SSA builds the COLA from three CPI-W months. July 2026 is in at 327.104, which puts the 2027 COLA at 3.1% so far, not the 3.6% in headlines.
The USDA number for my exact household is $895 a month. I had ChatGPT sort three months of receipts against it, and the gap was not where I expected.
Fed hike odds tripled to roughly one in three by the July 24 close, then the oil that drove them fell about 16% from its peak. Here is what to check.
Gas averaged $4.001 a gallon on July 20, 2026, up 88 cents in a year. A household burning 540 gallons pays about $475 more than last year.
The 4.2% CPI headline is an average nobody pays. Here is how to calculate your personal inflation rate with ChatGPT and your own spending data, before June CPI drops July 14.