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One health shift is I always certain brands of bottled sugar free salad dressing. But this week there were just a few in stock and they cost $6 and I thought finally forget it. So I bought olive oil and vinegar and made my own for less and definitely healthier without the additives. I miss the convenience and the flavors but it’s fine.

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My wife and I were discussing this a couple of weeks ago after grocery shopping and it seems as though that the previous $100 worth of groceries costs $30-$40 more for the same amount of stuff. Most telling item we've noticed that's been shrunk: we buy a bunch of Lunchables for our autistic son and they used to have 6 Ritz-like crackers per Lunchable. Today... 5 crackers.

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Jun 11, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

Try being on a fixed income!!! Between food and gas we are having to make real cutbacks!

I also question why all the food plants are catching fire??? Something like 28 in the last 18 months?? No story there !!

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Jun 11, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

Yes, we just don’t by as much, we buy milk at 1/2 gallon as we get a full gallon it goes bad before the date, also the meat we buy, it’s like they are trying to keep us from storing long term. What have you heard of all these food processing factories burning?

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Jun 11, 2022·edited Jun 11, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

Yes, because I refuse to compromise. That said one bag is costing me close to $100. I buy Organic/GrassFed/Pastured. I make my own yogurt in Sous Vide using Wheat Belly/Undoctored recipes with tons of live good bacteria. Would post a pic of the recipes but can’t on this blog. The Organic Half and Half I use for yogurt has doubled in price to $9 for 64 Oz.

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Jun 12, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

No matter how bad the inflation, I will never drop my support of your journalism! Emily Miller...fearless! Our country needs so many more people like you! God bless...

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Jun 12, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

I don't know where this 8% is, my cost are up over 18%.

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Jun 11, 2022·edited Jun 11, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

ShadowStats by John Williams calculates inflation like was done in 1980. Using that metric we are at about 18%. You might want to interview him. He has been on Greg Hunter’ video channel quite often. And using Rule of 70 that means 70/18 ~ 4 years for aggregate prices to double!

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Having 2 kids with different food allergies, we buy the same stuff (organic, grass fed, fresh fruits and veggies, etc). Gut healing is a long process, and they are thriving, so we are hesitant to change. Hemp milk (what the one with milk allergy drinks) is now $5/ carton and we got through 4-5 a week. Alexandre Organic A2 2% milk is $7/ half gallon. Our grocery bill for 2 adults and 2 children is about $3,000/ month (that doesn’t include eating out). It was about $2,000 in January 2021............. that’s buying the exact same products. CPI isn’t a true inflation index, nor is the amount they claim groceries are going up. Apples to apples it’s way over 8-9% annualized.

My father in law owns a small farm services company and is a Purina dealer (mostly for large animals). Based on the animal feed shortages and decreases in planting he’s seeing right now, we ain’t seen nothing yet.

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Thank you for looking into this. We all have to deal with inflation and "shrinkage" and we understand the choices but I wish there was some sort of notice about it. It's either one less cracker or a few pennies more per box, I'm sure. Luckily for us, our son only uses the full amount of crackers at breakfast so we can hoard his lunch crackers for later. But if kids are using these at lunch, it's probably causing at least some headaches for parents.

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Jun 12, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

It's been an added burden. Each week I go into the store hoping the price of the things I buy has not changed too much. It's usually 30 cents here 40 cents there, but weekly you just watch powerless to control it. Time to get my victory garden going.

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I’m not one to usually check prices, I just shop for what I need. I’m oblivious.  With with that said, now I’m actually noticing the high prices. More than the prices are The lack of certain goods on the shelves. That upsets me more. I’m just becoming more conscious of eating what I buy not letting anything go to waste . On a fun note I’m making homemade pasta again. 

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Jun 12, 2022·edited Jun 14, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

I haven't made any significant changes, but there have been some changes forced upon me that are not helpful. There are increasingly limited "store brand" options, which then push me to name brands, which have always been more expensive comparatively.

We are fortunate to live in a rural area, and have started buying our beef direct from the farm. The price is comparable, sometimes actually cheaper, and the quality is far above supermarket meats.

As always, if something I use regularly is on sale, and spoilage is not a concern, I get an extra one or two. Week to week, my bill is up 30% to 40%, and finding items completely out of stock is now the norm.

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Jun 12, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

Moved to Missouri we have lots ofAmish goods here so like dairy products,Meat products I’m paying less,produce and fruits are coming into season so I’ll be doing canning for the winter…

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Jun 12, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

We just stick to meat, eggs, butter, HC and a little veg

Don’t go through the middle isles….never really have

Also have 2 meals a day.

Been doing this for years actually.

Got in on a cow-share….catch fish and churn my own butter if I have too…

Keeping it simple

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The price of meat is way up. So is the price of milk.

