food prices

Over the past 10 years, prices for basic food commodities have increased by an average of more than 125%. Part of the increase is due to rising production costs and demand. But you also have Wall Street traders to thank.

Ham will be the centerpiece of many Easter dinners this weekend, but the cost of that traditional main dish may make it harder for families to live high on the hog.

One of the biggest threats to your financial health is inflation, which destroys the value of your money. Now, according to the Consumer Price Index, inflation is fairly tame. But if that doesn't reflect your economic reality, the people who created the Everyday Price Index think they know why.

Everybody knows the basic rules for saving money on food. Don't eat out. Ditch the steaks in favor of ground beef. Stick to staples. But a recent USDA report shows that, in 2011, some classic money-saving guidelines proved useless as food prices went through the roof.

If your New Year's resolution was to pinch more pennies, Starbucks has some bad news. The coffee king is raising prices due to rising costs of coffee and milk. And they aren't the only restaurant chain getting ready to pass higher expenses on to their customers.

Consumer prices stayed flat in November, further evidence that inflation has cooled off. Energy costs dropped for the second straight month, which offset higher prices that Americans paid for food, clothes and medical services. The consumer price index was unchanged in November, the Labor Department said Friday. That followed a 0.1 percent decrease in October.

Nothing is sacred when it comes to the whims of the global economy -- not even your holiday bird. The cost of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner -- turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings -- will increase about 13% this year, the biggest jump since 1990.

It's no secret that many middle-class families are in a financial bind, caught between rising costs and falling incomes. But according to recent government reports, the middle-class squeeze is not a recent development, and isn't likely to disappear anytime soon.

Consumers paid more for food and gas last month, although inflation outside those volatile categories was tame. The Labor Department says the Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% in September, below August's 0.4% rise. Excluding food and energy, so-called core prices increased 0.1%, the smallest rise since March.

Beef prices have bulked up so much that thieves are starting to steal it. Consumers might feel like they're getting robbed, too, at the checkout stands. Several factors -- including high cattle feed prices -- mean the prices could continue to climb. Here's how to spend less cash on cows.