Leticia Estrada, of Providence, fills her cart with food purchased at Price-Rite in Providence, as her daughter Barbara Aldana, 4, looks on.

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The Providence Journal / Ruben W. Perez

PROVIDENCE — As Leticia Estrada shopped for groceries last night, she picked up extra beef and pork to barbecue on Memorial Day, and plenty of staples, such as rice and milk, for the rest of the week. But she also left the Price-Rite store with something totally unwanted — a higher bill.

It used to cost $100 a week to buy food for her husband and two children, she said as she bagged her groceries at the new supermarket in Providence. Now it costs $120.

And she said some of the biggest price increases have been on those staples, such as rice, that are difficult to skip.

In their finest tradition, Memorial Day cookouts are a feast of all-American gustatory favorites. But this year, shopping for burgers, chips and beer could drain your holiday enthusiasm, and your budget.

“The food prices — every week it’s a little more shocking,” says Sue Perry, deputy editor of ShopSmart, a new guide from Consumer Reports magazine. “Even if you tend to buy the same things over again, it’s higher than it was last week. So it’s hitting everybody. The transportation, so many things affect the cost of what we’re getting.”

From pickles to paper napkins, sodas to six-packs, and beef to buns, the cost of a barbecue could run an average of 6 percent more this year, according to a survey of prices.

A few examples from the Consumer Price Index, which the U.S. Department of Labor compiles by averaging prices across the country:

A pound of beef is $3.52, up from $3.48 last year. An eight-pack of burger buns: up to $1.61 from $1.38.

American cheese to melt on your burgers? Up to $3.88 per pound from $3.73.

A jar of mayonnaise, now $3.71, up from $3.28. And a 16-oz. bag of chips: $3.89, up from $3.48.

The prices are forcing consumers to look hard for deals.

Paul Biello, a Providence resident and city employee, shops at Price-Rite and can tell you what he is saving on every item in his basket. Milk, eggs, butter, fudge cake, Italian ham, bags of hamburger and hot dog rolls for Memorial Day — he shows the price on the package and quotes the higher prices he has seen in other stores.

“The prices aren’t bad here,” said Biello, as he too bagged his groceries, a cost-saving feature at the store.

Dave Rickett, vice president and general manager of Little Rhody Brand Frankfurters, said the franks are now roughly $3 a pound, up 40 cents from last year.

“We don’t know what it’s going to be like for this year. We find people are not having as many backyard parties — we see this is going to be a very different Memorial Day. I guess people are scurrying around with the gas pumps, and their purchasing power is smaller than it was a year ago,” Rickett said.

Though propane varies from retailer to retailer, the current average is $3.50 per gallon, said Joe Rose, president of the Propane Gas Association of New England. Last year, a 5-gallon tank cost $12 to $15: this year, it’s $15 to $18 a tank.

“Many people only get one refill a season. It really obviously depends on how much they grill. In most cases, they use one to two cylinders,” said Rose.

Though the price of beer and wine is going up, that hasn’t stopped people from buying it, said John DeLeo, a local consultant for wine and spirits retailers, including Douglas Wine & Spirits in North Providence. DeLeo said he believes people are dining out less, and still enjoying their cocktails.

“The costs are going up, but proportionate to fuel and other consumer goods, I don’t think the prices on alcoholic beverages are that high,” said DeLeo. “I see the numbers every day — the business is very healthy. People are going to package stores, buying products and staying home more.”

DeLeo said Douglas Wine & Spirits is still pricing a 12-pack of Sam Adams at $11.99, the same as Memorial Day weekend last year. Miller Lite is $9.99, a dollar more, as are some other beer brands.

Here and there, are a few bright spots.

Take ice, for instance. If you can afford a case of beer, you can probably still afford to chill it.

“We didn’t go up yet. We went up on our block ice, but we have not gone up on our package ice,” said Buddy Irons, manager of East Bay Ice in East Providence.

“A thirty-pound bag is five dollars, and a five-pound bag is one dollar,” Irons said, “the same as last year.”

If you can afford it, lobster is a fairly good deal right now.

“The lack of demand and the lack of lobsters has met somewhere in the middle of reasonable prices,” said Mark Castelli, owner of Captains Catch Seafood. “There’s not a lot of lobsters and not a lot of demand.”

Lobster is $8.99 a pound, Castelli said. “And at $12 a lobster, that’s about what they get for a Gray Goose martini up the [Federal] Hill.”

Not surprisingly, the impacts are worse on those who would never dream of buying a lobster.

A survey this winter of 20 local food pantries showed they were serving 10 percent more people than they did the previous winter, according to Michael Cerio, public relations manager for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, the nonprofit that gathers and distributes most of the food in Rhode Island for the poor.

Rising prices affect the agency several other ways, Cerio said. When big companies donate, say, a 30,000-pound trailer load of carrots, it now can cost $3,000 to deliver that load, double the price of just a few years ago. That’s money that could have been spent on food.

At the same time, markets that used to donate lots of leftover or extra food, have less available now, Cerio said, because rising costs are forcing them to operate more efficiently.

Finally, the price the group pays for the food it does buy has gone up, just like for everyone else.

One example, he said, is rice. Not long ago it sold for 19 cents a pound. Now it’s 34.5 cents a pound.

“Fortunately, Rhode Island is a very generous community,” Cerio said. “As our food donations decline, people are making more cash donations. That gives us greater control over the nutritional content of the food we distribute.”

Sue Perry, the deputy editor of ShopSmart, had a few tips to take the sting out of the weekend food costs.

“One of the things we say is to try to buy locally. When you buy locally, you tend to spend a little bit less. The food doesn’t have to travel as far. You’re getting something healthier and something seasonal … When it’s out of season, has to be transported or from overseas, that’s when you get sticker shock.”

“Don’t go out and get the filet,” she said. “Get a cheaper flank steak. Marinate it in vinaigrette … it’s delicious, it looks great, people are getting steak — they’re happy, and you’ve saved a bundle.”

—With reports from staff writer Peter B. Lord and the Associated Press.