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What does an x% inflation rate actually mean?
Let's say there's a product worth $10 in July and the inflation rate in August is 10%. Will it then cost $11 in August? Yes.  That's basically what inflation means. However.  The "monthly" inflation numbers you typically see are generally a year over year inflation rate on that month.  Meaning August 2017 inflation is 10% that means inflation was 10% since last July 2016, not since July 2017. At the micro consumer level, inflation is very very very vague.  Some sectors of the economy will inflate faster than the general inflation rate, others will be slower or even deflate.  Sometimes a price increase comes with a value increase so it's not really inflation.  And lastly, month over month inflation isn't something you will feel.  Inflation is measured on the whole economy, but actual prices move in steps.  A pear today might cost $1, and a pear in five years might cost $1.10.  That's 10% over 5 years or about 2% per year but the actual price change might have been as abrupt as yesterday a pear was $1 and now it's $1.10.  All of the prices of pears over all of the country won't be the same.   Inflation is a measure of everything in the economy roughly blended together to come up with a general value for the loss in purchasing power of a currency and is applicable over long periods.  A USD inflation rate of 3% does not mean the pear you spent $1 on today will necessarily cost $1.03 next year.