Here in our broader community, last week’s drop was short-lived, with gas prices bouncing back 6.5%.
By Levi Gwaltney
Welcome to the Bean Counter’s Scrapbook.
This is a place to find validation for what readers in our broader community may already be experiencing at the cash register and the gas pump. It is not the purpose of this feature to introduce people to anything they should not already know. Nor is it intended as a political statement about the economy. It is simply a snapshot of what is happening here, in our broader community, at a given moment in time.
There are plenty of national sources for financial news. Very few are built around lived local experience.
Nationally, the gasoline story remains one of elevated prices even after a modest weekly break. AAA’s national average for regular is now $4.18 per gallon, up from $4.02 a week ago and $3.98 a month ago, after crossing the $4 mark for the first time since 2022 earlier this month. Reuters has also noted that gasoline prices were a major driver of March retail sales nationally, with households spending more at the pump even as that left less room elsewhere in the budget.
Here in our broader community, last week’s drop was short-lived, with gas prices bouncing back 6.5%. The five-station sample used for this week’s fuel snapshot rose from an average of $3.53 to $3.76 per gallon. Despite the rise, prices are still shy of the short-term high of $3.96 reached two weeks ago. Over the past seven weeks, the estimated cost of five gallons — roughly enough to drive 100 miles — has risen from $13.55 to $18.80.
The numbers are as they are found. Not massaged. Not seasonally adjusted. Not made to fit a narrative. For groceries, prices are collected from one big box store, one regional grocer, and one local independent on Monday mornings. For gasoline, multiple sellers are sampled Sunday evening, including a truck stop, big box, petroleum brand, convenience store, and independent. Here, sale prices count because that is the price a shopper is actually paying in that moment.
This is also not meant to be a bargain shopper’s guide. The prices listed here are averages across several stores, not endorsements of where to shop. Las Cruces Digest’s position is that store-hopping is usually not the most effective way to lower a grocery or gas bill. But knowing the average price at a given moment can at least help readers understand whether what they are paying falls near the middle of the market — or well above it.
The Top Line
The top line this week is straightforward: fuel prices bounced higher by 6.5% across our broader community, while grocery prices showed something that may be even more interesting — almost nothing at all. Across nearly every aisle in all sampled grocery stores, prices remained very close to the week before.
The average grocery basket dropped a meager 32 cents, from $162.17 to $161.85, notable more for its stability than for the size of the move.
Only Meat and Produce saw appreciable movement. Produce rose 10%, erasing nearly all of the relief brought about by a single-store deep discount on bacon, while Meat fell 4.1%. Since March 8, overall grocery prices have climbed more than 10%, even with frequent sales masking those increases. If this latest pattern holds, inflationary pressure at the checkout counter may not be gone, but it may at least be taking a breather.
At the pump, this week reversed last week’s relief. The five-station sample rose from $3.53 to $3.76 per gallon in one week. That is a meaningful bounce, but it still leaves local prices below the recent short-term high of $3.96. In other words, our broader community saw a rebound, not a fresh breakout.
Local vs. National Pressure
Nationally, the pressure at the pump remains more severe in absolute terms. AAA’s current national average of $4.18 leaves U.S. drivers paying roughly 42 cents more per gallon than the Las Cruces Digest five-station average. The national average is also up about 20 cents from a month ago, even after a week in which broader energy-market concerns appeared to cool slightly. Reuters has described gasoline prices as a meaningful drag on household budgets nationwide, helping explain why March retail sales were strong in dollar terms but less impressive once fuel costs were taken into account.
That is where the local and national stories diverge.
Nationally, the dominant consumer story is still the size of the fuel shock. Here in our broader community, that shock remains visible in the longer run, but the week-to-week movement is beginning to look more uneven — one week sharply down, the next week partly back up. At the same time, grocery prices appear to be settling into something that feels less like weekly lurches and more like a higher plateau. That is the sort of thing national averages can miss: one expense may be cooling while another simply stops making headlines.
The Bottom Line
This week did not extend the relief drivers saw a week ago.
Gas prices in our broader community bounced higher again, but not enough to erase the broader pattern now taking shape. Even after this week’s rebound, the local average remains below its recent short-term peak. Groceries, meanwhile, barely moved at all. That may not feel like good news at the checkout counter, but it does suggest that the recent run of grocery increases may be settling into a more stable — if still elevated — range.
Nationally, the story is still louder. Gasoline remains high, and the national average continues to run well above what drivers in our broader community are paying. Locally, however, this week’s numbers point to something subtler: pressure remains, but it is no longer moving in one clean direction. Gas rebounded. Groceries held nearly still. And the consumer was left once again trying to sort out which kind of bad news matters more.
And perhaps that is the best way to understand Bean Counter’s Scrapbook.
It is not here to tell readers how they should feel about the economy.
It is here to confirm what the receipt already told them.
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