Shop Smarter and Save With the Consumer Reports Price Tracker 2026

Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360
Sale price: $1,559
Was: $1,999.99
Thin, light, and built to last a full workday away from an outlet, the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 earns its keep when you’re on the run. The premium 2-in-1 has a 360-degree hinge that lets you rotate the screen for use as a laptop or a tablet, knocking out a report at your desk or sketching notes on the couch. The bundled stylus is handy for handwriting and drawing. And the laptop was priced nearly $100 more just two weeks ago.

For more bargains, see Our Favorite Deals Right Now.

Gas prices have strained household budgets since late February, with the national average for regular unleaded climbing from $2.98 to a peak of $4.56 a gallon over Memorial Day weekend, according to AAA. (It’s now at $4.32.) For the record, gas prices—adjusted for inflation—averaged $4.88 in 2012 due to high demand and rising oil extraction costs, according to the Energy Information Administration.

If you’re tired of seeing your wallet on empty, Consumer Reports’ auto experts have tips on how to save money at the pump. Here’s a summary:

Shop around. Using a smartphone app like AAA, GasBuddy, or Gas Guru can help you find the best price in your area. We’ve seen rates vary by as much as 80 cents per gallon in the same town.

Look for the best way to pay. Stations often cut you a break for paying in cash, but rewards cards and programs come in handy, too. And don’t assume that you’re getting the cash rate by using your debit card. Check the prices posted at the pump.

Keep your foot off the accelerator. When we measured fuel economy at different highway speeds, we found that the miles-per-gallon difference between 55 and 75 mph was equivalent to trading a compact car for a large SUV. On the flip side, slowing down by just 10 mph at highway speeds reduced fuel consumption by as much as 8 mpg. In a car that gets 35 mpg, that’s a savings of about $400 a year at $4 per gallon.

Check your tire pressure. Keeping car tires inflated to the pressure indicated on the sticker inside the driver’s door will improve safety and make the vehicle run more efficiently. When shopping for replacement tires, look for the models in our ratings with low rolling resistance. They use less energy (and fuel) to move a car.

Skip the premium. Many automakers recommend premium gas, which has chemical benefits that help a car achieve its advertised performance under extreme conditions—climbing steep grades, carrying lots of weight, or driving on hot days. But unless your owner’s manual specifically requires premium, the results usually aren’t worth the extra cost. In average driving conditions, Consumer Reports’ tests show a negligible performance difference between regular and premium fuel.

Clear the roof. Racks and storage boxes increase aerodynamic drag, making your car work harder. So remove them when you’re done using them. CR’s testers have found that a vehicle with a roof rack and two mountain bikes gets 7 to 13 fewer mpg. A rooftop cargo box alone costs 5 to 9 mpg. And even an empty roof rack increased fuel consumption, reducing efficiency by 2 to 5 mpg. All totaled, an empty rack or roof box could cost you an additional $120 to $220 in fuel per year.

As prices for electricity, natural gas, and even municipal water continue to rise, it’s helpful to know the annual operating cost for that new fridge or washing machine on your wish list.

In some cases, the difference between what it costs to run one model vs. another may seem inconsequential. But consider this: A refrigerator that costs $58 a year to power can save you $1,280 over 10 years compared with a similarly priced model that costs $186 a year to run.

To help you factor in those ongoing costs when shopping for a new appliance, we recently added an annual usage cost (AUC) estimate to CR’s ratings for refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes dryers, washing machines, ranges, cooktops, and wall ovens. As my colleague Debra Judge Silber explains, we used data from our labs and various government sources to come up with the figures.

“We have model-specific electric, gas, and water consumption data from our lab tests,” says Maria Rerecich, CR’s senior director of testing and research. “We combine this data with typical usage frequency and national average utility costs to provide consumers with a ‘typical’ annual usage cost for comparing models.”

Those usage figures—for example, the average number of laundry loads washed annually in homes in the U.S.—are based on data from the federal Energy Information Administration. We base energy costs—the price you pay for electricity and gas—on the EIA’s national average over a recent 12-month period. For appliances that use water, such as dishwashers and washing machines, we calculate an average water-use cost based on figures from the Environmental Protection Agency.

