Led by gas prices that reached a record in July, the cost of food, health care insurance, housing and utilities has risen steadily in the past year, while Utahns' take-home pay hasn't kept pace in the short term.

In ways big and small, Utahns are adjusting to a new reality of higher prices for the necessities of life, even as the state economy slows and the national picture remains rocky. Many say they are worse off financially than last year and even some who have not felt as much pain fear a growing economic tempest.

"The economy looks like crap now," said Mike Loomis, a tire technician at Jack's Tire and Oil in Salt Lake City. "Food prices are going up. Gas prices are going up. Heck, even a bus ride is $2 now. It's costing more just to get to work."

Utah's gas prices hovered around $3 a gallon until April, when soaring prices for crude oil and other factors on a global scale fueled a steep rise and helped bring the average cost of a gallon of unleaded to a record $4.22 on July 18. Although drivers nationally have seen relief, prices in Utah have been slower to fall, dropping to $3.93 on Friday, which is still almost 30 cents higher than the U.S. average and $1.17 higher than prices in Utah a year ago, according to travel services company AAA.

If it weren't for high gas prices, Dean and Nikki Dinas in Holladay say they would be feeling better about their finances.

"We aren't better off than last year because gasoline is eating up a bigger portion of our budget," said Dean, who works for a business-consulting company. Nikki is a teacher.

They are not alone in seeing their budgets under siege. Statistics from Finicity.com, a Draper-based Web site for family budgeting, show that Utah families have decreased average spending per month since January 2006. In the first six months of that year, they spent an average of $8,811, which dropped to $8,344 in the first half of this year.

Kelly Matthews, an economist at Wells Fargo & Co. in Utah, said a recent analysis of gas prices showed that Utahns probably are spending as much as $200 a month more for fuel than they did in 2005.

"That's a pretty good chunk out of a lot of people's discretionary family budget," he said.

If gas prices were the only problem, that would be one thing. But Utahns are facing many other challenges.

Years of housing price increases have made it difficult for many families to afford a home. As a result, demand for apartments and other rentals has grown, leading to rent increases of 9.2 percent in the past year in Salt Lake County.

Preston Huntsman, 25, of Castle Dale, is a truck driver for Ashworth Transfer Inc. in Huntington. He has had to adjust to higher prices for just about everything by downsizing his living quarters.

"I had to give up my house. I had to sell it and move into a little bitty apartment," he said.

When it comes to putting food on the table, prices in Salt Lake City-area grocery stores have risen steadily, with a hefty 2.3 percent increase in July alone. Grocers blame the increased cost of transporting their products from growers to warehouses to stores.

"I don't know how anyone can't feel the pain at the grocery store," said Cindy Vance of West Jordan, noting that "meat is pretty much a luxury around here now."

She and her husband are buying cheaper foods, trading steak for hamburger and hot dogs as a periodic treat.

More of Utahns' checks also are going to pay for their health benefits. Inflation-adjusted family premiums for work-based health insurance coverage jumped an average of 22 percent in Utah from 2001 to 2005, while median incomes rose 4.6 percent in roughly the same time frame.

Vance and her husband plan to retire in 10 years, but they remain worried about health insurance. "It's scary. What if we can't afford it?"

Then there is the cost of utilities, which is reflected in the average Questar Gas Co. customer, who in July started paying $12.50 more a month for natural gas.

Down in Monticello, the rising cost of propane is about to hit home for Rhett Sifford. As the manager of a low-power Christian radio station, he is used to getting along on his salary of $10,800 a year.

But now that his brother is leaving the house they share, Sifford must shoulder the burden for propane, which last winter averaged $700 to $800 every 45 days.

"I'm going to trust in God to provide for my needs like he promises that he will," Sifford said.

Price increases for gas, food, utilities and rent drove up inflation along the Wasatch Front 1.1 percent for July, a sharp increase for just one month. But even as prices have risen, Utahns' wages have failed to keep pace. The Census Bureau reported last week that two-year median household income in the state fell $2,175, to $54,853, in 2006-07, compared with 2004-05.

And even a good raise of around 5 percent wouldn't cover the increased cost of living.

"Raises don't keep up with anything," said Sergio Marta, 29, who lives in West Valley City with his wife and three children.

"You're behind no matter how much you get." He has taken a part-time job to make ends meet.

Also putting pressure on Utah wages is the state's slowing rate of job growth, meaning workers have fewer options to switch employment for higher wages.

"We've just fallen off the cliff," said Pam Perlich, senior research economist at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Utah.

Mike Carr, 57, a letter carrier who lives in Bountiful, said his cost-of-living increases in pay have made him feel better about his personal financial situation, but he worries about his grown children and co-workers with children at home.

"My kids are doing all right, but you worry about the future. What will they face if things don't turn around?"

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* Tribune writers STEVE OBERBECK, LESLEY

MITCHELL, DAWN HOUSE, PAUL BEEBE, MIKE GORRELL and MICHAEL LIM"N

contributed to this story.

Utah voices

"I bought a new diesel pickup when vehicle prices were low. I don't worry about gas prices because there's nothing I can do about it. I cut down on other expenses, like eating out and not buying any more soda pop, but I won't be buying a scooter."

- Kyle Gerber, 31, South Ogden, an electrician and a single father of two boys, ages 5 and 6.

"A lot of our work is service and repair, so we do a lot of traveling job site to job site. That gets expensive."

- Rick Garcia, 65, self-employed heating and air conditioning contractor from Helper

"I guess I feel we are just plugging along and working hard. I feel hopeful that things will ... improve. But if we stay even with last year, that will be an accomplishment in this economy."

Denise Oblak, Canyon Voyages Adventure Co. in Moab

"I don't see things getting much better. I've lived in Utah all my life and every year things seem to just keep getting worse and worse. You've got gas at $4 but you know good and well that someone out there has the technology that will allow cars to get 100 miles per gallon."

Terry Slaymaker, 57, asphalt worker who lives in a recreational vehicle in the parking lot of the Salt Lake City company for which he works.

"Lately, I've been trying to redo our meals so we can eat for a little less. It used to be no big deal to throw a steak on [the grill] during the weekend."

Bobie Tupou, a mother of seven, West Valley City