Consumer Price Index versus Cost of Living

The Consumer Price Index or CPI is a broad price index which is subject to manipulation by government bodies interested in making the public feel less apprehensive about the cost of living.
It does not really reflect my, or probably most people's true cost of living.  My cost of living has few relatively fixed components such as house insurance and many variable components like car repair.  The variable components can be vastly more than the fixed ones.  For example, a new house roof can cost tens of thousands.

As the government says, a person can substitute a less costly item for a more costly item to reduce their cost of living.

Just as Anheuser Busch deep freezes cans of Budweiser so they can compare the taste of a current brew with a brew from 30 years before, it is possible to make long time frame comparisons.  A VW in 1970 cost about 2k while a similar one in 2010 costs about 10 times as much.  The newer one may be better in many respects but it travels the same distance in about the same time.  And the main purpose of a VW is transport not entertainment.  A 2010 college education in English Literature at the University of Houston costs about 10 times as much as a 1970 program at the same school and in many subjects is virtually identical.

So meaningful gross long term comparisons in the cost of living can be made.

Devious people in government and business count on this inflation to make people feel better and to reduce the cost of long term debt.  The stock market counts on it to make it look like stocks are a good investment although the dividend yield has gone down over the last 30 years.

In summary, the CPI is relatively useless and you can somewhat control your cost of living by adjusting your spending to match your financial resources.