I’m glad you aren’t praising or blaming anyone

Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth I understand what you’re saying Colonel. My family and I are fortunate that my wife and I both have well-paying jobs and my disability. I can’t credit anyone for our circumstances except us. As far as groceries and gas, I haven’t seen an incredible increase. Yes, gas prices are higher than they were 4 years ago. But then, nobody was driving to work because they couldn’t. Gas companies had to drop their prices just to coax us out of our homes. Now that everyone is driving, prices have gone up accordingly.

SrA John Monette - It was around $2 or less when I bought my truck in '21 now it is $2.89 and on a 30 gallon tank that is a big difference. I have noticed it at the grocery store as well but we have set ourselves up pretty good and we are fortunate. I have a penny pinching miser for a wife that could make copper wire out of a penny! But that is why we have what we have.

Cheers

SrA John Monette -
From the link:
Cumulative inflation is up 18% since 2021
The most common benchmark for inflation is the year-over-year rate, which is currently 3.1%, as measured by the CPI index. Year-over-year inflation has decreased steadily from its peak of 9.1% in June 2022 — the highest rate since November 1981.

The year-over-year rate is still above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, though, and has been hovering between 3% and 4% since June 2023. This is one reason why Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell recently said that progress against inflation is “not assured.”

However, the year-over-year inflation rate can hide the true impact of rising inflation over the years. Cumulative inflation, on the other hand, measures the total increase in the price of goods and services over a specific period of time.

If you look at cumulative inflation since January 2021, when Biden took office, the rate of CPI price growth is 18%. That comes out to a yearly average of 6% — again, well above the Fed’s target of 2%.

SrA John Monette - And I wouldn't say that everyone is thriving. They are pawning their future.

From the Link:
Earlier Tuesday, Bank of America reported that more people were tapping their 401(k) accounts because of financial distress. The number of people who made a hardship withdrawal during the second quarter surged from the first three months of the year to 15,950, an increase of 36% from the second quarter of 2022.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/08/economy/us-household-credit-card-debt/index.html