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Are You Drowning Too?: Vegetables Are Up 38.9%, Coffee Up 25%, And Electricity Prices Are Rising Twice As Fast As Inflation
The Economic Collapse Blog ^ | 08/18/2025 | Michael Snyder

Posted on 08/18/2025 10:20:43 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

Do you feel knots in your stomach due to financial stress? If so, you certainly have lots of company. All of a sudden, everyone is talking about the cost of living and prices are rising by double-digit percentages all around us. There are so many people out there right now that feel like they are “drowning” because no matter how hard they try there simply isn’t enough money for everything. Unfortunately, we are being warned to brace ourselves for even more inflation in the months ahead.

When I heard that the cost of vegetables in the United States had gone up by 40 percent in one month, I thought that there was no way that it could be true.

So I looked it up, and I discovered that the cost of vegetables in the United States didn’t go up by 40 percent in one month.

The real figure was 38.9 percent

A 38.9% increase in prices for fresh and dry vegetables from June to July was the major driver of a higher index for “final demand goods” (things that are done and ready to be sold to a consumer, as opposed to things that go into a later production process).

That is nuts!

How can the cost of vegetables go up by 38.9 percent in a single month?

Apparently this was the largest spike that we have ever witnessed in a summer month “in figures that go back to 1947”

Per Bureau of Labor Statistics data, it’s also the largest monthly increase ever recorded in a summer month (June-August), in figures that go back to 1947.

The other day, I wrote about how beef has become so expensive that it is now considered to be a “luxury”.

Well, now vegetables are a “luxury” too.

And let’s not forget coffee.

The price of coffee went up by 25 percent in just three months, and that was before coffee exports from Brazil were hit with a 50 percent tariff…

Coffee prices were already up before a 50 percent tariff on Brazil, the top coffee importer to the U.S., went into effect last week.
Coffee prices sharply rose 25 percent over the past three months, according to inflation data released Tuesday. Reuters reported Tuesday that Brazilian coffee exports have started seeing postponements to their U.S. shipments.

About two-thirds of all U.S. adults drink coffee.

This is one of the most basic things that Americans buy.

But now a lot of people are either going to have to cut back or stop drinking it entirely because it has become so ridiculously expensive.

Air conditioning is rapidly becoming a “luxury” as well.

Electricity prices have been rising twice as fast as the overall rate of inflation, and some seniors must now choose between paying the electricity bill and paying for medication

Across the country, electricity prices have jumped more than twice as fast as the overall cost of living in the last year. That’s especially painful during the dog days of summer, when air conditioners are working overtime.

In Pembroke Pines, Fla., Al Salvi’s power bill can reach $500 a month.

“There’s a lot of seniors down here that are living check to check. They can barely afford prescriptions such as myself,” says Salvi, who’s 63 and uses a wheelchair. “Now we got to decide whether we’re going to pay the electric bill or are we going to buy medication. And it’s not fair to us. You’re squeezing us between a rock and a hard place.”

As our leaders were borrowing trillions upon trillions of dollars that we did not have, I warned that this was going to cause rampant inflation, but a lot of people out there didn’t want to listen.

And as the Federal Reserve was pumping trillions upon trillions of dollars that they created out of thin air into the financial system, I warned that this was going to cause rampant inflation, but a lot of people out there didn’t want to listen.

At first it seemed like our leaders were totally getting away with it.

But now look at what has happened.

There are countless videos on TikTok right now of people breaking down emotionally over the rising cost of living.

In one video, a woman that feels like she is “drowning” explains that no matter how hard she works “she can’t afford to live anymore”

The video made by “diannaallen5” for TikTok was shared on X by @WallStreetApes to their 1 million X followers, writing, “Americans are breaking down, a grown woman crying because she can’t afford to live anymore.”

The woman in the video, who said she is from Illinois, was distraught and in tears as she spoke, saying that “gas prices and the electric bills and the prices of food is just so overwhelming.”

“I’m wondering if anybody else is feeling like they’re drowning and they can’t get out,” she said. “I work overtime, and I cannot get above water. I mean, I literally have no gas for next week.”

“I’m just wondering if anybody else feels like they’re drowning,” she said is despair.

Can you identify with her?

I think that a lot of us can.

At this stage, 83 percent of all Americans are experiencing “stressflation”…

A LifeStance Health survey released today reveals “stressflation” is affecting most Americans, with 83% reporting financial stress driven by inflation, mass layoffs, the rising cost of living and recession fears. Millennials and Gen Z report the most significant mental health impacts.

The number of respondents who have been deterred from seeking mental health care due to financial constraints remains consistently high (60%), increasing two percentage points from 2024. Those experiencing high financial stress levels are more than twice as likely to forgo mental health treatment due to cost, highlighting a mental health gap where financial strain exacerbates mental health challenges while limiting access to care.

We should have seen this coming way in advance, because we were specifically warned that this was coming.

And if we stay on the same road that we have been traveling, conditions will get a whole lot worse.

A lot of people out there don’t seem to understand that consequences do not always show up immediately.

What we are experiencing now is the result of decades of bad decisions.

It took time for the consequences of those bad decisions to materialize, but now they have officially started to arrive.

* * *


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society
KEYWORDS: bananatariffs; cocoatariffs; coffeetariffs; concerntroll; concerntrolling; cost; economy; fakenews; frindenial; inflation; multiplenicks; nevertrumping; randpaulsucks; trollfarm

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To: metmom

Yes I know that about hybrids..I will use heirloom or use my own seeds but they are some hybrids I want to try out.


