The problem with applying CPI to an individual's situation is that nobody is average across several dimensions. One person might live in the midwest an have ex

The problem with applying CPI to an individual's situation is that nobody is average across several dimensions. One person might live in the midwest an have experienced next to no housing inflation, modest food inflation, and be heavily reliant on gasoline (which has gone down in price over 10 years) due to rural living. The same person living in Seattle might see housing prices double since they rent, food prices explode, since they live in a gentrifying area where low-cost grocers are replaced by high-end organic ones, and gasoline might not be a huge component of their spend because they drive a beater Prius 15 miles a day. Those are two people, buying pretty similar things who experience inflation very differently than "average." Luckily, the BLS does provide different CPI figures to account for different groups of people -- for example only looking at inflation data for Seattle -- but people generally never discuss those.