While inflation is coming down — at 2.6% in August, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) released Sept. 11 — some bills have steadily gone up in the past years. And these every day bills eat up a huge chunk of consumers’ paychecks.
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To put this in context, the average annual cost of the 10 most essential bills amounts to a startling $25,513 per household, according to the doxoInsights 2024 U.S Household Bill Report.
Here are some bills that have gone up every year.
Mortgages
Inflation and high rates have taken an enormous toll on mortgages. While both are now coming down, homeowners have been saddled with ballooning monthly bills lately.
As a matter of fact, since 2021, there has been an added $1,265 to principal and interest payments on a $400,000 loan -a whopping 78% increase, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Sept. 17 report.
What’s more, the” median priced home with a 5% down payment increased $1,532 or 113% from 2021 to 2023,” according to the CFPB.
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Electricity
Electricity bills vary depending on the number of people in the household and the state you live in. Yet, “electricity prices have increased 2.67% per year in the United States for the past 25 years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA),” reported Solar Reviews.
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Rent
Renters have not been spared either. As Zillow said, “rents across the country remain at record high.”
Indeed, the average rent is $2,063 as of August, up 0.2% from July and rents are up 3.4% from last year, according to the September Zillow rental report.
What’s more, “since the beginning of the pandemic, U.S. rents have increased by 33.6%,” Zillow added.
Groceries
Sticker shock is not just reserved for big ticket items. A simple trip to the grocery store will also do it. Indeed, food prices have increased a whopping 28% since 2019.
While inflation is coming down, food prices were up 2.1% in the past year, according to the September CPI report.
Water
While generally not one of the largest household bills, water bills have also increased in the past years.
For instance, the average monthly bill for a four-person household stood at $44.77 in 2023, an enormous 25% increase since 2017, according to data cited by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)
What’s more, AARP reported that in 2022, the “average monthly water and sewage bill was about $118,” – up a whopping 51% since 2012.
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Cellphones
Several cell phone companies have jacked up their prices in the past years. For instance, Verizon increased some of its mobile plans by $4, beginning in March 2024, as CNET reported.
This latest increase comes on the heels of a previous one in 2023 and 2022, CNET added.
Homeowners Insurance
Homeowners insurance costs have skyrocketed across the country in the past year, with half of the states experiencing increases of more than 10%, according to S&P Global data.
And from 2022 to 2023, these increased a startling 18.2% nationwide, and a whopping 33.8% between 2018 and 2023, according to S&P.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 7 Bills That Have Gone Up Every Year
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