Your inflation isn't the same as CPI. Adjust spending weights to match your actual expenses and see how your personal cost of living has really changed — monthly BLS data, Jan 2000 through Feb 2026.
Adjust sliders to reflect what share of your budget each category represents.
What your investments actually returned after your personal inflation.
The official CPI-U uses fixed spending weights derived from the Consumer Expenditure Survey — roughly 14% food, 42% housing, 18% transportation, etc. But your spending mix is almost certainly different.
This calculator lets you replace those weights with your own. It then applies your weights to the actual BLS price indexes for each category, producing a personal weighted inflation rate. The metro area adjustment scales component indexes by regional cost-of-living differentials published by BLS.
Think of it like this: CPI is the S&P 500 of consumer prices — a market-cap-weighted index. Your personal inflation is more like a custom portfolio, weighted by what you actually spend. A truck driver running 20% of their budget through the fuel pump is going to feel 2022 very differently than a retiree spending 12% on medical care.
Data: BLS CPI-U component indexes, monthly, Jan 2000 – Feb 2026. Regional adjustments based on BLS metro-area CPI data. Default weights from Dec 2024 CPI relative importance.