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If that trip to the supermarket gives you sticker shock, you have plenty of company.
A new study says most Americans are stressed about the cost of groceries.
The study by the Associated Press NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 53 percent of us consider grocery costs a “major source of stress.”
In the grand pantheon of stress, that beats out housing, child care, credit cards or even healthcare.
“People are a little more price sensitive now,” said financial advisor Steve Cotton. “ Some people have less disposable income. Prices are all over the map. Some prices are definitely higher and that stresses out everybody.”
Who worries about what varied across demographics. Housing prices, or not having much in the bank, was a larger source of stress for younger Americans, and groceries were a bigger source of stress for lower income Americans, but groceries were a consistent major source of stress for the most people across the most demographics.
Cotton says everybody hits a point at which those numbers cause palpitations. “They wanted to charge me eight dollars for a bowl of guacamole,” he recalled. “That was my trigger to say ‘this is ridiculous.’”
For anyone not trying to economize yet, Cotton has suggestions: “There are some things you can do,” he said. “Look for fresher stuff. Patronize your local farmers markets. Support our domestic farmers. There are no tariffs on domestically produced goods. All kinds of things people can do to fight the cost of groceries.”