Grocery bills increased over last few months

Variety of factors at work right now, including higher costs, staying home

If it seems like groceries are a bit more expensive over the last few months, it’s not your imagination.

According to a CNN report, the cost of groceries increased 0.7% in June vs. May. And in May, it went up 1% from April.

Check out some of these price increases from May to June, according to CNN:

Frozen seafood, up 1%

Fresh vegetables, up 1.3%

Cakes,cupcakes, cookies and coffee, up 1.8%

Flour, snacks, up 2.1%

Pork, up 3.3%

Fresh cakes and cupcakes, up 3.5%

Beef and veal, up 4.8%

Hot dogs, up 4.9%

Bacon, up 8.1%

On the flip side of this, a handful of items saw price decreases in June, including eggs (down 2.7%), butter (down 1.7%), milk (down 0.6%) and apples (down 2.1%)

With costs going up, clearly, grocery bills will increase too.

But there are other contributing factors to higher grocery bills right now too.

Part of a bigger grocery bill may stem from eating at home more as opposed to eating out.

If, for example, you once ate lunch out every day, but now you are working from home, you will by default spend more on groceries, but you’ll save on your budget for eating out.

Having kids at home instead of at school will likely increase your grocery bill as well. You might pick up the free summer lunches from your school district for your kids, but kids tend to want snacks and drinks. And that can all add up too.

And for many people, the pandemic has changed our eating habits overall, with fewer dinners out and more meals at home.

All these changes will shift money from one part of one’s budget over to that grocery bill.

What are you seeing here in Yuma, readers? Have your grocery bills gone up or down over the last few months? And is it due to increasing costs, or staying home more? Let us know. Share your thoughts online at www.YumaSun.com, or send in a letter to the editor at letters@yumasun.com.