For more info, go to Deb’s article at the link above.

After a decade at Consumer Reports, I’m still amazed by the awesome money-saving tips offered up by my colleagues. When it comes to replacing cars, appliances (big and small), and electronics, they know how to strike a hard bargain. Routine services? They find savvy ways to save on those, too.

Courtney Lindwall has a great article, for example, on how to save $500 a year on your cell phone bill by switching to a provider like Consumer Cellular or Mint Mobile. And Jim Willcox has a piece on how to replace cable TV for less than $35 a month. But why stop there? On our website, you’ll find articles on the best student discounts, how to get your car fixed for (almost) free with unadvertised warranty programs, and whether it really makes sense to buy AppleCare+ for a new iPhone.

We also have pro tips on how to shop for secondhand appliances, refurbished electronics, and thrift store bargains. All are worth a look.

And, well, I think you might love this piece by trained chef Paul Hope on his trusty kitchen vacuum sealer, which helps him save money and eat healthy by buying and preparing food in bulk. I know I did.

Want help in choosing a rewards card? We’ve got advice on that as well.

Two letters: AI. New data centers for the tech need a special type of chip called high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Unlike the DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) that goes into devices like phones and laptops, HBM stacks memory chips on top of one another and connects them with thousands of tiny vertical wires. The result is far higher speed and much greater data throughput, which is exactly what AI training chips require. And, as you might expect, the margins on HBM are much better for chip manufacturers.

As a result, Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix—the memory chip industry’s Big Three—have shifted a huge share of production to HBM. By one estimate, about 70 percent of relevant capacity is going to the special chips. That means the capacity for regular ol’ DRAM production is scarce and, therefore, the component comes at a much higher cost—leading to significantly higher tech prices for consumers. 

As Nicholas De Leon notes in this CR article on the issue, Microsoft recently pushed the Xbox Series X game console from $650 to $800, Sony added $100 to $150 to the PlayStation 5, and Nintendo raised the cost of the Switch 2. In June, Apple hiked starting prices on MacBooks and iPads by $200 across the board. And Amazon just bumped up the cost of Fire TVs, Kindles, and Eero routers. The company’s entry-level Echo Dot smart speaker jumped from $50 to $80.

Phones, PCs, tablets, smartwatches, streaming sticks, and a growing list of connected home devices have joined the march, too.

And it’s not just tech products. Car prices are being pushed up by the chip shortages, as well.

What can you do? Consult the shopping tips at the bottom of this article for help finding bargains.

Last updated June 8, 2026: CR senior autos reporter Keith Barry recently set out to answer that question, putting three popular AI tools to the test. And as he soon discovered, ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can be helpful assistants, but they’re no replacement for critical thinking.

“Model years get mixed up, sources get muddled, and recommendations can contradict each other,” he says. “Sometimes the results use information from cryptocurrency exchanges or pawn shops as ‘trusted sources.’”

Tracy Anderman, who heads CR’s fact-checking team and developed our in-house guidelines for AI use, helped Barry put his findings into context. “Generative AI tools are impressive,” she says. “But I would continue to think of them as the friend-of-a-friend that you had an interesting but somewhat unhinged conversation with at a party. You’re not going to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a car just because an acquaintance says so.”

To get the most out of AI tools, Barry advises not to use them like a search engine. Provide them with specific prompts, then validate the results with trusted news sites, manufacturer websites, and other primary sources. For one exercise, for example, he started with “What’s the most reliable three-row SUV?” and followed up with more detailed queries.

And as one expert told Barry, if you don’t know much about cars, you can use AI tools to sort out your wants and needs, and help you figure out what sort of vehicle you’re looking for.

Better yet, once you know the make, model, and trim of the car, AI can write scripts that help counter high-pressure sales techniques and make you sound like a master negotiator. There are even paid services, such as CarEdge, that use generative AI to negotiate with salespeople over email on your behalf.

