Please take most of what I say with a grain of salt. A lot of this writing has my opinion sprinkled in it like a well cooked meal has spices sprinkled in.

As those who buy things are aware, prices in the US are skyrocketing. I keep a journaled log of how much it costs to fill up gas. Last time I filled up less than a month ago it cost me $3.79 per gallon. Last time I went outside the price of gas was $4.29 per gallon here in Virginia. Why is this? It's a combination of things. Before the federal government had done anything in regards to sanctions on oil from Russia, the gas companies themselves had decided to stop importing Russian oil. Russian oil is only 8% of the oil we in the US use - so why is it increasing so much and so fast?

Well, part of it is greed. It's simple as that. Russia is an excuse to raise prices. If one company greedily raises prices and blames all the excuses then another company will raise prices as well.

If you don't drive, these raises in gas prices effect you as well. A raise in the cost of gas means a raise in the cost of a lot of other things because it cost more to transport them. I've noticed a lot of prices increase on every day items I buy. The price of lemons is normally 69 cents in the fall and winter decreasing to about 50-59 cents in the spring/summer. I buy lemons nearly every grocery store trip. Recently, they increased to 99 cents a lemon at both Kroger and Walmart. These little things add up and I think we're going to see more and more Americans struggling to afford food in the coming months.

I'm in such a lucky situation. I work a job in tech. I make fairly good money for being in my early 20s. I don't have kids to feed. I can switch up the food I eat if things get too expensive and buy really cheap stuff. The cost of food increasing just means I put a little less into savings and investments every month. Most aren't in the same situation I am. Some studies say nearly 2/3rd of the American population lives paycheck to paycheck.

The solution isn't simple. Rising costs aren't just going to go down overnight and increasing wages isn't a perfect solution. I don't know what the path ahead is. Once farmers markets open again this spring, I'm going to try to buy more of my produce local. With how much it's costing in the grocery store lately, the prices are going to be about the same. I might have to try to use coupons more when I can to try to save more money. I'm worried in the coming year or two we are going to hit a recession. I have no way to predict the future, but I'm trying to stay hopeful for it. The world isn't over with raising prices, but it is worrisome.