There’s no doubt about it, prices seem to be going up on everything from groceries to gas and even ground beef.
With all these skyrocketing prices on everyday essential items, you’re only right to wonder if there’s some price gouging going on here. It can’t all be inflation, right?
So, I thought we could dig a little deeper to look at some of the more common items that have gone up on store shelves, to find out why they’re suffering from such skyrocketing prices.
Eggs
The strange fluctuations in the price of eggs in the last year or so have certainly been frustrating. Eggs are basic items that for ages have always been cheap. Yet suddenly, the price of eggs has doubled or in some places tripled.
Several factors cause egg prices to fluctuate each year. Chickens lay fewer eggs in the winter, and good old supply and demand drives up the price in northern tier states. Young chickens also don’t start to lay their first eggs until late spring or early summer.
Avian influenza is also a big factor causing a spike in egg prices. When an outbreak does occur, poultry farmers can suffer major losses, or their entire operation shut down.
If this happens a lot, like it did this past year, it can cause the price of eggs to skyrocket. Often without warning or proper explanation.
Money Saving Tip
Beef
The skyrocketing price of beef this year can have you wondering if they’re feeding steers’ blood diamonds instead of hay! However, the price of beef is significantly influenced by several factors.
Globally, this year a lot of prime beef-producing areas were struck with prolonged drought.
This increased the price of grain, which meant it was harder for commercial farms and ranches to feed the steers meant for slaughter. It also made it costlier to keep feeding their heifers, which they need to continue providing the operations with steers in the next generation.
High summer fuel prices also contributed to the skyrocketing price of beef. It costs more to run the machinery needed to grow the grain they eat. It also costs more to transport harvested steers through the feedlot to butchering and distribution process.
Money Saving Tip
Beef tends to be at its lowest point in the year in the fall. This is when ranchers are reducing the size of their herds for the winter. Talk to your local butcher about buying a half or quarter of a steer. You should then can it using this tried and tested method, like I did, for a 20+ year shelf life.
Butter and Milk
Butter and milk suffer from the same price problems that beef does. Except there are additional factors weighing in.
The heat of the summer and prolonged drought meant that dairy cows were producing less milk. This reduces the supply available to meet demand, which drives up the prices.
There was also a HPAI A(H5N1) “Bird Flu” outbreak in multiple states this year, which also managed to affect the bovine population. Massive commercial dairy operations were temporarily shut down or quarantined without allowing any milk production to go out.
Fuel and transportation costs are also more volatile in the dairy industry. Milk needs to be transported from producer farms to processors every few days, if not daily. This means fuel costs for milk trucks. It also means fuel costs for the delivery trucks that bring butter, cream, milk, and all those other essential dairy products to stores.
Money Saving Tip
Milk and butter tend to be at their lowest in late spring and early summer. Often right before gas prices go up in anticipation of the summer travel season. You can buy butter in bulk. Then freeze it in sealed foil and plastic. Kept this way butter can stay good for up to 12 months.
Related: Making Butter at Home, Like Our Grandparents
You can also clarify butter, essentially turning it into ghee. This can be canned and stored in a cool dark place for up to 2 years.
Propane
In North America, the cost per unit of propane fluctuates in with the rhythm of crude oil and gasoline.
This is because domestic level is produced by the process of refining oil.
In the previous generations, they would just burn it off as a waste gas.
Then someone finally figured out that they could store it and use it for things like gas grills and home heating. This also means that these costs can skyrocket with the cost of crude oil.
However, these fluctuations can vary by season. Such as earlier in the year when the price for a barrel of oil went up, during the winter. More people were using propane for home heating, which drove up demand, while the cost to create the supply also went up. It also didn’t help that one of the major US refineries went down at an inopportune time!
Usually, a price increase in propane follows slightly behind the increase in the cost of crude oil. However, speculators have gotten wise to this trend and rushed to increase the per-unit cost of propane even before the supply and demand curve got there.
Related: DIY Solar Water Heaters to Cut Down on Energy Bills
This kept the cost of home heating higher than usual for longer than usual. It could also be a sign of a recurring pattern that might strike again later this year and into the future.
Money Saving Tip
Assuming there isn’t an oil crisis somewhere in the world, the price of propane tends to be at its lowest in late summer. If you have a propane tank to run your furnace, this is a prime time to stock up before propane prices skyrocket in late fall.
Bread
Global drought issues and the war in wheat-producing Ukraine have caused the price of bread to steadily climb over the past year.
Since wheat is also a highly traded global commodity, investment speculators have also had a hand in driving up the cost of wheat and bread.
Bread also tends to be produced locally and is then delivered within 250 miles or less to stores, on multiple trucking runs throughout the week. This means that increases in fuel and transportation costs get added to the price for a single loaf of bread.
Money Saving Tip
The most effective way to save money on the cost of bread in your household is to learn how to make it yourself. Not only is artisanal bread baking a very respectable and fun hobby, it can also save you a boatload of money over a single year.
