SouthCoast Supermarket Sticker Shock as Prices Soar

If you haven't been to the grocery store in a while, be prepared for a shock. Near 40-year high inflation is driving up the cost of just about everything, including food prices.

Gas prices, diesel prices, home heating prices, and electricity prices are all off the charts. The cost of new cars, used cars, car parts, airline tickets, hotel rooms, clothing, furniture – you name it, and the prices are up in the stratosphere somewhere.

I'll let someone more intelligent than I explain the whys and wherefores of inflation and when we might get some meaningful relief from it all. The point of this piece is to share with you the impact inflation is having on your food budget and what it is costing you to feed your family.

The Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index indicates food prices are up almost 11 percent (10.8 percent) from a year ago. That increase is across the board.

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It is not as though price increases have impacted just one segment of the food spectrum, and that you can save money by simply avoiding that food group.

The cost of everything is up, meaning your bottom line is up each time you cash out at the supermarket. There have even been shortages of some products at the area supermarkets from time to time, including cat and dog food and toilet paper.

If ever there has been a time to clip coupons, this may be it.

By now, most of you have heard about the baby formula shortage. If you are lucky enough to find baby formula, it will cost you 13 percent more than a year ago. Baby food, in general, is up 13 percent as well.

I've constructed a list below of some popular items and food supply staples that are probably on your shopping list and included the rate by which the price has increased since last year.

Happy shopping!