If you've noticed your wallet seems a little lighter after a trip to the grocery store or gas station, you're not imagining things.
The government's measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index, barely registers an increase in the prices consumers are paying.
The index vs. actual cost of living increases
What gives? Don't food and fuel prices count in the tabulation of the index? Not really.
The all-items inflation rate represents everything people spend money on: haircuts, plane tickets, medical care, clothes -- you name it.
But, that number is puffed up by the pesky necessities -- food and energy. So those two categories are discarded when calculating the core inflation rate.
Nevertheless, food and energy prices have increased at a much quicker pace than core items. Food prices increased at nearly twice the rate of core inflation over the past year, rising 1.8 percent compared to the core inflation rate of 1 percent for the year ending in January.
But that's nothing compared to fuel costs. "The big culprit has been energy prices, which are up 7.3 percent" over the same time frame, says Hampel.
If you're an average American consumer, as envisioned by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 15 percent of your total spending goes to food