I’m not one to complain about the price of eggs or gas, but on May 13, gas was $4.69 at Hudson and $4.15 in Sterling. When I was in high school, one quarter (25¢) would buy enough gas to give me the privilege of riding shotgun in my friend Bonnie’s red pickup truck while we cruised Main.

My childhood home sold for $18K in 1971 and $305K in 2024.

This week I went to a movie, Prada 2, and yes, I ordered a small popcorn and a drink, and I tipped $2.?? The total was $30.00.

As a kid, my mother would give us each a dime to go to the Variety Theater in Akron to see a movie on Saturday. The dime bought us admission and a popcorn. Take off the Prada drink, and that is a 23,900% increase from the early 50’s to 2026.

I also stopped for a small ice cream cone, and it was $4.69. You can know a family with small children doesn’t casually stop for ice cream—they likely opt out or stop at the grocery for a half-gallon.

The theme of this column is mental health, and the decreasing value of our dollar is depressing, confusing, and feels out of our control.  I truly wonder how young people, newlyweds, young parents, parents with teens, and the elderly buy shoes or fresh vegetables, make car payments, pay rent, buy gas, and maintain hope for the future.

Not scrolling through the junk online really helps, but the price of necessities, even if we live meagerly, is impossible to ignore. Optimism is a tool, but that hat it’s always easy to find.

I can rattle on about how to stretch your grocery dollar, how to thrift for clothes and household goods, how to walk more and drive less, etc., but you already know how to survive.

The one thing I believe we need more of, besides money and budgeting, is connection with people. Sure, some of us have more of everything than others, but we are all feeling the pinch, and getting together with friends lets us know we are not alone in these challenging times.

Spending hours alone scrolling, worrying, and probably being disagreeable, isn’t helping you or anyone else.

We have next to zero control over what is causing the scary situation, but our minds talk to our bodies. Listen when it says find friends or strangers to visit as you walk the park, be creative and get involved in activities that don’t cost next month’s rent, and laugh more. . . There is humor in thinking that a gallon of gas costs approximately $5.00, milk costs $4.00, and paint can cost more than $60.00.

It’s all relative—shake it off, be smart, and save your pennies.

For centuries, people have said, “This too shall pass”. They were correct.