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Jun 12, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

Honestly, no. But I don't have extravagant tastes nor do I have that large of a grocery list. I also still get a kick out of finding a sale price on an item I use regularly.

I think it may be relevant to the discussion that what we pay can be partly a function of where we buy, since some places are typically more expensive than others, even during better times. I shop most of the time at Fry's, a Kroger brand. I also hit Walmart once or twice a month. There are always one or two stores in every area that have a good combination of product variety and prices, and that's how I selected Fry's as my go-to. I avoid places like Sprouts, Safeway, Target and even Aldi for varying reasons. We also don't have "Mom and Pop" type places out here, at least not within a reasonable distance, so those aren't in my possible choices.

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Jun 12, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

Yes I am single buying same try to buy bargains cut back on eating out

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Jun 12, 2022·edited Jun 12, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

C~s~c~

Bag of salad with Trump $3.99

Bag of smaller salad with Brandon $6.99

Beef with Trump reasonable

Beef with Brandon up 50%

6 avocados with Trump $5.99

6 avocados with Brandon $8.99

Adult beverages with Trump reasonable

Adult beverages with Brandon up over 40%

Gas under Trump $2.259 a gallon

Gas under Brandon $4.199 a gallon

Eggs under Trump $.99 a dozen

Eggs under Brandon $1.89 a dozen

Other items

Guns with Trump Ruger 10/22 $250

Guns with Brandon Ruger 10/22 $395

Ammo when I was 18, .22 long 100 rounds 95 cents

Ammo with Trump .22 long 50 rounds $1.95

Ammo with Brandon .22 long $3.99

Can you tell me 5 good things that Brandon has done to help Americans ?

I know I can't !

Oh....I almost forgot.....Brandon has helped me to get a collection of over 300 masks,

that I can use to help light the camp fire, when I go camping this Summer !

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Jun 12, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

I'm buying less beef, switched to chicken for protein- relatively cheaper. I'm actually buying more groceries now since I cut on meals outside, before it was three or four times a week, now it's just once a week. I'm at Costco once a week, the only items that haven't increased are chicken rotisserie, hot dog and pizza at the food court.

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Jun 12, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

Yeah, inflation is terrible but food is important. I'm just not spending much on other things.

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Jul 7, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

Hi

I noticed the missing cracker the last few times I purchased these as well. I'd say over the last two months I've purchased six as I happen to work in a grocery store and they make a quick and inexpensive snack. I have noticed it in both the ham/cheddar as well as the turkey/American. I purchased another today (ham) and sure enough, five crackers. So I decided to search the internet before I wrote the company.. that's how I came across this thread.

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Jun 20, 2022Liked by Emily Miller

Thank you for sharing this great post Emily !

I am learning so much from what you and others are sharing with all of us.

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Jun 11, 2022·edited Jun 11, 2022

I'm frugal and will look for sales on the items I like and stock up on those.

But the sale prices *now are the full retail prices from just 12 months ago.

I still have to find the sales, but there is no savings possible any more by smart shopping.

Yes, 30% more expensive.

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I shop at Costco every week for produce and certain items. I usually go down every aisle looking for new items. 95% of items have gone up in price by 10% minimum. There are less than 5 Kirkland branded items where the price is still the same. Also when Costco has sales, the sales still cost more than 2020 prices.

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founding

No change in food purchases at the grocery store. I hunt and fish so we rarely buy meat, which has always saved us money. One tuna trip we can get 600 pounds of tuna for a $300 guided trip and with processing we have $1.50 a pound frozen tuna for a year! We have changed how we order in restaurants, partly due to price, partly due to less appetite than years ago. We now split an appetizer, a salad and an entree. We used to each get an entree and split an appetizer and a salad, so we save buying the second entree which is always too much food and adds another $30 to $50. So we're spending less in total than before! The biggest price jumps are still to come, I'm afraid. So many food plants and chicken raising plants have burned or been shut down, not sure why, but that's going to hit the market and when there is demand pull inflation, the Fed can't do much by reducing the money supply, people have to eat! Biden will go down in history as the worst President ever.

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My favorite beef cut is the Tri-Tip roast. Used to buy it all the time but with the price about double from a few months ago. A couple of weeks ago, it disappeared entirely. I even asked the store butcher if they had any in the back. Answer was no. Today I went to the store and the beef section is half empty. The tri-tip roast is back now, but only in a shrink-wrapped, pre-packaged form that now includes, according to the label, about 16% of the weight in the form of marinating fluids. So in addition to the price doubling, the actual beef per pound is now 16% less beef, with the beef being replaced by fluids. I shop only for me and yes, my average grocery store bill has about doubled. From around $60 to $100-$120. That is inflation of around 80% to 100%. Nothing close to the official 8% inflation.

My haircuts at Dollar Cuts just went from $15 to $20 (before the tip). That is 33% inflation. Gasoline, of course, had doubled, namely 100% inflation. Property taxes up 20%.

