Household goods pricier than oil — and gas

Gas pump gasoline prices
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In a bit of happy news for those traveling for the holiday this week, it's going to cost a lot less to drive to your loved ones. Unfortunately, the cost of your Christmas dinner probably hasn't dropped.

The average price at the pump on Monday was $1.998, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report, the lowest since 2009. That brings the average for the month down to $2.02, or 40 cents less than a year ago.

In the past month, West Texas Intermediate crude has fallen to its lowest level since 2004. It was trading below $36 a barrel midday Monday. At 42 gallons to the barrel, that's under 86 cents a gallon for crude.

The fall in gas prices follows months of dropping oil prices. Of course, there's a big spread between crude prices and what you actually pay at the pump.

Now you have a ton of regular consumer items in the house that cost more than crude oil or gasoline. Over the past decade, regular gasoline and milk have vied to be pricier, according to data from AAA and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the recent drop at the pump has left the price of milk far higher.

Eggs, which are normally cheaper by the dozen than a gallon of crude or gasoline, have skyrocketed in price in the past few months. The sudden rise is largely due to an avian flu outbreak that forced farmers to kill off millions of chickens.

Even bottled water is more expensive than oil. The bottled water industry topped $12 billion in revenue in 2013, according to the International Bottled Water Association. Americans bought more than 10 billion gallons that year, which works out to a cost around $1.21 a gallon. Some market analysts have suggested the actual figure is higher.

Other consumer items have remained relatively stable amid oil's drop. Bread, for example, averaged around $1.50 a pound and is now nearly twice the price of a gallon of crude.

This story has been updated with figures on the cost of bottled water.