I’m wondering if you’d try an inflation experiment with me?
As many grocery prices have risen – some of them drastically – I was hoping you’d try an inflation experiment with me so we can learn more together about how to save the most as we work to feed our families well.
First, have you seen this floating around social media?
This person took a screen shot of a Walmart purchase from January, 2020 which cost a total of $70.29. Then, she put all of those items back into her cart – and look at her total in 2024! Yikes, it went from $70.29 in 2020 to $165.42 in 2024. That’s a 135.6% increase!!
No wonder people are so discouraged. The increase in these food costs is outrageous!
Is this accurate for all groceries everywhere?
We can only see a small photo snippet of the items this person purchased – chips and cereal. So I don’t know what else was in her order that costs so much more now than it did four years ago.
After seeing the above Facebook post, I was intrigued and decided to look into my past Walmart purchases to see if my findings were the same as what the above poster had found.
The earliest Walmart pickup order I can find in my purchase history is July 2021. I know some prices had already increased by then. So I did further research to learn that the biggest hike in grocery prices happened in 2022, so I feel like my findings are still accurate.
Here’s my July 2021 screen shot:
Brace yourself.
Are you ready to see what happened when I clicked “Reorder All” on my July 2021 order, today in July 2024?
I held my breath and then THIS:
July 2024
My cart went from $264 in 2021 DOWN to $235 in 2024.
One part of this result is that two items weren’t available (64 items were in my 2021 order and only 62 items in my 2024 order).
Half of the contents in my cart were fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables – extra encouraging that those healthy item prices are the same, lower, or barely higher. Other items included bagels, coffee creamer, buns, cheese, yogurt, meat, taco shells – basic household items/ingredients to put together meals.
My experiment continued…
I wondered if it was a fluke or if I’d just gotten lucky and picked an order that “just so happened” to go down instead of up. So I went back to other 2021 orders and did the same thing.
Every time, same result: My 2024 prices went down just a bit.
For one order that was almost entirely fresh and frozen fruits and veggies my order went up from $112 in 2021 to $114 in 2024 – so just a slight $2.00 increase in three years….
Why are my results so different?
I believe the difference might be in what food we are choosing to purchase. Across the board, there seem to be price increases in just about everything. But maybe fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables and basic cooking ingredients haven’t shifted as much. That’s what I’m gleaning as I continue to compare my Walmart pick-up orders.
But I want to hear from YOU! I feel like my results don’t give a big enough picture of what’s going on for everyone everywhere. Especially since my experiment began in 2021 (though again, it seems that the biggest price increases began in 2022).
Try an Inflation Experiment With Me?
If you have been enjoying pick up orders from any grocery store since 2020 or 2021, would you take a look at your Purchase History and try adding all the items from older orders into a new order to compare the cost?
Then take a look at the items you bought to see which products have increased the most?
I found that this experiment hasn’t taken much time – but it has been very helpful as I continue to make grocery purchasing decisions so that I can save the most money possible during this time of inflation.
TIP: When I was looking at my previous purchases, I was able to simply click on the “Reorder All” button and every item from my old cart automatically went into my new cart so that I could quickly compare prices from 2021 to 2024.
Let’s help each other save more money!
I’m hoping that if many of us conduct this experiment, we can all get a better picture of how we can most wisely shop for groceries. Hopefully we’ll learn:
- What product prices have increased the most?
- What products should we avoid in order to save more money?
- What items haven’t been as drastically affected by inflation?
- Are there shopping habits I can change so that I can save more money?
- Which products give us the most bang for our buck?
Together, friends, we’re going to get through this inflation frustration! Thank you for being willing to try this experiment with me. :)
This was so fascinating to me. I have been interested in the price differences as well, so I checked mine out for Walmart. The orders that contained items I don’t typically buy (special snacks/processed foods) went up by $30, and the “normal” orders went down by $5-10. This is in Ocala, FL.
I don’t use any pickup services for groceries, but I have found this principle to be very true. Around me, a 5lb. bag of potatoes is still around $5, milk, is $4.50, the same as it was pre-pandemic, and I can find ground beef for around $2-$3 a lb. But frozen pizza and waffles have absolutely doubled in price and chips are SO expensive. We have just opted to eat less processed food because it isn’t worth the cost to us.
December 2022 $61.30 @ Target. Today $67.43 a lot of the organic cheese and yogurt I ordered back then are discontinued or not carried any longer so this number would probably be $3-5 more if those were still available.
