The Inflation Number and the Inflation You Feel

When the official inflation print comes in lower than expected, the common reaction is disbelief. The gap is not a conspiracy — it is a weighting question.

Why your rate differs

• The basket is fixed; your spending is not.
• Urban households spend far more on rent, education and healthcare than the national weights assume.
• Services inflation has consistently outpaced goods inflation.

A practical response

Index your own basket. Track what you actually spend across four or five large categories for a year, and you will have a personal inflation rate that is far more useful for planning than the national print.