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I knew prices were going up but I didn’t realize how bad things had gotten until about 6-8 weeks ago. Jenn sent me to buy 2 lbs of chicken breast and cabbage. $27. I was WTF? We’re buying essentially what we always buy, but we’re definitely spending more for the same.

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You think you're lucky, imagine how my little ones feel. LOL!! Here's a start, do your best to stay away from vegetable and seed oils (they are in everything and and I just do the best I can). Go with olive oil as much as possible. The most important info when shopping for food is the ingredients list. Look for anything that says "hydrogenated." Especially, on anything that says "trans fat free." It's nice loop hole to rename things (and there are a bunch). Wild Sockeye Salmon is an excellent source of omega 3, it has good 3 to 6 ratio, and is known to be less contaminated (we eat no more than twice a week).

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When I buy groceries I tend to be static as to what I purchase:. Frozen Asian Stir fry vegetables, Wasa Brod in the Light Rye variety, butter, and other stuff that's easy for me to prepare. Unfortunately I'm compelled to watch what I intake. Certain other things I procure from Amazon as they are currently the better source for the less of the junk food. Market Basket is my preferred grocery store chain now because their prices are excellent and their customer service is quite good in most cases. Walmart sometimes has good deals too... however their selection of foods is not always on point. I tend to keep focus on frozen and fresh foods instead of canned. Though I intend to lay in a preparatory stock of healthy dried foods that have decent ability to prepare and that have maximum nutrition value. Less of the refined sugars, less of the corn syrups of any kind, lower sodium. And of course controlling the fat sources too. Israeli salad, tabouli, hummus, and other natural foods work too. While costs do have their effect, one effort to alleviate hunger is to intake water based fluids of as much as you are able. Lemon water and red wine vinegar diluted in water are two water based fluids I use along with green tea and coffee. 96 fluid ounces a day plus more. And a good broth base powder to make soup and simple broth. Additionally, there are wonderful people such as Ms Morgan Zegers who advocate simple living and excellent personal preparedness strategies to mitigate things.

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Emily, definitely agree about "shrinking size". Example, Betty Crocker box of Scalloped Potatoes used to be 4.7oz, now they are 4.0oz. Also have noticed that the sizes you find are smaller at stores like Dollar General versus Food Lion.

One thing I have done for years, living out here in the Shenandoah Valley, is go in with friends and buy 1/4 or 1/2 cow. I'm single, but I share with the ex-wife, my sister and her family, and my dad. 1/2 cow gives you 400lbs or so of meat (I ended up with 70lbs just of ground beef!) I paid $1k for that 1/2 cow, processed and packaged. So about 2.50/lb, including ground beef, sirloin, ribeye, arm roast, etc etc. AND as far as I am concerned, it tastes so so much better than store bought meat. I *know* where my food came from, I know who raised it, and HOW it was raised and fed, I know who butchered it. Let me know if you are interested (make sure you have a fair amount of freezer space!) and I'll be happy to give you some contacts. Plus which, I'm supporting a local family farmer and not some corporate agri-conglomerate. The same can be done with chicken, turkey, etc. FYI, Rockingham County VA (Harrisonburg/ JMU) is the biggest turkey producer in the state.

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Yes and no and + some - no on some items, for example turkey bacon. It used to be about $3.69 and now it's over $5.00 - nearly $6.00. I used to buy three to four packs, sometimes more if it was on sale, and freeze it. Now? I think the last time I bought a pack was about a month ago. Yes on some other things that I really can't cut out, such as lettuce and other veggies. I have been buying a lot of certain things, tuna for example, because of the projected shortages, but also because buying, say, ten cans now will be cheaper in the long run than five now and then the other five when the price has gone up - and everything its going up. I currently have a particular Italian salad dressing from a restaurant chain (two-pack, Costco) that I likely won't buy again, though admittedly because its flavor is meh and it's not creamy, which is my preference. But also because I'm sure the price will be insane when I need it again. Your reminder about olive oil and vinegar, Emily, is a great one as I do enjoy this flavor and, yep, it's much cheaper! I really love this one brand, I forget the name, but it comes in a rounded bottle, but it was expensive before. I'm scared to look at the price now, jeez.

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Hey Emily. You asked what percent would I give for a Biden pivot? Less than 1%. I really believe he’d be fine driving the car right over the edge of the cliff. If he wouldn’t, the people who control him would.

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FYI. I bought my first house in 1981. Our mortgage interest rate was 19% A YEAR. Imagine paying 1/5 the price of the whole house - every year, just for the loan! Needless to say, paying that off became our prime objective.

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Jeez! Not even a ‘we strive to deliver value to our customers and seek balance between product quantity and price’ response? Ok. If you need me, I’m game.

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