Utahns feeling the pinch from price hikes
Mike and Bonnie Nielsen's is. Mike's commute between his West Valley City home and Hill Air Force Base job is draining the family bank, causing them to cut back on leisure drives, restaurant visits and — thanks to rising costs of food — name-brand groceries.
Melanie Bowcutt of Midvale also is cutting corners, including eliminating drives to Utah County for Sunday dinners with family and buying frozen produce instead of fresh.
"I used to be a big shopper. I'm not anymore," said Bowcutt, a mother of two young children. "We don't really go much of anywhere any more."
Oil and corn, present in an array of goods from animal feed to soda pop to biofuels and the plastic containers they're all stored in, have hit record prices. The price of wheat, soybean and other agricultural products also has skyrocketed.
The result is that the average Utahn's wallet is probably feeling a little lighter.
The Deseret Morning News has begun tracking exactly how much the costs of those goods are changing.
The newspaper has priced a basket of 15 items, from hamburger to Huggies, at six local stores. The idea isn't to tell you where you can get the cheapest stuff. Rather, it's to show what prices are doing over time. The cost of these items will be tracked in the months ahead, and you will be alerted to changes or trends, if any, and the reasons for them.
The price of goods and services in the Western states increased 3.5 percent between February 2007 and February 2008, according to the Consumer Price Index put out last month, the most recent available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The cost of putting a roof over your head, whether you rent or own, and getting from place to place were most responsible for the rise. The cost of shelter went up 2.8 percent over the past year, and gas rose 24.1 percent, the bureau reported.
In addition, grocery prices increased 4.5 percent, and the cost of dining out went up by 3.4 percent in the past year.
"I've seen the rise in prices," said Sandy resident Valerie Horton, pointing to 80-cent geraniums she said cost 50 cents a year ago.
The grandmother of five said she might cut back on travel. That could be a significant lifestyle change for Horton. She shows dogs, which requires cross-country travel to events.
Gas prices Friday averaged $3.26 a gallon in Utah, up 18 cents from last month and 63 cents from last year, AAA reported. Still, traveling in a motor home allows her to cut back on costs because she can stock the vehicle's refrigerator with food rather than eating out, and she doesn't have to pay for hotel rooms.
"The petroleum industry affects everything you do," Horton said. "It's going to get worse."
Even so, it appears the hit to the wallet is not universal at this point.
Park City resident Sarah Trevino says she hasn't felt the price bump. She altered her shopping habits about a year and a half ago, when she became a new mom. She stretches the dollar by keeping an eye out for bargains, clipping coupons and buying clearance items.
"It has kind of evened out for me," she said of the price jumps. "Had I not had children, I'd feel more of a crunch."
E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com
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