For more on the mounting influence of AI, see our articles on how AI data centers affect electric bills and resource management, and how Uber and Lyft use the technology to price rides.

Last updated June 1, 2026: For many people in the U.S., electric bills keep going up and up. Residential rates rose, on average, 10.2 percent between March 2025 and March 2026, according to federal data, putting many people in the difficult situation of deciding whether to keep the lights on or pay for essentials like food, medicine, and transportation. And yet many utility companies are posting significant profits.

In 2025, the companies requested a record $31 billion in increases, double the amount from 2024, according to an analysis by PowerLines, a nonprofit organization, and still more requests are in the pipeline. Much of the funding is earmarked for updating aging electrical grids, increasing resiliency to weather events, and keeping up with rising fuel prices. But a good portion of it is tied to the increased energy demand created by AI data centers.

While regulators in some states have introduced measures to help shield ratepayers from data center costs, commissioners in other states are pushing through approvals for rate increases and expensive new fossil-fueled power plants. For instance, public utility commission cases in Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, and North Carolina will have big implications for residents of those states.

If you’re troubled by the rising cost of electricity, see our article on the issue and sign a CR petition calling on government leaders to hold utility companies accountable, reject excessive rate increases, make big new energy users (like data centers) pay their fair share, and prioritize solutions that cut waste and reduce bills.

Last updated May 4, 2026: Back in December, after a monthslong investigation, Consumer Reports revealed that many U.S. shoppers ordering groceries for delivery through Instacart were unknowingly paying different prices for the same products.

The shifts in pricing were discovered on items such as Oscar Mayer turkey and Skippy peanut butter at retailers including Albertsons, Costco, Kroger, Safeway, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Target.

It was all part of widespread AI-enabled experiments conducted by Instacart, a company that calls itself “the largest online grocery marketplace in North America.”

In response to the article, Instacart halted the practice. And late last month, Maryland became the first state in the U.S. to ban personalized pricing at grocery stores. There are now similar bills in the works in California, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York.

The Maryland law, which goes into effect on Oct. 1, will prohibit grocery stores from using customers’ personal data to increase individual prices. It will be enforced by the state’s attorney general, with fines of up to $10,000 for a first offense and as much as $25,000 for repeat violations.

But consumer advocates say that the final legislation includes provisions that will limit its effectiveness. For instance, retailers can still engage in personalized pricing if a customer consents by agreeing to the lengthy online terms of service that few people read. In addition, consumers can’t sue companies for infractions. Only Maryland’s attorney general can take action under the law—and only after serving notice and giving those companies 45 days to fix violations without further legal ramifications. 

In the end, Consumer Reports declined to endorse the legislation. 

“Retailers have a lot of data about individual shoppers: how often we search for or hover over particular items, whether we live near competitor stores, inferences about our likes and dislikes, our dietary needs, our income, our family size, and more,” Grace Gedye, senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports, said in a statement. And they can use such information for “surveillance pricing,” charging people the maximum that they’re individually likely to pay.

“This bill has loopholes that will limit its real-world impact,” Gedye’s statement continued. “We urge other state legislatures considering personalized pricing legislation to build in stronger consumer protections and avoid loopholes that weakened this bill.”

Last updated May 4, 2026: Despite considerable tariff pricing pressures, the Ford F-150 we tracked in 2025 held steady at a $37,450 MSRP from mid-May of last year through late November, when the 2026 model was introduced. If you look closely, though, you’ll see that Ford quietly bumped up its nonnegotiable destination fee for the popular pickup truck by $200. It now stands at a whopping $2,795.

Manufacturers technically use this money to cover the cost of shipping vehicles from the factory to the dealership. But over the past decade, destination fees have skyrocketed.

According to Kelley Blue Book, the average destination fee increased from $961 to $1,551 between 2015 and 2025, providing manufacturers with a stealthy way to offset inflation and tariffs. The CR-calculated average for 2026 is $1,670.

