How Much Are Prices Up? Here’s One Family’s Day-to-Day Expenses.

Valerie Bauerlein and Stephanie Stamm:

Inflation played a role in their summer plans, too. Last year they bought a trampoline with their vacation money. This year they were thinking about resuming their tradition of a Gulf Coast beach holiday. That is, until they searched flight prices. Airfares were up 24.1% in May from a year before, while hotel and motel prices rose by 9% over the same period, according to the Labor Department.

The family opted instead to drive 10½ hours to Palm Springs, Calif., for a midweek stay at a family-friendly resort. With the higher price of gas, each fill-up hurt, Mr. Galbraith said, even though they were in the family’s hybrid Toyota Sienna minivan and not their Toyota Tacoma, a pickup truck that gets about 22 miles a gallon on the highway. “We try not to drive the truck anywhere right now,” he said.

They stocked up on swimsuits and sandals, items they didn’t use during the pandemic last year when they avoided the neighborhood pool and spent weekends hiking instead.