The Small Pains Add Up
You probably don't think twice about grabbing a dozen eggs or a bag of coffee beans. But these small, frequent purchases are exactly where inflation hits hardest psychologically. Economists call it the 'frequency bias' — we notice price changes more on items we buy every week than on big-ticket items we buy once a year.
Egg prices have been on a rollercoaster since the avian flu outbreaks of 2022-2023. While prices have come down from their $5+ peak, they remain well above pre-pandemic levels. A dozen large eggs that cost $1.50-$2.00 in 2019 averaged $4.71/dozen in 2025 and peaked at $6.23 in March 2025. The reasons are structural: flock rebuilding takes time, feed costs remain elevated, and new cage-free mandates add production costs.
Coffee tells a similar story. Global arabica prices hit multi-year highs in late 2024 due to droughts in Brazil and supply chain disruptions. A standard bag of ground coffee has climbed from $6-7 to $9-11 at most grocery stores. Specialty coffee is even worse — your local roaster has likely raised prices 20-30% over three years.
Our 'Small Pain' Index tracks 15 everyday items purchased weekly. Together they represent only about 8% of the average household budget, but they account for the majority of 'inflation awareness' in consumer surveys. When eggs cost twice what they did five years ago, no amount of falling TV prices makes people feel better about the economy.