You can even buy bread flour in bulk. Then store it in sealed containers for a year or more. Properly stored dry active yeast can last up to two years. With some practice, you can make a loaf of bread for less than $1. Compare that to the price of a loaf in the stores and multiply that by the number of loaves your family goes through in a week.
Charcoal & Wood Pellets
Deforestation, increases in production cost, and changes in government regulations have all combined to create skyrocketing charcoal prices. Supply chain issues and rising transportation costs also haven’t helped.
Related: How to Make Your Own Charcoal
Several charcoal and wood pellet manufacturers were accused of price gouging their products. The argument is that these products are supposed to be made from wood fibers leftover from processing timber.
They are designed to be resistant to price fluctuations driven by supply and demand. Not to mention some tout themselves to be sustainably “Green”. The companies accused have yet to respond, which makes it even more suspicious.
Money Saving Tip
The easiest way to save money on charcoal is to stock up during the winter when the price per bag is at its lowest. This is when people are gilling the least and the low demand and high supply lowers the cost per unit.
If you stock up on wood pellets during this time, you have to make every effort to keep them dry and sealed away from humidity. The lignin binder used in wood pellets can break down with humidity over time.
It’s also possible to make your own lump charcoal. However, you do need a little know-how and access to dried hardwood.
Emergency Food Buckets
The rising demand for emergency food supplies has led to a noticeable increase in the price of emergency food buckets.
With growing awareness of potential crises—whether natural disasters, economic downturns, or health emergencies—many families are looking to stock up on long-lasting food options.
This surge in demand, coupled with supply chain disruptions and increased production costs, has driven prices higher. Additionally, limited stock availability from manufacturers has resulted in further speculation and price hikes, with some retailers charging upwards of $150 for a bucket that used to be $100.
Money Saving Tip
Instead of relying on those overhyped survival food buckets with their meager serving sizes and inflated prices, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I turned to this guide to learn how to preserve my own food and craft my own survival food solutions.
With over 100 recipes tailored for long-lasting storage without refrigeration, it became my go-to resource to create meals that truly satisfied and sustained me during challenging situations. So, rather than relying on high prices, inflated promises and underwhelming servings, I took charge of my prepping by preparing real, nourishing food using this invaluable guide.
While inflation, price gouging, and aggressive market speculation are certainly part of why prices have skyrocketed on a lot of items, they’re not the only factors at play. Extreme weather and drought affecting crops like wheat, coffee, and cocoa helped drive up the price of everyday staples like bread, chocolate, and the morning cup of Joe.
Fluctuations in fuel costs also added to the already high cost of transporting goods like beef, eggs, and dairy products to market. Not to mention times in the year when quarantines for livestock illnesses like H5N1 made it hard for the supply to meet demand.
As we go into the next year, being mindful of why these items skyrocketed in price can help you time your purchases better. Being prepared to bulk-buy things like beef, coffee, butter, and propane can help insulate you from natural price increases.
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3 or 4 people infected with bird flu after being in close
contact with person already infected and under treatment.
First known time this has happened
I agree Chuck, Trump has said this stuff for years, now we are in the middle of it.
Hurricanes, bird flu, union strikes, unvetted disease carrying illegals coming across the southern border and Biden-Harris smartphone app plane flights shipped to a house near us.
“They” are trying to manipulate the public, sheeple into another successful Covid vax and mask wearing scam. They will probably bring back Dr Fauci or similar cutout character to sound an alarm like that happened during the last presidential election.
Command and control of the public worked so well, they can do it again.
What will the cost to our economy be like, more inflation, the USD being devalued, food chain finally under control of the Chinese American farmlands owned and the large meat possessing companies reducing our food supplies?
Nations power grid about to collapse?
This is partly why things are getting expensive and scarce. Biden-Harris-Walz are going to disrupt the electrical grid system like we never seen before.
AI needs more power the not up graded electrical grid can’t handle with the BS going green EV charging nonsense. The meat crisis is coming and fake meat is a biological disaster.
Do the right and vote in November 5th tell your prepper buddies an family to out vote the illegals voting for the other side for free stuff.
The more people you let into this country the more power the demand will be.
Less people = less needed in everything.
Are we done yet?
There won’t be any more free elections if Harris becomes an acting president, did she grew up in Canada, which makes her not eligible to be mistress president of a failing country. We voters have no clue who she really is, where she comes from anymore than we did electing Marxist Obama twice as president because of skin color politics.
Harris is a Jamaican Indian decent, not black, her father is a Marxist professor and admits their family owned slaves. You think all your preps will last the time Harris maybe president?
Jamaican = black. =>/ Why are we still talking about race? Let’s talk about qualifications, convictions, morality, mental acuity and intentions for the American people(not just the wealthy).
Voters who get their information only from MSM probably do not know who she really is, yet those of us who get information from alternative sources know exactly who she is. Many are the past videos of her telling us exactly who she is….it isn’t just hearsay from an opponent.
And about her announcement about billionaires “paying their fair share”? HA!!! Her political contributions are largely funded by crony capitalist billionaires! Ya think they would be forking over millions to her campaign if they thought this was true?!?
