This is a rather gloomy day for men, as Mary Kane of the Washington Independent reports today that the price of beer and steak will be rising soon.

Food in America has been cheap for a long time, and consumers have become accustomed to taking that fact for granted. When there are price hikes on things like steak and beer, it’s bound to be noticed, especially if a nice night out at a restaurant costs considerably more than in the past. It may give already jittery consumers yet another reason to pull back on their spending, and provide more fuel for the argument that any recovery will be about as robust as a flat glass of suds.

As always, though, eating at home instead of at a restaurant is always going to be both more frugal and usually more tasty. So go ahead and make that steakhouse steak at home, always make sure that you have some emergency flank steak in the fridge, and might I suggest washing either down with a nice McChouffe Belgian Ale?