Prices have been high, but today I went to the grocery store for milk.
1 gallon of 2% milk (well any percentage as they were all the same price) $5.58
1 dozen eggs $4.48
Total together for 1 gallon of milk and one dozen eggs >$10!!
At the same time, gasoline is $2.99 to $3.05, so one could get 3 gallons of gas for about the same money as a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk!
Hopefully egg prices will be falling soon. The spike in egg prices is attributed to Bird Flu and the culling of flocks at egg factory farms to prevent spread. The good news is that it doesnt take a very long time to grow hens to laying age (about 6 months old). Since even I noticed that spike in egg prices 2 months ago, I would hope that by April we would start to see the prices come down, (though Easter will spike them up some more!), but after Easter, I hope that prices would begin to return to 'normal'. What "normal" means by then, is a mystery to me at this juncture, though!
Given that eggs are in so many things (though NOT MILK!!) I would not be surprised that there are many other price increases are a result. However, Im beginning to wonder how much of this is some sort of excuse for a Grocery Store Profit Bonanza!
So what are your thoughts?
What prices are you seeing for Milk, bread and eggs in your neighborhood?
(any other nominations for items to price and discuss?)
That milk and eggs will cost you $20 here. Except that's 3L of milk, not a gallon (3.785L).
There has been hardly any increase in the price of wine during this inflationary period. Thus, the relative price of wine has been declining. No, I haven't consumed more alcohol, but perhaps have bought the tiniest bit of classier wines.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000720311 (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000720311)
Wine does not take up a large part of my budget, so my living standard has not noticeably increased, but somehow, the price is salient. Some notice gasoline prices, I notice wine prices!
Well, to play the Fred game:
Price of eggs is at a high
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000708111 (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000708111)
and Milk is also at a high (and as this runs only through the end of 2022, either there is a big spike on the way OR my town grocery is screwing the hell out of us!)
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000709112 (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000709112)
I have long warned against consuming milk and eggs! Cholesterol and all that. :-)
Hoo boy, listen to y'all complaining! The cheapest eggs earlier this week were almost $5 (there were only three cartons of this particular brand still on the shelves). Half and half, which I absolutely need for my coffee is around $5. Coffee, which used to be less than $10 a pound is now more than $15 (same store, same brand). The deli at the grocery store no longer offers egg salad. Broccoli rabe, one of my favorite vegetables is now around $4 a bunch, and the bunch much much smaller than a couple of years ago. Gas is well above $3 (I think it was 3.39.9 credit, probably 3.29.9 cash).
Eggs are $4.89 a dozen and milk is $2.89 a gallon. Both are store brands. I saw gas for $3.19/gal. on Thursday.
Double post. One of my local stores has 'free range' eggs on SALE for $3.98 a dozen. I may go pick up a dozen.
Store brand roast beef lunchmeat is $5 for 7 ounces.
A double cheeseburger with bacon at Sonic is about $7.
A jar of Nescafe instant coffee is about $9.
Lunch at the cafeteria is $5.50, all you can eat.
Milk has been higher than gas for as long as I can remember. When I first attended college I commuted, and the 1971 price of gas was 28.9 cents per gallon. I just looked up milk, and it was 50 cents per gallon then.
Here is a cool set of charts including absolute average US prices for about a dozen commodities over the last 20 years. If the commodity of interest is not listed, choose a substitute. Their prices will move together. One can find milk and gasoline, which for most people are complements, not substitutes!
https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-price-index-average-price-data.htm (https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-price-index-average-price-data.htm)
You can select the overall Consumer Price Index and categories at the top, then press Go. These are 12 month per cent changes, so they lag reality. The month to month changes are coming down quite rapidly. In December prices on average fell [by 0.1%]!
was at the store tonight.
Bread that had been $.88 is now .99
pint of Blue Bell vanilla had been $2.48, now 3.78
Dozen eggs $3.56
1/2 gallon Store Brand 2% milk 2.42
fresh baked loaf of french bread, used to be $1, today $1.47!!! (I wish I had seen that, as I would have put it back!)
What does your grocery receipt show?
Nominal wine prices have been remarkably stable recently. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000720311
(https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000720311)
Deflated by the Consumer Price Index, the relative price of wine is declining, and has been for the last seven years.
No, I'm not drinking more wine, I do upgrade a tad.
The share of my spending on wine is near zero, so the falling relative price of wine makes me better off to the tiniest degree.
Cheers! :-)