Prison isn't immune to inflation, by a long shot.

Or, When your store has a literally captive audience, you cannot hear the cries for fairness over the stacks of cash.

Hi again!
I know that on the outs, people are feeling the growing tightness of purse strings as our global economy defecates a brick. Believe me when I say we also feel it inside prison.

I'm quoting real pricing for real items in this post, what we inmates pay in our facility commissary to get food and hygiene items beyond what is proffered unto us.

"Why don't you just take the free trays and free hygiene products and be satisfied?"

Someone will think or posit a variation of that question. Let's answer, based on my world view.

Frequently, my breakfast tray contains grits.
This item is one I mentally associate with physical abuse, and sometimes struggle to hold back anger, fear, tears, and loathing in its presence. I got beaten frequently as a kid when I was served grits and just couldn't get past something in the smell, the texture, the taste... I just gagged thinking of how to describe this to you, and just cannot stomach them.
No, thank you.

When our trays have just that and eggs or sausage, and bread, I frequently have just that small serving of protein and bread, losing the caloric lading of that filthy tray slot filled with physical abuse reminders.
Suddenly, having powdered milk ($6.30 for 12 servings) and cereal ($6.60 for a 560 gram (20 oz) bag, 9-14 servings) on hand makes sense, since they don't cater much to dietary desires.

Then the bare basics for hygiene are provided: toilet paper, a bar of soap, toothbrush and toothpaste. If you want to shave without waiting for the barber to MAYBE open today, you buy Magic Shave Cream ($5.40 +tax), or if you have it like that during an order window, a battery operated shaver ($27? +tax) with batteries costing extra ($1.03 +tax for the cheap ones).

Unless you're on a specific diet, you don't have any kind of a snack provided at any time. What are you going to do when your meal tray is light? Buy whatever preservative-packed snack you can find in the commissary, of course.

Popcorn is one of my go-to snacks. That sets me back $1.03 for a bag of ACT II brand microwave popcorn, which gets popped right then (because inmates don't get microwave access in their dorm modules), or I can pay $2.53 for a bag of Moon Lodge brand popcorn, which is 5 servings, already popped and sealed until you're ready.
That's only available here in this privately run prison -- no popcorn exists in the state-run facilities.

Saltines are an easy to observe inflation bar.
113g (4 oz) of them, one sleeve of a generic brand, is $1.17.
When I was still free, for eight cents more, I could have FOUR sleeves from the local Dollar Tree, and they didn't skimp on the salt in saltines.

We're offered coffee (decaf, of course) on some days at breakfast. I lamented to one person who I love that it was akin to drinking dirty dishwater -- no flavor in the brownish liquid. To get a cup WITH flavor, you can buy Keefe brand decaf instant coffee. A 3 oz bag sets you back $5.25. If you want caffeine in your joe, pay at least $1 more, up through the $8 mark for brands like Café Bustelo or Maxwell House. Again, setting the bar low by using Dollar Tree, a generic instant coffee in a jar ran $1.25 for 113g (4 oz) when I was last out.

I'd try to compare snack cake prices, but I don't buy them frequently enough here to know their exact prices by heart. I can, however, tell you that the mark up is slightly more forgiving than that of the coffee. $1.43 or so for a glazed honey bun that is purportedly two servings, around 550 calories. Of course, applying the low bar, it's not so bad (but the $2 iced honey bun can get right out).
The generic Market Street Bakery brand Swiss Rolls are about $1.20 a pack for the two rolls inside.

A can of Diet Coke (they only sell Coke products both in private and state run prisons here) knocks you upside the head for $1.03. I think I have done well to not fully import my crippling diet cola addiction, even as I miss drinking the occasional Diet Dr Pepper.
Wyler's single serve drink mixes are 35¢ each. Dollar Tree sings $1.25 for 8.

I haven't even brushed against hygiene in depth!
A pair of pre-dulled TRIM brand fingernail clippers are $2.07, but they don't sell toenail clippers here. Yes, the clippers are so dull that one use will make them largely useless the next time you want to trim your nails.
Comb? A bit north of $2.29, when I last looked.
Deodorant? I paid $3.49 +tax for my stick of generic antiperspirant/deodorant, and believe me, it's necessary for some of us.
Soap? If you buy our Next1 brand, it's about $1.19 per bar, plus tax, with a little variance depending on which bar you get. Irish Spring will ding you for $1.98 plus tax.
My favorite low bar leader keeps ringing up $1.25 for each item above!

We are a Captive Audience.

As above, we lack the freedom to even comparison shop. If we need a thing, we are stuck paying those prices to get it, and in turn, our friends and family are stuck paying those prices because it is how we live.

There may be jobs at some prison facilities that pay inmates a few dollars a week for their work, but by and large, especially here, most of us are assigned the "houseman" job and 'paid' in a paltry sum of gain time that has a cap.
Gain time can't be used to reduce your sentence served time below 85% in this state, but they expect you to do all the work for no opportunity to even earn a few bucks once you hit the threshold for accrued time.
How does this make sense?

Our punishment as prisoners is to be HERE, NOT to spread our punishment beyond the walls financially. But to get things to maintain a quality of life, here we are, $1.17 saltines and all.

I hope this helps to open your eyes to how we live.

Thanks for reading and sharing. :)