These 12 Things Are Actually Getting Cheaper

If it feels like everything is more expensive these days, that's not far from the truth. Inflation is near a 40-year record, and prices for gas, food, and other daily necessities seem to be higher every week. But there are a few exceptions. According to the latest Consumer Price Index, a handful of goods and services actually have gotten cheaper in the past year. Here's a look at the few things that might not be straining your budget right now.

Related: 15 Important Steps to Take to Outsmart Inflation, According to Experts

-0.3% from April 2021 to April 2022

While low-tech watches have dropped in price, even getting a fancy Apple Watch is cheaper than it used to be, with a new Series 7 going for under $400 on Amazon.

Related: Apple Opens Online Repair Store to Let Customers Fix Phones Themselves

-0.3%

With summer around the corner, parents will likely appreciate not having to shell out quite as much for playthings to stave off boredom.

Related: 51 Toy Fads That Drove Grown-Ups Crazy

-0.4%

While the costs of car and health insurance have risen along with inflation, one bright spot has been home and rental insurance, which have actually declined in price — albeit minimally — over the past year. If past trends hold, it may be renters who are largely benefiting, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Related: 10 Costly Home Repairs Your Insurance Might Not Cover

-0.5%

The disappearance of pandemic mask mandates may have some consumers reaching for the lipstick for the first time since 2020, so lower prices on makeup will definitely help those looking to freshen up their look.

-0.5%

If you haven’t bought a DVD lately — or at least got those Blu-rays super cheap during the holidays — consider the reason. As more and more of us embrace streaming and on-demand content, physical media gets cheaper and cheaper.

-0.7%

The rabid competition between major wireless carriers including Verizon and AT&T has spared Americans from paying more for their wireless plans. As CNN reports, these companies are largely spared the immediate effects of inflation because many of their costs are “tied to long-term contracts,” and since their services are relatively indispensable, customers tend to cut back in other areas, and price wars continue.

Related: The Best Cell Phone Plans for Seniors: AT&T vs. Verizon vs. T-Mobile

-3.7%

Granted, this is probably a fairly small subset of the population, but if your commute involves a ferry or ship of some kind, average fares have actually gone down in the past year — a big outlier, considering the cost of public transit on the whole is up nearly 22%. As demand returns for cruises, look for those fares to zoom up as well.

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-4.1%

Techies have reason to cheer. Equipment like cameras, microphones, and monitors has actually gotten cheaper in the past year. For the everyday consumer, the most notable decrease comes in the price of TVs, down 5.8% in the past year and 2.1% in just the past month. Bottom-dollar deals weren’t as prevalent as usual this past Black Friday, but higher-end models still saw significant discounts, reports CNET.

-4.2%

It isn’t just the tech hardware that has gotten cheaper — it’s the software and peripherals, too.

-9.4%

Some sports fans may still be hesitant to sit in a stadium with thousands of strangers and (potentially) the latest COVID variant, but a nice drop in prices from last year may change their minds.

-16.1%

Top-of-the-line smartphones, like the latest iPhone, are as expensive as ever. But more-affordable phones have carved a big enough slice of the market to bring prices down across the board, and plenty of people have decided their current phone is good enough, especially as prices on daily necessities soar.

-30%

The cost of food for workers and students has plummeted in the past year, but that’s largely thanks to free lunch programs. U.S. Department of Agriculture waivers have provided free lunch for kids in public school for the past two years.

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