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The cost of living is nearly 10% higher than it was a year ago, the official figures say

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But you may feel your bills have risen by a lot more.

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That's because your own personal inflation rate is driven by factors specific to you: if you're someone who buys a lot of petrol,

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your weekly outgoings will have gone up a lot more than someone who cycles everywhere, for example.

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Here are some ways that your individual experience of price rises may be at odds with what's reported in the news.

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Inflation is measured by taking a typical "basket" of goods and services and seeing how much they're going up in price.

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The contents of that basket changes each year as habits change. Pet collars, sports bras or canned pulses on your shopping list?

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The Official for National Statistics (ONS) which is responsible for calculating inflation statistics, says you're on trend for 2022.

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In the age of hybrid work however, suits are out, and blazers, for the more sporadic trip to the office, are in instead.

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Individual bakery doughnuts are also out, because people working from home are more likely to plump for multipacks instead

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Not everything you buy is reflected in the official inflation numbers; the more niche, the less likely it is to be monitored. 

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And the things you're buying may go up in price by more than what's in the basket, or if you're lucky by less.

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