Another look at inflation

Amazing what you find when you clean out the clothes drawers.

Remember the Chick-Fil-A buycott from 2012 in reaction to the Rainbow Mafia? That’s when I took this photo of the north Salisbury, Maryland location. Place is still there and very successful.

For several years I’ve been pretty much a creature of habit.

After I get off work at 11 a.m. on Friday (my scheduled half-day) I often make a beeline to Chick-Fil-A to start my weekend off right with a Spicy Deluxe and side salad - something I told you about back in 2023 when CFA threatened to do away with my side salad.

Depending on whether (and where) I have appointments or errands to run, I will either stop at the north Salisbury location pictured above or the one in Seaford, Delaware. Admittedly there is a slight price difference because Delaware doesn’t have sales tax, but I would burn that off in gasoline coming from work in Salisbury. (Since I dine in, I like both restaurants for different reasons. The Seaford one is newer and a bit nicer, but Salisbury has a little better setup.)

During my extended Thanksgiving weekend, though, one of the nagging chores I finally got around to was to get out the bin with my winter clothes in it and put away the summer stuff, so I extended that task to a general and, as it turns out, long overdue cleanout of my dresser. I say long overdue because I found a slew of old receipts from back in the day of 2022-23 that had somehow fallen in there. Funny thing: two of them were CFA receipts dated exactly 52 weeks apart.

Must have had to work a little OT in 2023. It was only a three-day weekend for bank holiday people and government workers.

If you exclude the tax, which was added in Maryland and not Delaware, you’ll find that - in one Bidenflation year - the sandwich price increased almost an even 20% and the side salad went up 14.3%.

Since I’m also writing ahead a couple weeks to give myself a little uninterrupted book-writing time, the other receipt I’ll show you is from November 21. I took Black Friday off so no CFA that day, and last Friday I had some good leftover pizza calling my name instead. (This is from my CFA app - no paper receipts anymore.)

I switched up on the dressing but it’s the same thing, and inflation seems to have been tamed: 2.6% on the Spicy Deluxe and 2.5% on the salad. I did things a little differently the last time I was in Salisbury a week earlier and the price was $10.59 for a meal there, which translates to an increase of 3.9%. (No side salad that day.) Over 2 1/2 years, that’s still very manageable. In fact, it’s a similar point to that made by Newt Gingrich in my MER from November 24, as he cited a commenter who researched some old local restaurant menus she found.

In fact, I have one more example as I found an Outback Steakhouse receipt from almost four years ago, where we celebrated Kim’s daughter’s birthday in January 2022. (No photo of that receipt; you’ll have to take my word on this one.) Since I had this concept fresh in mind, I compared the current online menu price of some of the items our party of 10 ordered that day to what Outback charges now. (Same location, in Salisbury - just a block away from CFA as a matter of fact.)

• Bloomin’ Onion: was $8.99, now $10.99 (22.2% increase)

• Aussie Cheese Fries: were $9.99, now $12.99 (30% increase)

• 8 ounce Sirloin: was $16.49, now $19.99 (21.2% increase)

• Outback Burger: was $12.99, now $14.49 (11.5% increase)

• Bloomin’ Fried Chicken: was $16.49, now $21.99 (33.3% increase)

• Grilled Shrimp: was $19.99, now $23.99 (20% increase)

• Chocolate Thunder: was $8.99, now $10.99 (22.2% increase)

• Iced Tea: was $3.19, now $3.99 (25.1% increase)

One change: Outback has done away with the 11 ounce Sirloin that a couple in our party (probably myself included) bought, maybe because of sticker shock.

I don’t bring this up to pick on Outback, as they’ve had the same issues the rest of us have. In fact, this inflation may be rather lucrative for the wait staff because most people tip on what their bill is, meaning their tips should increase at the same rate the menu prices do.

But if the loss of business because prices are rising faster than the patrons’ wages means the restaurant has to close, that’s not good for the employees suddenly tossed out of work, as a number of Outback employees elsewhere have found.

The good news, though, is that inflation does seem to be back in check, at least in my limited examples. Let’s see if that translates to a better Christmas shopping season for retailers.

In the meantime, though, you can Buy Me a Coffee, since I have a page there.