Inflation!

Here are some nice flowers to look at as I rant away about inflation.  Hubby and I did our weekly shopping today and noticed the following...

• Gas in our area looks like it is averaging $4 to $4.10 per gallon.  It was around $3.70 a gallon just a week or so ago!
• We checked out the Goodwill this morning and hubby was appalled that men's shirts, which used to be priced at $2.99 each, have all been tagged at $6.99 each.  While we get a 40% to 50% discount on nearly everything at the store (military discount, senior discount, daily discount depending on the color of the price tag), he still can't figure out why prices have increased so much there.  And these price increases have been done on nearly everything in the store :(
• We mailed a couple of flat rate boxes to the kids and grandkids today and what used to cost $10 to $15 to mail has now increased to $15 to $20 depending on the size of the box.  Again, hubby was asking 'when did that happen???'  I usually mail these boxes so I guess he hasn't seen the slow but steady increase in mailing prices lately.
• We went to the Chinese buffet today and were happily surprised that they haven't increased their prices at all.  It's still $12.99 for a huge buffet that includes a variety of shrimp, clams, fish, and other standard Chinese fare.
• At Sam's Club hubby and I both sounded like broken records..."when did that price increase?", "didn't this item cost $2 less just a couple weeks ago?"  It seemed like every item we bought has increased by $1 to $3 dollars in just the past few weeks.
• At the International Market where we buy our seafood and Asian ingredients, literally everything has gone up in price.  I'm not sure if this is standard inflation or if the extra cost and limited supply is because all of the items are imported from Asia which is having serious supply chain problems.
• The SIL just ordered a new car.  $86k for a Mercedes SUV which is up nearly $20k for the same car's list price for the 2017 version of the car.  I hope our car lasts another 20 years because the idea of buying any new car these days--which takes months to order, with prices that have gone insanely high, and which dealers are adding every extra fee they can think of to--just sounds like a losing proposition no matter how you look at it.

On a happy note, it will reach 80 degrees here this week, it's NASCAR Weekend which is a pretty big deal in Las Vegas, there are still plenty of free entertainment options in Vegas, and our friends and family remain happy and healthy so that is a great thing!