Calculate CPI-You
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a reflection of the average change in prices paid by “average” urban consumers. It does not necessarily match specific households like mine or yours.
“Expenditure weights” produced from the Consumer Expenditure Survey are used to give each good or service in the CPI an importance relative to all the other goods and services in the market basket.
To create a CPI that matches my price experience, I looked back to all my credit card bills and E-bills from April (including any previous annual bills as well) and put the goods and services into corresponding expenditure categories. (See here for a complete explanation)
| Consumer Price Index | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Expenditure category | My importance | Relative importance | Change from Apr. 2007 |
| Food and beverages |
24.162
|
14.914
|
5.0
|
| Housing |
52.638
|
42.427
|
3.0
|
| Apparel |
0
|
3.731
|
-0.7
|
| Transportation |
11.390
|
17.688
|
7.2
|
| Medical care |
0
|
6.231
|
4.3
|
| Recreation |
1.256
|
5.647
|
1.2
|
| Education and communication |
10.553
|
6.086
|
3.2
|
| Other goods and services |
0
|
3.277
|
3.5
|
| My CPI |
4.0
|
Official CPI |
3.9
|
Reference: Consumer Price Index: April 2009 - BLS
After all, my own CPI (4%) is pretty close to the official CPI (3.9%) with only 10 basis points apart. Given the fact that my recent annual raise (or should I call that the cost-of-living increase/inflation adjustment) is a mere 2%, I definitely feel like I’m still 2% behind this year…
