By Daniel Nardini
Going to the grocery store two or three times a week, egg prices seem to keep going up. They range now in price between $6.00 to $10.00 a dozen. Cereal at the cheapest is $2.29 a box (this is a Kroger brand cereal. Brand name cereals like Post, Kellogg, and General Mills are usually twice that high). Milk a gallon is usually $4.00, and cheese is usually $3.00 and up. Sometimes way up. Butter is just as high as milk, and frozen meals can range between $4.00 to as high as $15.00 depending on what they are. Chocolate may be the best deal depending on whether you buy a cheap brand. Juices have gone up by at least $1.00 at the beginning of this year, and vegetables and fruits have seen a surge in price between $1.00 to $3.00 more. Sometimes fruit and vegetable prices remain stable, but that is rare. Bread has seen the largest increase having gone up at least $2.00 compared to what bread was in mid-2024.
Gas at the pump remains largely the same compared to December. Gas for heating homes has overall gone up at least $10.00 to $20.00 compared to the beginning of last year. My phone service has gone up $8.00, and I have seen an increase in my water rate. My electric rate remains about the same, and my Internet service has not changed. I try to save on heating by setting my thermostat at 61 Fahrenheit. No, not at all comfortable, but at least I am not freezing in my own home even though I have to wear a lot of blankets at night. My wife and I use minimal electricity—hence why my electric bills are still not an issue. If I do not use my computer, then I am reading books or magazines for entertainment. Entertainment outside my home is non-existent. My wife and I may buy carry-out or buy what we can at the grocery store to keep food costs down. Dining out is not an option. To save money on gas, we only focus on going places where we need things like food or taking my wife to work. We no longer go anywhere for vacation or for leisure.
As my wife and I have had to tighten our belts to stay alive, the politicians in Washington, D.C. fight over power and how to arrange or re-arrange the federal government. Governors in both blue and red states are begging for help to help ease the surging food and service prices in their states. Of course, the politicians in Washington, D.C. do not feel our pain. They have everything they need, and do not have to go for want of anything. Even if the governors in their respective states do not go for want either, they are the closest to seeing the pain and suffering of ordinary people and what all of the infighting in Washington, D.C. is not doing for their state residents or for the country as a whole. In my viewpoint, I see nothing but the powers that be doing nothing for the ordinary people as we try to live with higher prices and watching our standard of living eroding. Like everyone else, my wife and I just go on living and dealing with everyday issues of trying to keep up with rising costs……………………..hoping we will have enough money to buy what we need.
The Everyday Cost of Living
By Daniel Nardini
Gas at the pump remains largely the same compared to December. Gas for heating homes has overall gone up at least $10.00 to $20.00 compared to the beginning of last year. My phone service has gone up $8.00, and I have seen an increase in my water rate. My electric rate remains about the same, and my Internet service has not changed. I try to save on heating by setting my thermostat at 61 Fahrenheit. No, not at all comfortable, but at least I am not freezing in my own home even though I have to wear a lot of blankets at night. My wife and I use minimal electricity—hence why my electric bills are still not an issue. If I do not use my computer, then I am reading books or magazines for entertainment. Entertainment outside my home is non-existent. My wife and I may buy carry-out or buy what we can at the grocery store to keep food costs down. Dining out is not an option. To save money on gas, we only focus on going places where we need things like food or taking my wife to work. We no longer go anywhere for vacation or for leisure.
As my wife and I have had to tighten our belts to stay alive, the politicians in Washington, D.C. fight over power and how to arrange or re-arrange the federal government. Governors in both blue and red states are begging for help to help ease the surging food and service prices in their states. Of course, the politicians in Washington, D.C. do not feel our pain. They have everything they need, and do not have to go for want of anything. Even if the governors in their respective states do not go for want either, they are the closest to seeing the pain and suffering of ordinary people and what all of the infighting in Washington, D.C. is not doing for their state residents or for the country as a whole. In my viewpoint, I see nothing but the powers that be doing nothing for the ordinary people as we try to live with higher prices and watching our standard of living eroding. Like everyone else, my wife and I just go on living and dealing with everyday issues of trying to keep up with rising costs……………………..hoping we will have enough money to buy what we need.