I started a simple spreadsheet in January: every grocery receipt for 12 weeks, same two stores, 9 staples I buy constantly. Eggs went from $2.19 to $3.49. Olive oil jumped about 26%. Chicken thighs and rice barely moved. Overall basket up 14%.
I'm not trying to prove anything, I just want to know if this is local or everywhere. Did anyone else track prices this spring? If so, which item surprised you most? I'll share the full sheet if people want to poke holes in my method.
Eggs are the tell. Mine went from $2.19 to $3.49 in 10 weeks, same store and brand. That matches your jump almost exactly.
Your egg jump is wild. I'm in a different region and eggs actually came down last month. Maybe it's a distribution thing?
14% across 9 staples feels low to me. Coffee and olive oil alone blew up my budget.
Coffee was my worst line too. Store brand vs name brand?
I did split them. Store brand pasta barely moved, but the fancy olive oil was up almost 30%. That's where my sheet got interesting.
The store-brand vs name-brand split is the real story. I ran something similar for 8 weeks, and the gap widened.
My receipt data showed the cheapest per-unit items stayed pretty flat, but the mid-tier stuff crept up. If your 14% mixes both, the average might hide the split. Did you log unit price or just total receipt? That changes whether the number means much.
I logged unit price for 11 items, not just total. The mid-tier stuff was definitely the worst. Also, why is chicken thighs never on sale when I need it?
Lol chicken thighs are never on sale for me either. I started buying the family pack and freezing half. Brought my per-meal cost down maybe 18%.
Freezing half is smart. Do you weigh or eyeball?
Generous eyeballing is a lifestyle. I weigh because I'm a nerd, but honestly the freezer trick matters mor ethan the scale.
I'd push back on calling the 14% low. If you tracked 12 weeks, seasonal produce could skew it. My own numbers looked worse in winter and flattened by spring. Did you note dates? A rolling 4-week average might show whether this is inflation or just timing.
Also eggs are weird because regional supply issues hit at different times. Your olive oil jump is probably real, though.
Good point on dates. I didn't separate seasonal stuff, so my avocado numbers are probably junk. Gonna redo it with a 4-week rolling average and post an update.
I tracked cost per 20g protein for a semester, because apparently that’s my version of a personality.
Eggs were my benchmark, but cottage cheese quietly went from $3.79 to $4.99 here, so my dorm “lazy lasagna” (cottage cheese + jarred marinara + microwave lentils) is now a luxury item. Chicken thighs and rice held steady, like you said. Sharp question: are you logging unit price or just receipt total? My store
Tbh airport eggs are my inflation trackr now, and they’re always dramatic.
my receipts say eggs are the drama queen here too; chicken and rice are just quietly holding the line.
Eggs and olive oil are wrecking my meal prep budget too; chicken thighs are still carrying the team.
Eggs are my grocery canary too—did yours stay high after the holidays?
yo did you log unit price or just the sticker? that's the one that got me. my store-brand soda went 12pk to 10pk at the same $5.99, and yogurt cups quietly went 6oz to 5.3oz. basket looked flat til i divided by oz.
eggs too — my store had mediums sitting in the large slot for like two weeks, so per-egg cot was way up vs the tag. if you only tracked item names, your 14% might actually be low. did you write down brand and size on each line, or just "eggs" and "olive oil"? kinda wanna redo mine with sizes now.
egg prices have me rationing breafast tacos like ammo lol
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