Price change from October to November 2023: Down 2.2% (seasonally adjusted)
Good news for vacationers: Rental care prices are the first of two types of major travel costs that made this list.
Laundry appliances
Price change from November 2022 to November 2023: Down 12%
Price change from October to November 2023: Down 3.8% (seasonally adjusted)
If you’re in the market for a new washer or dryer, prices should be looking good — or at least better than they’ve been in the past year.
This is especially true for folks in Florida who are in the market for Energy Star-rated appliances. The Sunshine State is having a yearlong sales tax holiday for such purchases, meaning residents won’t be charged sales tax on qualifying Energy Star appliances purchased from July 2023 to June 2024.
Airfare
Price change from November 2022 to November 2023: Down 12.1%
Price change from October to November 2023: Down 0.4% (seasonally adjusted)
Good news for frequent flyers: Airfare isn’t the only air travel cost that’s gotten cheaper. The cost to enroll in the TSA PreCheck program, or to renew your enrollment in person, recently dropped from $85 to $78. (The cost to renew online remains the same, at $70.)
Other linens
Price change from November 2022 to November 2023: Down 12.7%
Price change from October to November 2023: Down 2.6% (seasonally adjusted)
This category includes all types of linens except for window coverings (which are up by 7.3% in the past year) and floor coverings (which are down by only a little bit, 1.2%, year over year).
Smartphones
Price change from November 2022 to November 2023: Down 14%
Price change from October to November 2023: Down 3.7% (seasonally adjusted)
It’s not just smartphones: Prices for the entire category of telephone hardware, calculators and other consumer information items are also down in both the past year (11.2%) and in the past month (3.7%).
Other motor fuels
Price change from November 2022 to November 2023: Down 17.4%
Price change from October to November 2023: Down 4.2% (seasonally adjusted)
In November, this category — which includes all types of motor fuel other than unleaded gasoline — saw one of the biggest one-month price declines of any expense tracked by the federal government’s Consumer Price Index.
As for unleaded gasolines, they didn’t see as big of a drop year over year (8.9%) but saw an even bigger drop month over month (6%).
Eggs
Price change from November 2022 to November 2023: Down 22.3%
Price change from October to November 2023: Up 2.2% (seasonally adjusted)
Not long ago, eggs were in short supply following avian influenza outbreaks, pushing prices so high that a dozen eggs cost more than a gallon of gas in some areas. But prices have settled down significantly since then.
Fuel oil
Price change from November 2022 to November 2023: Down 24.8%
Price change from October to November 2023: Down 2.7% (seasonally adjusted)
Heating oil, or fuel oil, is used to heat homes and other buildings. It’s also used to generate electricity in power plants, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Health insurance
Price change from November 2022 to November 2023: Down 30.3%
Price change from October to November 2023: Up 1.1% (seasonally adjusted)
Over the past year, the cost of medical coverage has fallen more than any other item on this list, although it is one of few items on this list that saw an increase in the past month.
Add a Comment
Our Policy: We welcome relevant and respectful comments in order to foster healthy and informative discussions. All other comments may be removed. Comments with links are automatically held for moderation.