NEW ORLEANS — You're right if you think your Memorial Day cookout cost more than years past. No matter where you’re shopping or what you’re buying, everything seems to be a little bit more expensive this year.
“It’s more expensive nowadays,” Adam Shipley said.
For Adam Shipley, it’s not a Memorial Day cookout without his wife’s homemade ice cream.
“I bought some things for ice cream because we love it, but also it’s less expensive,” Shipley said.
He says making it from scratch is getting pricy.
“It was seven dollars for four sticks of butter, seven dollars for a half gallon of milk, and six dollars for half and half,” Shipley said.
Even if he opted for the store-bought, that’s more expensive this year, too.
“It’s astronomical. Sometimes you just stop looking because you have to do it,” Shipley said.
While the rate of inflation is down from this time last year, most cookout essentials are still about ten percent higher than they were in 2023. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, ground beef is up 40 cents per pound, tomatoes are up about 10 cents per pound, and relish is up about 50 percent.
“Everything really is just really high,” Sandra Beauchamp said.
Some people are finding ways to get around some of those sky-high prices.
“When you get a sale here, it’s a sale,” Beauchamp said.
Sandra Beauchamp starts making grocery runs weeks in advance, finding sales, and freezing the food until the big day.
“That’s how I find my ribs, they put them out on certain days, then take them back,” Beauchamp said.
When it comes to produce, she says her husband has that covered.
“I don’t have to worry about that, because my husband grows all of our vegetables for the farmers market.” Beauchamp.
Another place you may have noticed a price hike is at the gas pump. Gas is up 7 cents compared to last Memorial Day weekend.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.