In 2020, when life seemed to come to a temporary halt due to COVID-19, I made some behavioral changes. Three years later, these changes are helping me measure my own personal inflation index.
I’m not talking about the weight I’ve gained since COVID-19 ended most of my normal life in the spring of 2020 (although it’s certainly a measurable amount). I’m talking about his fall 2023 cost of a basket of groceries that remains more or less the same throughout this period, and his spring 2020 cost of the same groceries.
That’s because for the first few months, I switched to ordering most of my shopping for curbside pickup. Since then, I’ve continued to “shop” this way, splitting my orders for various items between small local grocery stores, regional chain stores, and Walmart, where I stop once a month. After 142 purchases, we’ve compiled everything we’ve discovered.
The numbers here do not reflect my entire weekly shopping list. But if you subtract occasional indulgences and regular but less frequent purchases (who needs an index that includes feta cheese, degreneur dates, and shallots?), these appear on the list almost every week. This is an item. .
Overall, my “core basket” of dairy, meat, fruits, and vegetables cost $39.27 in May 2020 (the first month I was able to put everything together) and $39.27 in November 2023. It was $43.50 for two weeks. That’s just over $10. % increase in 43 months. Or the annual inflation rate is about 3%.
However, the speed of this change was by no means flat. In fact, the highest cost was in October 2022, when the price was actually 10% higher than it is now.
The contents of the core basket look like this. That may seem like a lot for one week, but keep in mind that you’re shopping for two weeks.
dairy products
Milk: 1 gallon of lactose-free skim milk (I love milk, but the feeling isn’t always mutual)
Eggs: 12 free-range, organic eggs (yes, we know they’re not actually dairy products)
meat
Beef: 1 pound organic, grass-fed, 93% lean ground beef
Chicken: 1 pound free-range, organic, skinless, boneless chicken breast.
fruits
Blueberries: 1 pint of blueberries (local if possible)
Strawberries: 1 pound fresh strawberries
Apples: 3 pounds of ambrosia apples (yes, ambrosia. No substitutions accepted.)
Bananas: 2 pounds organic bananas
vegetables
Lettuce: 1 butter lettuce
Tomatoes: 1 pound organic tomatoes (usually on the vine)
Green onion: 1 small bunch
Spinach: 1 bag organic baby spinach
Broccoli: 2 pieces, usually about 1.5 pounds
Obviously, this is not a cart that goes after the cheapest item available. It reflects my ability to indulge in foods that feel better for me, foods that taste more pleasant, and foods that I think are somewhat better for the planet. Plus, I’m pretty sure if you’re eating enough baby spinach, you’ll be able to make up for a box of Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts every six months.
Looking at the group as a whole, prices for both meat and fruit are increasing slightly. Most of it is in the form of increased costs for ground meat and bags of my precious ambrosia apples. Some items rose slightly, like milk, but this was one of the few items that rose modestly and regularly. In fact, there are some products that are cheaper.
Some, like eggs, have wild rides. Notice in the second graph that the dairy group reached nearly $10 per week? It was eggs that reached the highest local price of $5.47 per dozen. Oddly enough, this peak came several months after prices began to decline nationally, but since then egg prices in this part of the Midwest have never approached the prices seen in parts of the East and South. Ta.
The fruit section is probably the most unstable. Not only are prices influenced by seasonal availability, but there are also some unexplained movements, such as blueberry prices nearly doubling last month before returning to their original price in September.
The vegetable group comes out as a bargain item. That’s because the gradual decline in broccoli prices over the past six months has actually pushed the entire group below where it was at the start of my “research.” Yes, I have been in vegetable deflation for the past 3+ years.
Here’s another weird thing. Egg prices were so high that producers blamed the high costs on bird flu, which resulted in the deaths of millions of birds. However, just as egg prices peaked, chicken prices fell significantly. as if…
No way. That should not be. Free range organic chicken. Certainly, farmers will not lie about such things.
campaign action