Hear me out, and be gentle with your responses. We’re all in this together for the good of all! Today I ask the question: Is inflation hype…inflated?

Inflation is real.

In no way do I want to downplay what is 100% real. Inflation is real. All of us are feeling it in a variety of ways.

But I keep seeing inflation information that is stated as fact. —> And much of it isn’t fact for our family.

I feel like this is saying something because of our family size. Trust me when I say that we buy a lot at the store. From food to shoes – it takes a lot of shopping and purchasing to care for a family this large.

This has me questioning: Are all of the “facts” we read actually facts? Or is some of the information provided about inflation actually inflated? Or biased? Or “fact-ish” but not absolute in all contexts?

Should we all panic, or can we take a deep breath and know that we will all be ok?

Pssst. Here’s the truth about the cost of ground beef in my experience.

Is Inflation Hype…Inflated?

The price of certain foods has gone up considerably – IN SOME GROCERY STORES. Are the online price comparisons I’m seeing an accurate comparison from store to store and proverbial apple to apple?

For example:

If I were to look at the price of a gallon of milk at Aldi in 2020 and compare it to the price of milk at a higher priced grocery store in 2024, I might come up with something like this:

That’s one of the many charts and memes I’ve seen floating around that are always followed by comments like:

• “I know, it’s outrageous!”
• “These prices are killing us!”
• “I blame _____ (pick a president)”

Here’s why I question these “facts.”

I’m calling all of these to our attention today because the truth is, most of the prices on that chart aren’t my prices. My chart would look more like this.

Also? Last month, April 2024, I bought gallons of whole milk at Aldi for $2.62. That’s cheaper than the above chart’s 2020 price. In addition, the price of eggs has been alllllll over the place during the past few years, which has nothing to do with inflation and something to do with bird flu or some such tragedy.

Admission: Some of what I’m saying isn’t fair.

I, Laura, live in Lincoln, NE. We have running vehicles and multiple grocery stores in my city. This means that I have all the access to any store I want and the ability to easily get there. (I use the word “easily” loosely – considering the fact that I have somewhere around 37 kids and going anywhere is an extreme sporting event).

But what I’m admitting here is that because I have access to Costco, Sam’s, Aldi, and multiple other stores, I truly can find and enjoy much better prices compared to someone who say, lives in a tiny town, far from bulk grocers, and only has access to a higher priced, locally owned grocer. Or compared to someone who doesn’t own a car and can only walk to the nearest store for necessities. The majority of us, though, I believe do have access to options that truly can keep our food and clothing costs down. 

Unfortunately, I don’t think the Awful Inflation Memes and Scary Chart people are talking about the minority. They are making inflation out to be the worst of the worst for everyone everywhere and I’m here to say:

Hey. Wait a minute.

Are you sure you’ve done thorough research? Are your “facts” thoroughly checked? Would you like to go shopping with me and see how I can save much more money on groceries than you claim that I can? Please do! Go with me! Hold the baby and help me lug my two full carts while you’re at it.

Here’s some of my research:

This. Many of you chimed in on this.

I didn’t want to speak only into my context and say, “Meh. Sure some prices are higher, but not all of them. I’m fine. You’re fine. Stop worrying.” So I asked you what your experiences have been. Most of you agreed that while some prices on certain items have increased, many of you are still finding reasonably priced groceries, therefore feeding our families well is still very doable.

I also looked back at past receipts and compared them to my 2024 receipts. Guess what? My chart looks very different compared to the chart I shared above. Look at this. While some of my staple purchases have increased in price, many of them have stayed the same. A few have even gone down.

I’m not panicking. It truly is going to be ok, friends.

How do you feel about this meme?

Is this “Interesting fact…” truly a fact?

WOW. Does it? If so, that is perhaps a reason to panic. Especially because we are not a family of 4. We are a family of (Laura stops a long, long time to do the math)…

10? 16? 13?

In total, we are a family of 16 with only 10 of us living at our residence. BUT, we also have three housemates so there are actually 13 people living in our house and sharing our food. Plus we always have guests. You see now why I had a hard time landing on a number.

But for fairness sake, let’s just go with the number 10 for current the family numbers living in our home.

If, according to the above Meme “Fact” it costs a family of 4 $11,000 more to buy basic necessities than it did just 18 months ago, then it must cost my family of 10 (Laura stops to do more math)…..

$27,500.

More per year? For all of us to eat and wear shoes?