21 posted on 08/18/2025 11:58:24 PM PDT by cherry
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To: SeekAndFind

,,, for some time our household has been stocking up on extra cans, rice and other non-perishables, buying extra each time we shop. It’s better than money in the bank.


22 posted on 08/19/2025 12:00:36 AM PDT by shaggy eel (A long way south of the border.)
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To: azsportsterman
I remember buying a sixpack of beer for 15 cents.

I recall generic beer being $1.50 back in the early 80s. How old are you - 200?

23 posted on 08/19/2025 12:06:49 AM PDT by Libloather (Why do climate change hoax deniers live in mansions on the beach?)
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To: Paul R.

Yes, gas prices are not up. They have been stable for the last month, down about $0.30 from one year ago.


24 posted on 08/19/2025 12:07:22 AM PDT by Wayne07
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To: madison10

Remember last year how many food processing facilities caught fire last year? Egg farms? Meat packing plants?


25 posted on 08/19/2025 12:22:28 AM PDT by kaktuskid
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To: SeekAndFind

It all has to be timed to have the economy crater during October 2026, to ensure the rise of House Speaker Hakeem “Don’t I look like Obama?” Jeffries.


26 posted on 08/19/2025 12:23:25 AM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: SeekAndFind
It's almost as if the government has been printing money to keep illegals in 5-star luxury hotels with free phones and transportation!

What does not kill me ...

27 posted on 08/19/2025 12:35:11 AM PDT by The Duke (Not without incident.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I am loving this price inflation at grocery store. Yes I am of glass half full type.
Now I am more selective in buying only healthy foods. Hardly ever buy cakes & pies. Instead of potatoes I buy sweet potatoes. They are loaded with vitamin A and more fiber than potatoes.
Result of eating healthy is I have shed many pounds and my A1C is dropping. So is blood pressure. This is going to save me hospital & doctor & prescription bills in future.


28 posted on 08/19/2025 1:24:58 AM PDT by Bobbyvotes (,cheer up count your blessings. Poor Americans live better than other places)
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To: SeekAndFind

Prices will go as energy cost go. It’s that simple. If Trump truly is tapping into our energy prowess as he claims, then prices will drop. Not complicated.


29 posted on 08/19/2025 1:29:37 AM PDT by Mustangman
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To: glorgau

Yes...for decades.

Also interesting is the fact that they sell more chicken noodle soup than tomato...by a lot.


30 posted on 08/19/2025 2:07:20 AM PDT by Adder (End fascism...defeat all Democrats.)
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To: SeekAndFind

That article is crap. The prices here in southeast PA. have stabilized and are on a slow downward trend. Even in our purple state the prices are down, except in Philthy and Sh!tsburg.


31 posted on 08/19/2025 2:11:20 AM PDT by spincaster (ifi)
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To: SeekAndFind

Supply and demand. Millions of illegals on the dole put upward pressure on goods, utilities, water, schools, etc.


32 posted on 08/19/2025 2:23:29 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Not to worry, ceo Larry Fink of Blackrock which invests in utilities and buys up 10’s of thousands of homes at higher prices and in bulk to rent is now the head of the WEF.

He is one of those that have caused the prices to rise as his company makes money selling investments so the utilities go up in price and home prices are much higher as there are not enough to go around due to restrictions on building homes (probably by him paying off politicians) and illegals occupying millions of homes.

He will lower prices.... yeah sure...


33 posted on 08/19/2025 2:33:58 AM PDT by minnesota_bound (Making money now. Still want much more.)
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To: SeekAndFind

California, Oregon, and Washington have been at war with all producers of food, fuel, and forestry. That doesn’t just affect the poor people that live there.


34 posted on 08/19/2025 2:38:49 AM PDT by Dogbert41 (“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” -Matthew 5:9)
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To: SeekAndFind

I deliver mail and Amazon. I see no slow down in the spending, even amongst my poorest customers. It’s not just Amazon though. There’s shipping with the post office. Temu and Shien. People have plenty of money for stuff.


35 posted on 08/19/2025 2:48:24 AM PDT by lucky american (Had enough yet?)
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To: azsportsterman

Did that include the free glass to add to your matching drinking glasses you were collecting with fill-ups?


36 posted on 08/19/2025 3:00:33 AM PDT by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: norcal joe

Thank Al Gore for the internet, otherwise Michael Snyder would be on a street corner holding a sign about the world ending tomorrow on one side and Jesus is coming on the other.


37 posted on 08/19/2025 3:36:07 AM PDT by Semper Vigilantis (Step 1 to save The Republic: Repeal The Seventeenth Amendment)
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To: SeekAndFind

Cat food prices haven’t gone down at all.


38 posted on 08/19/2025 3:45:01 AM PDT by roving
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To: cherry

People around here used to say, if you go somewhere in your car this time of year, dont forget to lock your doors while you’re doing your errands, you might find your car full of zucchini when you get back to it if you dont!


39 posted on 08/19/2025 4:19:34 AM PDT by weezel
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To: SeekAndFind

“The economic collapse blog” tells you all you need to know about its credibility.


40 posted on 08/19/2025 4:19:39 AM PDT by I want the USA back (America is once again GREAT! Blue Lives Matter! White lives matter. )
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