In addition, the cost of barley, used to make malt, has climbed sharply because of the surge in commodity markets. That means malt makers such as Finland’s Raisio Oyj are paying more for grain, so they have to raise their own selling prices. Brewers also are big users of electricity, water and glass, all of which cost more now.
Bread costs some vastly unreasonable sum of money now- $3.50 a loaf, or thereabouts, even from the supermarket. Milk is more expensive now, but since I rarely use it for anything except coffee, I’m not as concerned by that.
Ammunition has skyrocketed in recent months due to the astronomical cost of shipping it anywhere, and rising global lead prices. It’s up something like 10-25% on last year, which, combined with the high price of petrol (because rifle ranges and wild animals are always a long way from towns and other built up areas) means I don’t get to go shooting nearly as often as I’d like to now.
In fact, Stuff In General just seems to cost more than it did even 6 months ago- sometimes it’s not a lot more, but other times things have leapt up exponentially to the point where I find myself wondering how many sandwiches I’m actually likely to eat this week and whether or not I’m likely to notice that I’m using Processed Cheese instead of “Real” Cheese on them…
Not really bitching about how much groceries/gas have gone up so much in the past year or so… but CIGARETTES!
When I started ten years ago (age 16) they sold Marlboro Reds for buy one get one free for $1.81 at the grocery store I worked at. Now there are no more buy-one get one free’s anymore, and the cheap brands I smoke are $3.80.
I’m almost to the point where I’m going to start a business running down to North Carolina and buying 200+ cartons and driving them up to New York to sell for $7/pack. Stores sell them for $10 up there, and my moral compass tells me that delivering needed goods to people who want the product you’re selling at the lowest price, there’s nothing wrong w/ that. (Uncle Sam tends to disagree though) 
Strangely, our eggs just got cheaper. Their price has been going up for the past 2 years, at least, and then this week, I just noticed that the cage-free eggs we get (only about a 7 on the snoot-o-meter at our grocery store … there are also various levels of organic, etc.) dropped $0.40 per dozen!
Pasta: used to be $0.65/lb; now over $1.00/lb. Rice and corn as well, and also, motor oil-used to be $1.00/qt on sale-now it is puchin $3.00/qt
My favorite store was requesting $4.99 per pound for tomatillos the other day. I think I usually get 'em for about $2/lb.
Brief editorial comment: There’s no doubt that all stuff is going to get more expensive, but I can’t think some of the more startling jumps in price are caused by somebody in the supply pipeline throwing in a gouge here and there. I mean, other than the hops shortage, nobody on the thread so far seems to know why specific items have suddenly become so much more expensive. If it’s all fuel prices for shipping, then there should be a consistent percentage of increase across the board. It seems diet staples (milk, bread, coffee, flour, sugar, etc.) seem to jump higher at times like this and that makes me suspicious.
Brief editorial comment: There’s no doubt that all stuff is going to get more expensive, but I can’t help thinking some of the more startling jumps in price are caused by somebody in the supply pipeline throwing in a gouge here and there. I mean, other than the hops shortage, nobody on the thread so far seems to know why specific items have suddenly become so much more expensive. If it’s all fuel prices for shipping, then there should be a consistent percentage of increase across the board. It seems diet staples (milk, bread, coffee, flour, sugar, etc.) seem to jump higher at times like this and that makes me suspicious.
Milk prices started going up last summer. In most of the U.S., they’re at least 25-30% higher than they were a year ago. (Random fact rolling around in my head, because I have a client in the industry.)
Last weekend, I went up to visit my parents in Green Bay, WI. When I go up there, there’s a dairy store that I’ll always go to, to pick up a half-dozen fresh (uncooked) pizzas. I freeze ‘em in my parents’ chest freezer, then bring them home with me, and I have tasty Hansen’s pizzas for weeks.
They always used to be around $5 for a 12" sausage pizza. The ones I bought on Saturday were around $6 each.
Cinamon Twists.
Yes. From Taco Bell.
I started a job on April 28. Taco Bell is on my way home. I’m 25.
This means that I almost always turn in to taco bell after work.
I did the math on the menu board, and found out that April - May 14th pricing on Cinamon twists and a small (free refills) drink was $2.00 even, with tax.
Then Taco bell came out with the “Why pay more” menu. Cinamon Twists went up a dime, and now sit in the 79 cents section of the Why pay more. ((This shoots my math to hell, and long story short, I now spend $4.00 even at taco bell per stop, buying other things.))
Why pay more?
Um, Taco Bell, Because you just raised the price on Cinamon Twists?
*Yes It’s sad that I KNOW the price went up just 10 cents. It is even sadder that I will miss that dime.
From what I’ve seen, the cost of wine hasn’t gone up much, including even European imports in the $10 - $15 range. Trader Joe’s has been selling a wonderful Chablis for about $10 a bottle. It may have gone up a little by now, but I’m inclined to doubt it. No matter what happens to the U.S. dollar, the manufacturers and importers of European wines don’t seem prone to raise prices. This seems to be true at least with the wines of France and the Mediterranean countries. It’s not so true of German wines, which were expensive before the currency union, and remain quite expensive by comparison.
Not so much as a response to inflation, but just for practical reasons, I’ve recently tried Black Box wines, to wit a Central Coast Shiraz and a Napa Valley Chardonnay. Compared to the bottle price of a comparable wine, they are extremely inexpensive, and actually taste very decent. It’s nice knowing they’ll stay fresh, since I’m the only one who regularly drinks wine in the house, but I rarely have more than one glass.
As for gas, I’ve been lucky there, well sort of. I’ve been out of work, and concentrating full time on school, so I don’t have to commute. When I do start working again, the commute will definitely be a factor in deciding whether to accept a job. If the job is near rail transit, e.g. downtown L.A. or Pasadena, or what have you, we might consider moving to somewhere where I can use the train to commute, or else just closer to where the job is.
Don’t hold your breath.
Manufacturers *have *been increasing costs as the cost of raw materials, glass in particular, has increased steadily, and the EU vs. Dollar isn’t helping things. So far it’s been distributors and importers that are absorbing the costs, mainly because they are probably still long on some inventories and because wine consumers are so fickle, but it is going to happen. And very soon, if it isn’t already.
So far the consumer hasn’t seen the hit, but they definitely will.