Stop it. No it doesn’t.

Here’s what is fact for our family:

1. Some grocery prices have increased. Some have not.
2. 13 people (6 adults, 7 kids) live in our house and eat our food.
3. I have only had to increase our grocery budget by $200/month since 2017 when there were only 6 people living in our home. That’s a increased total of only $2,400/year. Here’s how I’m doing with our grocery budget so far this year.
4. We eat well rounded, high quality meals that include fruit, vegetables, whole grains, meat, and dairy.
5. Restaurant prices and processed food prices at the store seem to have gone up quite a bit. We avoid these to save money.
6. Shoes, underwear, and socks cost more than they used to. We have a lot of shoe, underwear, and sock wearing people in this house. Our costs for these items have increased, but definitely not by $1,000’s of dollars.
7. We have two kids in diapers (down from five kids in diapers, so woohoo for that!). Diapers and wipes are not costing us thousands more per year than they used to.
8. We buy yearly family memberships to places like the Lincoln Zoo and Children’s Museum. The costs for these have gone up – by only 20 total dollars for the entire year. This increase is minimal.
9. We enrolled Keith in soccer this spring. This was our first time to do that since moving to Lincoln so I don’t have past fees to compare prices. But it only cost $48, which breaks down to $6/game.

Again, I know we can’t all compare costs across America as costs of living vary. I also know that as our kids get older, our expenses will increase. But that will be because they eat more, do more, and care more about their clothes – not solely because of inflation. :)

Sample grocery cart for our family, just to prove that yes, I know a thing or two about buying food:

What might help us all be free from inflation stress:

1. Shop around. Maybe find a new favorite store or two.

There are certain grocery stores that I do not frequent because their prices ARE actually outrageous. (It’s worth noting that these stores were more expensive, compared to my favorite, lower priced stores all along, not just through and because of this inflation streak.)

If these higher-priced stores were where I did the majority of my shopping, I, too, would be worried and upset. But instead, I have found the lowest priced, best quality options that work for our family.

2. Find sales.

They still exist!!

I’m continually encouraged by the food mark-downs I regularly find that offer us great prices on high quality staples. Grocery stores offer loss-leader prices that help us stock up on groceries at truly good prices. Clothing still goes on clearance at the end of every season. Name-brand shoes (if you need high quality) can be found at outlet malls for great prices, and in my experience last longer than “cheaper” shoes at Walmart or Target.

Maybe we have to work harder now to find good sale prices. But many of us are working pretty hard to complain about inflation, so perhaps we could instead use that energy to score some deals! ;)

Underwear and socks I found on clearance for our four littlest kids, May 2024 —>

Our favorite free range chicken thighs marked down to just $1.98/pound, May 2024 —>

3. Hand me downs (and thrift store clothes) are your friend.

I am amazed at the clothing that is available for free or cheap – all around us. Many churches offer free clothing to the community, and not just for people who struggle to make ends meet. In my experience –  there’s usually enough to go around and then some. I am shocked at how many people have loads of clothes that they want to get rid of.

Thrift stores still offer “$0.99 days” and “fill a bag for $5” days. It’s so much fun how many times I have  complimented someone’s great shirt or dress only to hear, “I picked it up for $3 when I was thrifting!” or “I got it at the Clothing Giveaway!” or “I found it on clearance at the sidewalk sale!” You guys rock.

4. Eat at home more instead of at restaurants.

I promise I’m not trying to be a buzz kill with this one. Or sound like a broken record. But if I’ve seen inflation hit something hard, it is definitely take-out and restaurant prices. It’s not the restaurant’s fault. They have to pay higher wages to be competitive in keeping employees and some of their food costs have gone up as well. That all gets passed down to the consumer.

Here are some ways our family eats out without eating out. And here’s a little cost break down I did for foods like Pizza, Chicken Nuggets, and Hamburgers that I make at home for much less than the cost of restaurants. Great coffee? I did some math here too.

Inflation is real, but you are amazing.

My encouragement today is to look around you to embrace what is true. Don’t believe the scary memes that tell you that we are all going to go broke.

You have resources, you are smart, and doggonit, Rotisserie Chickens are still just $4.98. We might have to make adjustments as we settle into some newly inflated prices that are here to stay. But we are resilient. We can make modifications and we can thrive because of them!

Weigh in on this. When you look at actual facts based on your experiences, do you see that some of the inflation hype is inflated?