This summer,I saw an online ad for a Tulsa grocery that had 95% ground beef for $6.59 a pound. This particular store had a discount program with ground beef at $4.58 a pound but that is still 50% higher than what we paid last year.

In the summer, we like to buy ice cream from Braum’s (those late-night TV commercials drive me crazy). This time last year, Braum’s would advertise a sale with two cartons of ice cream or yogurt for $6. They are running that sale still but it is two cartons for $7. (It’s still a good deal).

Inflation is hitting American families hard in the pocketbook, especially for groceries.

That same grocery is having a sale on boneless, skinless chicken thighs for $4.98 a pound. They were $3 a pound on sale last year.

We shop at Sam’s Club and we like to buy their ground beef sirloin beef patties. You get 18 1/3-pound patties for $21.85.

A year ago, they cost $18.

I eat breakfast every Friday morning with some friends at the Savoy Restaurant at 61st Street and Sheridan Road.

That restaurant has increased its prices to adjust for inflation and it is noticeable.

Fast food restaurants, including Chipolte, Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and more have increased some prices on popular items.

Here’s a dirty little secret – when Biden and the Democrats mandate a raise in the minimum wage to $15 an hour, all restaurants will have no choice but to either raise prices or lay off workers. So the prices go up while the service goes down.

When we go out to eat dinner or bring a meal home, we spend about 20% more than we did a year ago.

I run 100% gasoline and no ethanol in our cars. I have been paying about $3.30 per gallon recently (87 octane) as compared to around $1 less per gallon just a year ago.

Part of this is due Joe Biden’s war on oil and gas and his assault on drilling, exploration and pipelines.

Part of this is due to an increase in demand. In 2020, the first year of the Chinese coronarvirus, most people stayed home as much as they could. Companies let employees work from home and that eased gasoline consumption.

Now people are back to work and their daily commute and gas prices are rising. And it’s a steady upward trend.

People who think they are saving energy with a rush to electric cars don’t seem to realize that oil, natural gas and coal is used to generate the electricity that powers their vehicles.

And when energy price rise – especially in terms of transportation – the cost of goods and services will follow suit. Look for upcoming price hikes in postage as the U.S. Postal Service has to spend more on vehicles to deliver the mail.

I get messages every day from people who want to buy my two used cars or to sell me a used car. There was a shortage on certain electronic parts and that has created a market shortage.

The Tulsa housing market is tightening. More people want homes than are available and that is causing housing prices to skyrocket. Rent are rising, too.

We are remodeling one of our bathrooms and it is taking a long time because remodelers are so busy and some materials are hard to come by. We have had trouble finding the tile we wanted and a certain brand of countertop.

Have you price airline tickets this summer?

I get emails every week from Allegiant, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and others who seem to be offering great deals.

They aren’t great deals. They are usually only for routes that don’t fill up easily. And you can bet when it comes time to book a Thanksgiving or Christmas flight, the cost of an airline ticker will increase significantly.

I frankly would rather drive than fly because of crowded airports and you don’t have to wear a mask when you drive.

And when you fly, expect a hefty bill to rent a car on vacation. During the coronavirus in 2020, many of the car rental companies sold off their cars because so many were idle. Now, demand for rental cars is returning to normal but inventories of cars are very low.

Major newspapers in big cities that used to charge a couple of hundred bucks a year for a subscription are now charging as much as $700 or more for home delivery. (By the way, the Tulsa Beacon has not increased our subscription price in 15 years and we hope we don’t have to).

This is not a very rosy picture.

The bad news is that this is going to get worse – much worse – before we get any relief.

Biden and the Democrats are working full-time borrowing trillions of dollars to buy votes and that spurs inflation. There are two many recently printed dollars chasing a smaller supply of goods and services.  Until the federal government reins in this deficict spending, inflation will continue to plague Americans.