We are only a few weeks into the new year and already I feel exhausted. My husband says every day feels like Monday morning, when your senses and adrenaline switch on and refuse to shut off.
Turbocharged events, global and domestic, are overstimulating. But trying to forecast the family budget for 2026 has me equally on edge.
By the end of 2025, I felt the full wallop of inflation at the grocery store. Over the past year, I tracked steady increases in the cost of nearly everything we buy. Two recent trips to the store delivered real sticker shock. Unresolved tariffs imposed during the Trump administration continue to function as taxes on food, goods and, indirectly, the services we purchase.
One particularly stunning moment came while planning Christmas dinner. My husband and I decided to check out roast beef prices ahead of the holiday. We stopped at three stores, where prices for the same cut ranged from just over $100 to several hundred dollars. A splurge in any year, this piece of beef felt nearly out of reach in 2025. We chose the least expensive option.
The next shock came this week and is tied to steep tariffs on imported goods such as coffee and chocolate. The latest Consumer Price Index data show “coffee prices rose 21% in August compared with a year earlier. Typically, coffee prices fluctuate only a few percentage points annually.” But a small bag of coffee beans recently cost me $19.
Chocolate prices followed this inflationary trend. I did not buy the chocolate chips needed for baking because the bag cost $8.19, up from $2.99 just two years ago. That is a 174% increase.
Research from Harvard economists and the nonpartisan Tax Foundation backs up these experiences.
“The latest data through early October show that tariffs have raised retail prices on average by about 4.9 % relative to the pre-tariff trend,” the foundation reports. “Several goods have experienced notably large price increases, including apparel (9 %), coffee and tea (7.5 %), cameras (7.5 %), household textiles (6.2 %) and furniture (6.5 %).”
So where does that leave our wallets in 2026? Experts predict no relief. FoodNavigator Europe reports that “for U.S. consumers, most costs will unfortunately go higher, with U.S. trade barriers still looming large over food and beverage.”
Higher costs mean more edits to our shopping basket — and continued anxiety about the cost of living.
How about you?
Cheers and Happy New Year. I guess.
Megan Giles Cooney is a columnist for the Traverse City (MI) Record-Eagle. Reach her at mail to: megangilescooney@gmail.
