I am growing weary of the experts who do not buy their own groceries making predictions about this and that. So I decided to do my own calculations.

I have weekly grocery receipts from early March through late June of this year. I have last week's receipt. Of the 38 items we bought last week, I found previous prices for 20 of them.

Earlier this year those 20 items cost $67.59. Last week they cost $81.23. That's a 20% increase.

I'll be honest. The list included a London broil. As Mr. Big Food has a slot limit on the size of the cuts he buys, I'm sure the two were approximately the same. On June 18th he bought one for $9.89. Last week, $18.46. We actually had a discussion about this in front of the meat case. The words, "It ain't going to get any better any time soon," were spoken and in the cart it went.

But if you want to do the math without the London Broil, prices have increased 9%.

Interestingly, brown eggs have gone from $3.05 to $1.59 per dozen. Celery, Jell-O, and avocados have stayed the same, as have plain Lays potato chips. We don't buy much soda or pre-processed food (though I do love some original Kraft mac & cheese) so I cannot speak to whether or not "junk" food is going up in price. But that would be an interesting question to ask. Are grocery prices for those who do their own home cooking going up at a faster rate than for those who buy prepared (frozen, boxed) meals?

I have a chicken cooling in the pot and chicken and biscuits to get ready for supper tonight.