Cooking on a fire pit takes a financial hit this holiday

Published 3:26 pm Friday, May 27, 2022

If your Memorial Day includes a cookout, you’re likely to spend a lot more this year. Favorite fare like hot dogs, potato chips and beer are some of the products that have jumped in price due to inflation.

The cost of food has risen 9.4 percent since May 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ April Consumer Price Index.

Firing up the grill is likely to hurt consumers’ wallets the most. The prices of bacon jumped 17.70 percent, the most year over year; followed by chicken legs (bone-in), up 16.40 percent; ground beef, up 16.40 percent; uncooked beef steaks, up 11.80 percent; and hot dogs (all meat or all beef), up 6.20 percent. Frankfurters experienced the largest change in price dollar-wise. In 2021, a pound of hot dogs in April cost $3.81; today it comes in at $5.22.

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The only foods to cost slightly less or the same: strawberries, wine and tomatoes.

And unless you’re planning to stay at home, you’ll be paying more at the pump to get to those parties. The cost of gas used to fuel barbecues, boats and cars is up a whopping 43.6% compared to a year ago. The national average for a gallon of gas was $4.59 Friday, with the Mississippi average at $4.16. Gas in Brookhaven averaged $4.11 per gallon.