With the start of a new year, many things are changing around the world, including some of the things we will have to pay for in our day-to-day lives.
According to an article on CNNMoney by Melanie Hicken, there are five key things we will have to pay less for this year and 10 things that will go up in price as the year progresses.
Many will be happy to know gas prices made the list of things we will be paying less for. Electric cars will also go down in price. More companies will be producing electric cars this year, and due to the increase in competition, electric car manufacturers will have to lower prices.
The decrease in prices of gas and electric cars could help some of us with the burden of spending half of our paychecks on gas money. Another cost to be lowered due to competition is that of tablets.
“DataWind, a company known for developing low-cost tablets for schoolchildren in India, announced in December that it would begin offering its seven-inch UbiState tablet to U.S. consumers for $37.99,” Hicken said.
DataWind hopes to “break the affordability barrier” by releasing the device in the U.S. This is a good thing, because everyone wants a tablet these days. A cheaper tablet will be good for kids who have been begging their parents to have one. It will also be helpful to students who would like to have a tablet to take notes on during class.
Gold is also listed to go down this year. Retailers will still have control over the price of gold, and still must get rid of gold purchased at higher prices earlier last year. Therefore, we might not see a huge decline in gold prices until later this year.
It is good to know some of the things we might view as essentials today are becoming easier to purchase. However, some other things that are important to us will be a little harder to buy this year.
Mailing a letter will become more expensive. The cost of a postage stamp will go from 46 cents to 49 cents this year. The cost of stamps goes up each year. This is not fair, we should not be bothered with the burden of spending more and more money to mail someone something. We could have something really important that needs to be mailed, like photos to a long distance friend or family member. FedEx and UPS plan to raise their rates as well, which means shipping prices will be increasing. As an avid online shopper, I don’t want to have to worry about paying more to buy the things I really want but can’t find in stores.
As bad weather conditions continue to linger in certain areas, the cost of some of our favorite sweets will be going up. Honey is becoming more difficult to harvest due to poor weather conditions and a decrease in bee populations. Along with honey, chocolate is expected to go up in price.
Bad weather in major cocoa-producing regions is affecting the production of chocolate, especially dark chocolate. Increased prices for some of our favorite sweets could be a good and bad thing. The higher prices could make some think twice about that New Year diet and make it easier to cut back on the extra snacking. Watching TV is expected to become a bigger expense this year for satellite TV watchers. Dish TV and DirecTV are projected to be raising prices by $2 to $5 more per month this year. Watching TV is an essential part of life for many people and, satellite TV became a cheaper alternative at some point. To slowly begin raising prices looks bad on the providers. Paying extra to watch television is not something we need to be stressed about.
Luckily, there are sites such as Netflix and Hulu that offer cheaper ways to view our favorite shows. The economy seems to be trying to establish financial stability this year. Although some of our essentials are going up in price, others are going down, which leaves hope that they will balance each other out. TAS
