KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The way prices are these days, Merolyn Herod finds some basics can feel like a luxury.
"I had to cut down a lot, whatever assistance I could get," Herod said.
At 75, she lives on a fixed income. Inflation has upended her grocery bill.
"They didn't just shoot up all at once," Herod said. "Well, they’ll say the milk is going up, and then before you know it, the bread is going up. The things that you really need is going up, the meat especially."
The rising costs are an extra challenge for Herod who five years ago sought help.
"I had just gotten to the point where I didn't know my As and Bs and my 1, 2, 3s. I was just becoming unaware of anything," she said. "I didn't know how to do anything. I had just got to the point where it was getting bad for me. I couldn't pay a bill. I didn't know how to do anything."
In her search for a solution, the Social Security Administration connected her to BFMA in Kansas City.
"Budget and Financial Management Assistance started in '96," said Jennifer Ham, executive director at BFMA. "So, what our agency does is we receive Social Security benefits for disabled individuals that can't manage their own funds."
Along with paying rent and utilities, the nonprofit seeks ways to find savings for clients.
"So prior, they might not need energy assistance because their light bill is reasonable. But even though it's reasonable, we still need to save that $20, $30 here and there so that they can afford that food," Ham said. "And we really have to look into all available resources in the community so that they can make it to the end of the month."
To assist on that end, BFMA also develops a budget.
"You know how much is coming in and write it on your calendar when your bills are paid, what things are coming up if you have any doctor's appointments, if you have any birthdays, make sure you know what expenses are going out and have a plan for every dollar," Ham said.
It's how the McClung family in Lee's Summit keeps track of prices creeping up at the pump.
"Fuel has consistently gone up every month, she drives a sedan and I drive a pickup truck," Tim McClung said. "So, I hit $100 before I even get close to a full tank."
Full bellies also cost more.
"Through January and February, we really started to notice it. We were really starting to realize that we weren't getting as much food for how much we were spending, and it really made us reevaluate what we were doing," Melissa McClung said.
Through friends, Melissa heard of Guaranteed Foods out of Johnson County.
"They help you order six months of food, which they then deliver to your house. And then if you've run out of something, or if you don't like something, they can exchange it," she said.
The program helps take care of a majority of the family's food needs.
"We've probably saved on average close to $200 a month using this because all of our meat is coming out of this freezer," Melissa McClung said.
Guaranteed Foods CEO Tom Williams says business went up during the pandemic and has stayed that way with increasing prices for groceries.
"They don't do near the impulse buying when they go to store, they don’t go to the store as often or have food delivered as often, no going out to eat in the middle of the week because there's nothing in the house to eat," Williams said.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, food inflation is the highest it's been since 1981.
"And so today with prices going up and with people fragmenting their food dollar everywhere, we help them to get a handle on that food bill and put it in one place and save more money that way," Williams said.
In the meantime, the McClung and Herod households will continue to focus on savings.
"Can they bring the prices down some maybe?" Herod chuckled. "Just a little bit?"
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Two Americas is part of a KSHB and Scripps signature issue to help introduce our community to the America you know and the America you might not know. Our role as the media is to share the news of the day, but we also seek to give a voice to people we don't hear from often.
Of course, there are many parts that make up our community, so we’re not just showing you two and we’re not pitting two sides against each other. Instead, we’re hoping to highlight solutions and showcase different perspectives to help us all better understand our area's culture, our area's past, and why our community feels the way it does today.
