5 Monthly Bills That Have Quietly Doubled Since 2020
It might feel like your monthly bills have doubled over the past few years. You're not wrong.
Costs continue to rise across the board. The cumulative inflation rate since 2020 is 30.19%, according to In2013dollars. This means things cost roughly a third more than they did back in 2020. But how much have individual costs actually risen? Here are five monthly bills that have doubled (or nearly doubled) since 2020, and why.
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1. Homeowners Insurance
Back in 2020, the average monthly homeowners insurance premium was $212. It’s currently $279, as per the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED).
That’s not double, but it is nearly a 32% increase. And these are just the averages. Homeowners insurance is substantially higher in certain parts of the U.S.
In fact, Census data says 5.3 million households pay over $4,000 annually for homeowners insurance. That’s $333 a month. The highest premiums are in places like Florida and Louisiana, where extreme weather is a major factor for insurers setting costs.
2. Car-Related Expenses
Auto insurance has risen an average of 28% over the past six years, as per FRED data. While still not double, that’s a hefty increase for anyone trying to live on a budget.
This isn’t surprising when you take into consideration that cars cost more than ever before. Currently, the average amount financed for new car loans is just under $42,000, according to the FRED. That’s roughly $10,000 more than in 2020, a 31% increase.
And then there’s the cost of gasoline. In early 2020, the average cost of regular fuel was $2.46 per gallon. It’s now about $4.50, by FRED reckoning, having spent all of 2026 climbing to its highest point since the summer of 2022, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused havoc in crude prices, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That’s a 63% increase. As for why gas prices are so high, much of it comes down to economic factors like supply and demand.
Combine these expenses and you could be paying well over double now than you were six years ago.
3. Food
Food prices have risen almost 30% since 2020, according to the USDA. Say you were spending $500 a month on food in January 2020. You’d be spending roughly $650 now on the same grocery list.
The biggest singular spike in food prices was in 2022 where they rose by 9.9%. Part of the reason for rising food prices comes down to supply chain issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. Costs also rise due to things like labor shortages and extreme weather shifts.
4. Monthly Subscription Services
A recent DepositAccounts study found that people are spending roughly 49% more on monthly digital subscriptions. Adjusted for inflation, that’s closer to a still-shocking 19% increase since 2020.
Costs aren’t up just because of inflation. They’ve also increased due to expanded libraries and improved function and tools on these digital platforms. Rising energy costs could also play a part.
The platforms with the largest price increase are:
Disney+ (up 116.9%)
Apple TV (up 107.9%)
Xbox Game Pass (up 59.8%)
New York Times (up 59.7%)
5. Student Loans
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act put federal student loan payments were put on pause from 2020 until late 2023. This meant that over 43 million borrowers had temporary relief from payments.
Even with the pause, the Federal Reserve said that the average borrower paid between $200 and $299 monthly on student loans in 2020. In comparison, the Education Data Initiative reported that the average payment is now $434. That’s a 45% to 117% increase.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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