Thursday, April 21, 2011

Ten MORE Things That Suddenly Cost Way More:

There were some new numbers last Friday about the Consumer Price Index . . . that's a measurement of the overall price of household goods. According to the new stats, it's gone up 2.7% in the last year. And the price of gas . . . which has gone up 28% in the last year . . . is just the tip of the iceberg. Here are ten other things that either ALREADY cost more, or are ABOUT to cost more.


#1.) Plane Tickets. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, domestic fares went up 22% between August and February, mostly because of gas prices.


#2.) Insurance. State Farm just announced an average rate hike of 18.8% for homeowners in Florida, so we can assume they'll do the same thing everywhere else soon. And Allstate has been raising rates for auto insurance too.


#3.) Chocolate. Late last month, Hersey's raised its wholesale prices by almost 10%. The prices in most stores haven't gone up yet, but they will in May or June.


#4.) Coffee. The price of coffee jumped 27% between December and March, and companies like Starbucks, Folgers, and Dunkin' Donuts have all started charging more.


#5.) Fast Food. McDonald's is raising prices this year because the cost of ingredients is going up. And Wendy's says they expect to pay 15% more for beef in 2011. So expect the price of a burger to go up at basically EVERY restaurant.


#6.) Produce. Even when you take the growing season into account, the price of fruit and vegetables has gone up an astounding 23% in the last three months. Bananas are up 10%, and potatoes are up 39%.


#7.) Furniture. Companies like Ethan Allen and La-Z-Boy are charging up to 7% more because the prices of cotton, yarn, leather, and steel have gone up.


#8.) Juice. Last month, Tropicana announced they'll be charging 4 to 8% more for some types of juice, because cold weather damaged citrus crops in Florida. And Minute Maid is doing the exact same thing.


#9.) Soft Drinks. The price of carbonated drinks went up by 14% between December and March, mainly because of higher costs for ingredients, packaging, and transportation.


#10.) Tires. Between September and March, U.S. tire prices climbed 6%, and last month Cooper Tires raised their prices for the second time this year. When they announced the price hike, the company said the price for rubber had gone up 75% in just a few months.

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