What is FEMA and the Red Cross doing for the Florida hurricane victims while the Biden, Harris administration provides for the illegal migrants overwhelming our small cities in our America?
Funny how the green energy battery storage plant sites are imploding in fires spewing toxic chemicals in the air, like at least one in California.
God help us Americans on November 5th election, please!
Hopefully nothing….that would be socialism. Remember, you guys hate socialism. So get your fat wife out there and shovel the mud. No socialism for you, because, its too woke.
Everything is sky high because your paying for all the freeloading illegals the elites give sanctuary to them which in turn you taxpayers pay and become poor too.
Like corporations the tax is passed on to the end users, the Biden-Harris administration is no different they pass on the bulk of basic illegal support to us legal Americans.
November 5th, is the last free election, well, if your family, relatives and indoctrinated public vote for Harris-Walz ticket. This is not your grandparents Demoncrat party they voted for. I changed from Democrat to Independent, the wack a do Demoncrat party got too liberal for me to see my basic American rights being given away to illegals.
If Harris-Walz get elected we will officially be into WWIII, before, during or after the election and put Trump in jail, we don’t want civil war and martial law.
If we become unstable the world will come upon us, the dollar will collapse, stock market crashes, pray this never happens.
Americans have forgotten the past history lessons the lead up to war, now is the time to vote for freedom, Trump can be the catalyst to spark the flame of freedom. Harris-Walz will extinguish across the board any glint of freedom of thought. The first and second amendments gone in the blink of an eye. Just like when Biden through executive orders opened the southern border to terrorist, criminals, rapist and shutdown our oil drilling for independence.
The Eastern dock unions are going on strike this midnight, railroad unions will follow and the rest of the unions will cause food supply shortages, you watch.
When people say they are “independent” they usually vote Democrat. Look at everyone of the congressmen and senators that have done it.
Not your grandparents demoncrat party? Only someone that has never done any research on the party could say. If you knew the history you’d have never been a Democrat or claimed to be anyway. Funny how the ignorant seem to win the vote these days and now that shits gotten real with your voting you jump ship to the middle. Thanks for all you’ve done for and to this country with your liberal ignorant vote. Sadly you can have all the proof you want these days and nobody would believe or read it. That’s just how much koolaid everyone drinks, use your ebt card to buy in bulk!
Among the 300 thousand illegals we know of, 15 thousand criminal murderers, lost count, rapist, not including terror cells from many countries being salted into our country ready for a possible October to January Surprise before the next president takes office.
We don’t know right now what Soros, Obama, Gates and other deep state elites are cooking up.
We do know Biden Harris are not running the presidential office, but who are these radicals flipping the switches behind the scenes, these are deep state operative undetected bureaucrats that must be purged out of office positions. These political front men like Biden, Harris are not the problem.
Yes we need to stock up with the pending union strikes during this November election coming very soon.
The number is between 8-12 million illegals….
…I’d be VERY surprised if the number is that low…
Someone is watching CNN. Don’t forget all the countries that emptied their prisons and sent them in the caravans to us. Your numbers are way off, switch to a news channel that reports the news. Or keep your head in the sand like everyone else.
The estimate is that there were already 12 million illegal aliens in our country before Biden/Harris opened the border to the estimated 10 million that they welcomed. Most of those 12 million here previously were Mexican or South American. Now 2/3 of the alien trespassers are OTM, other than Mexican. They are Arab, Persian, African, Asian, South American, Russian, and many Chinese among others.
Items skyrocketed in price – elections have consequences indeed!
You can’t house, feed, clothe and school freeloading illegals with American citizen rights to vote against the Constitution and not increase prices to destroy our America.
God bless America.
Does anyone know whatever happened to “left coast Chuck”? Loved talking to him on here
Same here, Consco. LCC is or was a very smart guy. He was getting on in age. In the meantime he could have passed away or just got tired of posting on this page. Hope he’s still alive and doing well. If he comes by here to check every once in a while only wish him the very best. Learned a great deal from him.
Old soldiers don’t die, they just march on.
LCC and the old crew need to comeback without the newbie trolls.
So all these climate/foreign oil company causes are the fault of the current administration. Trump said so, right?
So vote Trump and we will make America great again, vote for Harris, Walz an we get flooded with more illegals and no oil independence.
You think it can’t get any worse, dream on, a Marxist president will drive us to our knees under the UN banner flag of hopelessness. No more AR’s or guns allowed under Harris.
Whenever you go in any retail establishment ask yourself “is there anything here that just showed up miraculously? You have to answer NO!! As direct cause of Biden’s shutting down the oil pipeline EVERYTHING costs more and that means EVERYTHING!!! Everything in your favorite store arrived there thanks to petroleum at all levels be it manufacturing costs, farm equipment, or employee wages. Claude used the example of the cost eggs and he’s right. Look at Postage Stamps as well, in recent years postage is up at nearly 100%, the letter you sent or received was moved by oil. Same for eggs, oil moved those eggs every step from A to Z. BIDEN SHUT DOWN THE PIPELINE, not the farmer, store owner, your post office, etc.