Gas down, food up: still costly
Utahns are paying more at the grocery store now than they were at the first of August, particularly on eggs, beef and bread, according to a basket of 15 goods the Deseret News has tracked since April. But gas went down 30 cents in the past month, providing some relief.
The net effect: Our basket of groceries, movie tickets, gasoline, pizza and a pair of blue jeans costs 6 cents less this month than last.
But can you really feel the food and gas adjustments in your budget?
Murray resident Mary Weissman can't.
"Everything is so much more expensive," said Weissman, a nurse at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center in Salt Lake City, who said it costs her $5 to drive to work.
"I can do less now," she said. "I can spend less on my children, less on my grandchildren. I have to loop (car trips) together. We have to make a circle so we can save a little bit of money."
She's even bought a new car, trading in the old one that took only premium-grade gasoline, to save money at the pump. While grocery shopping Tuesday, she and husband James Kastner axed their plan for franks and beans, as the latter cost too much — $2.79, compared with 99 cents not long ago.
Since April, the Deseret News has tracked prices of 15 items to see how much they're going up or down. Our basket in the beginning cost $146.63. This month, it's up to $155.85, about the same as last month.
But individual food items went up, some of them sharply, after holding steady for months. Our groceries rose 1.3 percent since last month.
Bread, blue jeans and hamburger meat all were up 10 percent over the past month. Eggs, volatile since we first started measuring, were up 37.6 percent between the first of August and the first of September.
Last month, a couple of other items went up: Pizza Hut's large pepperoni pie went up 50 cents to $13.99, and frozen corn rose 10 cents to $1.29.
This month's rise in food costs is no surprise. The Wells Fargo Consumer Price Index last month showed Wasatch Front grocery prices rose twice as fast as the national increase, or 2.3 percent in July alone, and were up 5 percent since March.
Overall, the price of the Deseret News basket is up 6.3 percent since April. Hamburger meat rose nearly 14 percent, bread is up 10.4 percent, bananas are up 6.2 percent, and diapers jumped 5.6 percent, largely an effect of smaller packaging by Huggies. Eggs, although way up this month, are down 10.4 percent since April. Oreo cookies are down 7 percent.
Falling pump prices counterbalanced grocery-price increases over the past month. The cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gas was down 30 cents since the first of August's measurement, to early June prices. A month ago, it was $4.14 at the downtown Maverik where we're measuring.
Recent comments
Our garden is producing so much right now. I have apples, corn, tomatoes…
gweniveer | Sept. 3, 2008 at 7:21 p.m.
people better start storing food..grow a garden
Anonymous | Sept. 3, 2008 at 5:23 p.m.
Each state has it's problems. Instead of complaining about it, get…
re: Troutman | Sept. 3, 2008 at 5:22 p.m.
