Watching Your Wallet: The ABC Price Tracker designed to help you budget

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- When it comes to balancing a budget, knowledge is power.

ABC Data journalists have created a tool to simplify what seem like skyrocketing prices.

"This is something we've been asked for. People want to know how much things are costing in their area and how much that's changed over time," ABC News Data Journalist Maia Rosenfeld said.

ABC PRICE TRACKER: See how your cost of living has changed with the ABC Price Tracker

Rosenfeld says the team analyzed federal data from the 100 largest metro areas across the country. The three main categories are groceries, housing and gas.

"We included the most common basic goods that have data available from reliable sources," she said.

See how housing costs in your area compare to the national average. Or shop the aisles of the grocery store to decide how much you want to spend.

"You can scroll down individual items in each category and so milk and cheese and yogurt you can see for each one not only what it costs nationally and in your area, but how that's changed over time," Rosenfeld said.

The sticker price may not be as shocking when you see the data accounts for inflation.

"So your grocery budget isn't going to cover what it used to not because food is less affordable but because your money isn't worth as much anymore," Rosenfeld said.

Rosenfeld adds the data journalism team wanted to put the power of price data into the consumers' hands to inform their budget decisions.

"If you're deciding on cutting back on groceries or cutting back on transportation costs you need to know in your area are groceries relatively more expensive than they used to be compared to gas," she said.

The price tracker will continuously update as data becomes available.

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