Consumers may feel some relief at the gas pump as the government releases 30 million barrels of oil from our reserves.  Other nations will release an additional 30 million barrels.

The move had an immediate impact, with crude oil prices dropping sharply. 

Given the pain at the pump, and rapidly increasing costs of everything from TVs to vegetables to footwear (thanks to spikes in transportation costs), this will no doubt be welcome news to consumers.

But this is a VERY short-term solution to a major recurring problem. 

Here's the bottom line: We are being gouged at the gas pumps by our oil "allies."

The weak dollar (thanks to the Federal Reserve), which is used world-wide to buy and sell oil, has aided and abetted these "allies."

No more excuses!  Let's seriously start investigating sources of our own available abundant energy--shale, natural gas and offshore drilling.

We're financing Brazil’s drilling offshore but not our own.

Have we learned NOTHING from the gas shortage crisis of 1973?

Producers and retailers are not going to absorb increased prices--they are going to pass them along to U.S.

Some restaurants and food-makers have already announced that they will be raising prices this year because they are paying more for sugar, coffee, chocolate, corn, wheat...all of which are at or near historically high prices.

We see food prices, in general, increasing 5% to 15% in the next year with clothing (especially cotton-based) accelerating at a much higher rate.

Who's to blame?

We've discussed the Fed's role in the costly inflation of money, along with the delicate balance of supply and demand.

However...the bigger question is...what can you do to combat rising prices?

While we surely can't either change rising prices or adjust our incomes upward at will (don’t we wish), we do need to adjust our family budgets to factor in higher costs.

And you can use these simple tips to save money on groceries.

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