COST OF SUCH GROCERY ITEMS as milk and other dairy products, eggs and bread have lightened the pockets of customers nationally and locally. A gallon of milk at some stores has gone up about 30 cents in the past week.
On a national level, the economy leaves shoppers scouring for coupons, discounts and any break they can get.
Locally, in a city where the median household income in 2005 was an estimated $27,600, that shift in cost of living has shaken some families into uncertainty, making many pinch their pennies as they never had before. “Sometimes it feels like you walk into the store, spend $60 and only come out with a couple of things, “The cost of living seems to have gone up without our pay doing the same.”