Budgeting for back to school costs involves more than shopping for a backpack and notebooks. Don’t forget the cost of school lunches, which rose sharply over the last two years of inflation.
Fortunately, many of these food costs have declined since last year. Datasembly, which monitors thousands of grocery prices in real-time, reports the overall cost of 12 popular items rose just 61 cents since last year, or 1.16%.
But five of the food items have gone down in price. The biggest decline is in the price of mozzarella string cheese, which is down 4.2% from 2023.
Most items rose or fell by only a few cents. However, applesauce cups and mixed fruit snacks posted the largest price increases. The price of a six-pack of 4 oz. applesauce cuts rose 7.2% and the price of a mixed fruit snack 10-pack is up 7.3%.
