Obviously prices are higher. Have you noticed, though, that sizes are shrinking?
I love chocolate, paricularly Dove milk chocolate. A bag of it was $5.87! AND, when I pulled it off the shelf the bag was puffed up with air, and there were 10 pieces inside. I remember beingable to buy a bag for $3.50 and there were 26 pieces in it.
I put it back. I just couldn't do it.
Now, chocolate is a dumb example, I realize. The same thing is happening to everything. Here's the good news: smaller packages means you can store them more easily as you stock up before prices go hyper-crazy. And, another positive thing: it might be a good time to break some bad habits (such as not buying the chocolate, for me).
One last thought: the smaller volumes is a sneaky tactic, and many people will not understand the double-whammy and will go through their grocery money way too fast. Credit card debt will spike, but so will crime. Keep extra vigilant.
They have been doing the old keep the price the same but lower the quantity you get for ages now. The other day though I was looking at chips and I noticed that not only was the price horrible and the bag had gotten noticeably smaller, but what was really deceiving was that the chips actually filled the entire bag, so compared to the normal size bags where you ultimately got more chips despite the bag being half empty it makes it physically feel like you are actually getting more chips even though you aren't. It was the first time I had seen something like this, I didn't realize they could get even more deceiving with this crap than they already are.