Who's taking my money?

Okay, I know I sound like a broken record, but why the heck do prices at the stores keep creeping up by a few cents at a time?

Do the stores think we won't notice that a loaf of bread jumped from $1.09 to $1.24? How about the price of apples - jumped from $1.47 per pound to $1.69 per pound.

What's up? The more money I spend on groceries, the less food I bring home.

I live in the Midwest - is anyone else noticing prices jumping a few cents at a time? I've been watching this happen for the past few months, but I thought maybe it would eventually level out and stop. It did for a little while, but now things are jumping again.

Any thoughts?