Power prices !

[Mortblanc]

It is easier to gauge the price increases if you select a few items that are "weekly staples" for the average family and keep track of those prices even if you don't buy those products. Items that the average family will consider "essential" for daily life.

Milk
Bread
Eggs
Flour
Sugar
Minced beef
Whole or pieced chicken
Potatoes
frozen or canned veg
Tea
Coffee
Beer (yes beer is a necessity for a vast majority of the population)

Even if your life calls for none of these items they are still a gauge of the inflation that others are enduring. Just because inflation is not affecting YOU does not mean it is not putting the crunch on those that will make up your "Golden Horde".

I have watched the prices of all those items rise by 25% in the past 6 months. More than 30% in some cases. Coffee has gone up 30%, bread 30% and you can not find uncooked chicken anywhere in our town. When it returns I am sure it will be expensive.

We have a holiday called "Thanksgiving" over here that you folks do not celebrate. It's like a Christmas two-fer without presents and involves turkeys. I paid $1 per pound for my bird last year. Yesterday I paid $1.60 per pound.

Even if you believe the modern family now lives on precooked meals and take out there will be some items that are still considered necessary to prepare a meal for those that do put one together. The price of those pre-cooked meals will go up based on the price of the contents.