If you thought your breakfast was getting pricey, you’re not alone. The cost of staples like eggs and coffee has hit record highs, leaving us wondering if brunch is just a post-work snack now.

In recent months, consumers have been reeling from dizzying price hikes for their morning essentials. With egg prices soaring a jaw-dropping 53% year over year, it seems breakfast is quickly going from a wallet-friendly meal to a luxury that even some avocado toast can’t save.

Take Alicia Love, for example, owner of Coffee Labs Roasters in Tarrytown, New York. She had the foresight to wait out the coffee market’s inflation storm, but surprise! It only got worse. The coffee she could have locked in at $4 per bag is now $5. Imagine that! Paying extra just to wake up and smell the coffee!

The U.S. is seeing egg prices balloon due to a catastrophic avian flu wiping out flocks. Yet, the plot thickens (like your morning oatmeal). The USDA is even poking around with its magnifying glass, suspecting an investigation into potential antitrust shenanigans underpinning this breakfast inflation crisis.

Coffee prices are soaring too, with droughts in Brazil decimating crop yields. It’s official: coffee now costs more per pound than some designer handbags. Your daily pick-me-up might soon require a small loan.

As prices climb, consumer habits are shifting faster than you can say “free-range omelet”. Instead of indulging in a leisurely family-style breakfast, many are opting to whip something up at home or even skipping it altogether. Who doesn’t love starting the day on an empty stomach?

Dine Brands, the parent company of beloved breakfast chains like IHOP and Denny’s, has felt this pain firsthand. Their stocks are struggling, and they’re bleeding profits like an omelet left on the stovetop too long.

Turns out, the only thing more inflated than breakfast prices is consumer anxiety. With all this scrambling around (pun intended), some diners are even willing to forgo their daily breakfast in favor of saving scrupulously for a dinner splurge later – because nothing says “I’m fine” quite like a well-planned restaurant budget.

For now, we’ll have to content ourselves with shifting breakfast norms while we keep forking out bigger bills. Unless you’ve got a chicken in your backyard and a distant cousin who can supply you with beans from Brazil, it’s safe to say that breakfast is now a luxury, not a necessity. Maybe we’ll learn to love cereal again? Or just accept that rich people eat eggs for breakfast, and we peasants take our toast plain.

Are we clucking mad? You be the judge, but the message is clear: if you love your breakfast, keep your wallets open and drop the avocado!