For most Toyotas, the current fee is $1,160. For an Alfa Romeo, it’s $3,250.

By law, the destination fee must be included on the window stickers at your local dealership. But Consumer Reports is calling for rules requiring automakers to include destination charges in their advertised and online prices, too.

To help CR members, we list the destination price prominently on the model page for each new car in our ratings. For more information, you can also consult our article on the most and least expensive car destination charges.

Last updated April 13, 2026: Experts at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research said that gas prices would peak at more than $4.25 per gallon in May, adding $857 in new transportation expenses to the average household this year—enough to effectively wipe out the higher tax refunds many American families are counting on. [Editor’s Note: As of mid-May, the average price per gallon had exceeded $4.50.]

“Even if the war ends tomorrow, gasoline prices are not going down to where they were before the war, at least not in the short term,” says Ryan Cummings, the institute’s chief of staff. “And that’s happening at an inopportune time, because we’re heading into peak driving season. In the U.S., the Fourth of July is typically the busiest weekend of any in the year. And so there’s going to be demand pressure on price, because people are buying more gasoline.”

“That’s going to prevent the prices from falling back to where they were—even if all the components of oil costs go down,” he says.

And the downstream impact of higher fuel prices stretches well beyond costlier car trips. “There are all kinds of second-order things that are also going to increase costs for consumers,” Cummings says.

Pricier fuel pushes up airline, trucking, and food prices, too.

Food processing “is incredibly energy intensive and deeply dependent on fossil fuels,” according to a December 2025 report released by the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan policy institute.

As you might expect, higher fuel prices make it more expensive to run farm equipment and transport crops. But there are other less noticeable effects. For instance, farming relies heavily on nitrogen fertilizers, which are produced using natural gas, and when supplies of natural gas are restricted, food prices tend to rise.

And that means we could be looking at yet more inflation in the grocery aisle. For help offsetting those costs, see our report on the most and least expensive supermarkets.

Here are a few more things to keep in mind as you search for products in the days ahead:

Don’t panic-shop. It’s easy to get caught up in the fear of rising prices, but don’t lose your cool and buy things you’ll regret owning.

Choose reliable products. Higher prices could persist, so opt for products that are likely to serve you well in the long term. CR members can use our ratings to review the most and least reliable brands in many categories, including dishwashers, dryers, heat pumps, refrigerators, vacuums, and washing machines.

Shop for older models. TVs, laptops, and smartphones that are a year or two old often remain in stores after newer models arrive. The Samsung Galaxy Watch9 starts at $380, but you can now purchase the Watch8—which performed very well in our labs—for $300 or less. (See below.)

Consider a used or refurbished product. While this advice doesn’t work equally well for all categories, you might find that purchasing a factory-refreshed or gently used appliance, laptop, or phone can save you money. Apple, Best Buy, LG, Samsung, and others certify the items they resell and even offer new warranties.

Avoid the upsell. Extra RAM, storage, and AI features that look impressive on the box often deliver little real-world benefit for typical use, and the added cost is hard to justify right now. Try to be selective with the options packages on cars, too, says Edward Wilford, a senior research director at the technology firm Omdia, since higher-priced packages frequently add features most drivers rarely use.

Focus on the real cost. That means zeroing in on the car’s out-the-door price rather than the monthly payment, says Wilford. The same goes for new smartphones. The finance plan may seem doable, but you can save hundreds by selecting an older model and purchasing it outright.

Use CR for Smart Buys and up-to-the-minute deals. Check out our ratings for help finding products with a good price and admirable performance. Apple and Samsung sell well-made, budget-friendly phones, for example. (See the iPhone 17e and Galaxy A25 5G.) They’re much less expensive than flagship models but still do almost everything you want a modern smartphone to do. Apple’s new MacBook Neo laptop is a bargain, even with a recent price hike to $699. And our testers recently gave this new Feasto gas grill a big thumbs-up at $250 or less.

Consumer Reports also has a devoted team of deal seekers who continually round up the best bargains on highly rated products. You can find their picks at the CR Deals Hub.