The Shopping Cart Economist

Odds are if you’re cooking Easter Dinner this year, you’ve already seen the outrageous prices on the ingredients for your dinner, not to mention the cost of stuffing an Easter basket with goodies for the kiddos.

Boiling eggs? Plastic ones might be more economical! Last year, eggs could be had for less than .99c per dozen in most parts of the country. In fact, most of mine were .69c per dozen. This year, the cost to color eggs jumped dramatically….the best price for eggs in my area were 1.99 for an 18-pack, so about $1.33 for a dozen. And the limit was one for the coupon. That’s almost DOUBLE last year’s price.

Why the jump? Certainly fuel prices have alot to do with it. Oil closed over $100 a barrel on Thursday, and it’s been well up over that in the last week. But corn is also still high, and so the cost of feed for chickens has nearly doubled in the last year.

What’s your main course for the big affair? If you’re serving ham, you’re in OK luck. Ham/pork prices have increased the least of just about any kind of meat on the market. A cheap ham could be found at Safeway this week for under $1 a pound. And Honeybaked prices held well, only inching up a few dollars for a 7-pound ham.

But if you’re having a prime rib for Easter - watch out! The best sales price for a rib roast was $4.88 a pound, but on average, most rib roasts were upwards of $5.99-$7.99 a pound for conventionally produced beef. The best price for lamb this year - $10.99, on sale from $14.99.

Then there’s dessert. Ice cream has jumped .75c a half-gallon since Christmas, with most non-sale name brands at $6.50 to $6.75 per half gallon. If you were watching, you might have seen a Buy One Get One sale at Safeway or Albertsons, but if you were in a hurry and grabbed a carton, likely you were paying full price. And there haven’t been much in the way of ice cream coupons, so no luck there either. Pie fixings, and even Jello….up significantly over last year. A large box of Jello gelatin was $1.25 on sale from $1.79 normal price. Last Easter, the red American favorite was .99c a box, so a 25% increase in one year for the sale price.

Overall, the average cost increase for an entire Easter dinner with the usual trimmings is about 35-40% more this year than last year. Every menu item has seen a price increase from the rolls to the green bean caserole.

Lastly, the basket trimmings creaped up there too this year. Your Peeps marshmallow treats were about .30 cents higher over last year. And my favorite, Cadbury Mini-Eggs….they were up nearly .40c for a single serve package over last year - clocking in at .89 cents a bag.

Fortunately, there were still some inexpensive bunnies to be had if you shopped early.

A few years ago, I stocked up on egg dye after Easter and got a boatload of it for free. Even with the discount on the dye, with the price of eggs as high as they are, we’re going to skip the dyeing this year…at these prices, I’d rather not waste the eggs!