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In an age where everything is so expensive, it’s good to know where bargains might be found.
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It would be more than fair to call 2022 “the year of inflation.” Last year, many consumers struggled immensely with higher living costs, to the point where they had no choice but to raid their savings accounts and rack up expensive credit card balances just to cover their expenses.
But while many expenses rose in price in 2022, some products actually got cheaper during the year. And it’s good to know what that list looks like.
The products that got cheaper in 2022
While food costs rose as a whole in 2022, certain food items came down in price. So did certain electronics and vehicles. Here’s a list of 10 items whose prices dropped in 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics as reported by CNBC.
SmartphonesTVsUsed cars and trucksVideo equipmentUncooked beef and vealComputersUncooked beef steaksCar and truck rentalsBaconUncooked beef roasts
Now to be clear, some of these products are still expensive in their own right. A used car purchase, for example, is something you don’t want to just dive into. But it’s encouraging to see that it is possible to snag a bargain on certain purchases.
Budget carefully during these tricky times
If you’re buying bacon or uncooked beef roasts, you might pay a bit less than you would’ve a year ago. But living costs are still high overall. And that’s why now’s an important time to get serious about following a budget.
You might think that spending $20 extra on gas or groceries here and there is no big deal, or that an extra $30 charge on your credit card for a weekly takeout meal won’t make a big difference. But at a time when living costs are still so high, these are chances you don’t want to take.
Now, there are different approaches you can take to budgeting. If you want to use an app, you may find that it helps you stay on track with your budget. But you can also just open a spreadsheet, list your monthly expenses, and make sure you’re not spending above what you bring home in your monthly paycheck. (Ideally, you should be carving out room for monthly savings, too, but that may be more difficult than usual these days.)
At the same time, because costs are up so much, it’s important to make sure that when you are spending money on non-essential items, that they really do deliver solid value. It’s okay to pay for someone to clean your house if that frees up time for you to get your job done and take care of your health. But you don’t, for example, want to keep spending $40 a month on a subscription box you could take or leave.
All told, the cost of goods is apt to fluctuate some more in 2023. Certain items may get more expensive, while others might come down on cost. But if you make a point to budget carefully and prioritize your leisure spending, you can set yourself up to get through this ongoing stretch of inflation.
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