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Deflating Prices

It’s no secret that inflation is causing the prices for everyday items and life expenses to go up and up. Last month, costs rose by 6.6 percent compared to last year, per the latest data from the Labor Department — the fastest pace of price hike in the last 40 years. However, there are some items that have actually slightly gone down in price. Credit this to supply chain issues easing in some areas and stores trying to clear a stockpile. Here are items that are currently cheaper than they had been.


Related: Iconic Brands and Products That Are Getting More Expensive


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Smartphones

The cost of buying a new phone is down by 21 percent, despite it appearing that phone prices are as expensive as ever. Counterintuitively, this is because phones are getting better while the price remains about the same — meaning the Consumer Price Index considers that to be a decline.


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Steak

Uncooked beef steaks dropped in price by nearly 5 percent. This may be due to a temporary change in consumer behavior. As inflation pushed the price of meat up, shoppers chose to go without, therefore dropping the prices. 

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Tomatoes

The cost of tomatoes is down 1 percent since last year. But shoppers may soon see a shortage on ketchup, pasta sauce and salsa. This is thanks to summer's extreme draught in California affecting tomato crop.

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Televisions

The price drop on a new TV is a whopping 17.9 percent from last year. A couple reasons for the drop: people are watching TV on devices other than TV's; add to there being a lot more manufacturers for TV's than previously, and there's no reason to spend a fortune on a screen anymore.


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Car and Truck Rental

Good news for those who may need to rent a car on an upcoming trip. The price went down by 1.4 percent — nothing earth shattering, but hey at least it's on the downward swing.

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Linens

If you need some new sheets, now may be the time to buy as the price of linens has slightly declined by 1.3 percent.