groceries just got $420 pricier

so one Anchorage mom found a forty dollar way to fight back.

Alaska households are paying about four hundred twenty dollars more a year for things like gas, groceries, and everyday bills compared to last year, and that's on top of already high prices for heat and housing here. That number comes straight from a new statewide cost of living report.

Anchorage mom Stephanie Ellis felt that squeeze with two kids at home, so she rented a community garden plot for forty dollars for the whole season. Compare that to the hundred fifty dollars other places wanted, and it's already a win before a single seed goes in the ground.

She's growing peas, lettuce, cabbage, and onions, and she figures the garden will save her family somewhere between two hundred and three hundred dollars this summer alone. She's also cut back on driving to save gas, she says she hasn't filled her tank in about two weeks.

It's not just about the vegetables. Ellis says getting outside with her kids and growing something herself has helped her mental health too, especially after dealing with postpartum depression.

For any Anchorage family watching grocery prices climb every time they're at the store, a forty dollar plot of dirt might be one of the cheapest wins in town this summer.