I don’t buy ice cream unless we have a birthday, boxed cereal or fancy chocolate chips. I figured out if I buy a chocolate bar by Equal Exchange or Lily’s and chop it up it’s cheaper. Now we just buy Ghiradelli because it came up low in Lead on Consumer Reports. Our local grocery store will hold sales on organic cereal so if there is a box for $2.50 I’ll get it.
Our potatoes are $8 for a bag so not buying those until fall rolls around.
I used to buy the peas at Costco but they were sold out for awhile, and noticed Aldi has 12oz bags of peas for $.95 not organic but they are on the Clean Fifteen so I just buy Aldi peas now! I saw this college age girl and her mom boy whole trays of it so that led me to check it out. Thank you, Lord.
She purchased her items in-store for the first order. Her second order was “Delivery from Store.” That doesn’t account for the entire 135%, but it may account for a little bit of the increase. :)
Hi – I tried this with an order from Dec of 2022 and initially thought it went down slightly also – before I realized that the “Estimated Total” does not include taxes. Once I added the taxes, the total did come out higher. It should be noted that I am buying basically all whole foods, nothing processed, and very little meat or toiletries. I tend to order the same stuff over and over again. However, in general, I have been noticing that I am now paying about $500 for what used to cost around $375.
This was from a couple random hauls at the end of 2021. It is more junky cookout items and a few other random things because at that time I liked shopping in store. I did chuckle the ONLY thing that did not go up was my husbands car jack purchase…he informed me it has been the same price for the last 20 or so years….:0
tea: 2.78 vs 2.98
water:1.12 vs. 1.36
frito lay chip dip 2.50 vs. 3.98
bertolli spaghetti sauce 1.68 vs. 2.88
great value baked beans 1.68 vs. 1.98
great value party size chips 2.32 vs 2.86
great value sweet peas .50 vs. .65
great value slice cheese 1.48 vs. 1.98
advil 3.98 vs. 4.98
great value organic ketchup 1.88 vs. 2.18
annie`s mac and cheese 1.18 vs. 1.44
bananas .68lb vs. .74lb
great value baby wipes 4.22 vs. 6.87
fresh cherries .99lb vs. 2.98lb
trolley jack 33.88 vs. 33.88 haha
Sadly all the food has gone up :( at least at walmart
I do shop at our discount store A LOT now, which saves us A LOT. And really I scan the local sales for fruit and veggie deals which if you shop smart you CAN find deals on fruits and veggies and meat! I did want to show the junky stuff on my list to show it has gone up a lot. I have stopped buying a lot from walmart because they are higher in my area. The junk or treats come from the discount store every three weeks or so.
PRAISE JESUS our babies have plenty to eat! That is what I try to focus on!
LORD JESUS guide!
I had similar results to you on orders that were mostly fruits and vegetables- the total went down a bit. I had one order with a bunch of chips and stuff to decorate cookies that went up around 50%. When I looked at the individual items, the chips, crackers, decorations, and powdered sugar were almost double. I also purchased organic half and half and heavy cream that were a dollar or two more. The produce was all the same or cheaper.
I could only go back to July of 2022 on the Kroger app but the price went up $24 compared to today. But here’s the deal, I wouldn’t buy half of what was on that list today. We have been on a journey to change habits and foods to better our health and it’s made food more affordable. This was an interesting look back.
I live just north of Houston. I do 90% of my shopping through HEB pick-up. With just a quick look on my app, I noticed that over the past three years, my grocery bill has risen by about $20.00. However, I have also changed my shopping habits/my family’s eating habits over that time. I used to buy a lot of pre-made/processed food for easy breakfasts before school, etc. (frozen pancakes, frozen kolaches). Now, I just make a bunch of pancakes and freeze them, along with several other similar changes. Had I not made those changes, though, I would be spending a significant amount more.
Regional chain grocery store. Price of pickup order on 7/23/21 was $148.17 after adjusting for items no longer available. Current price $171.17. A mixture of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, a little bit of meat, pantry staples like saltines and a few bits of junk food (mostly ice cream).
A typical order from 2022 was only about $10 less than if I reordered it today. Some meat and dairy, a bit of pantry items, two processed food items, and a bunch of vegetables. But, I know that some of our food has gone up quite a bit. In 2020, I paid 3.68 for 5 lbs of King Arthur Flour. It was 4.34 in 2022. It is 5.24 today. Also in 2020, I paid $30 for 5 lbs of cocoa powder. I just ordered more, same brand, same size, for $40. I know cocoa/chocolate has increased because of crop failures. Looking at the price increase for a typical order has made me wonder though how much of the increase in my grocery budget is due to inflation vs due to my kids both being older teens now!
I urge you to read this post by Lili at http://www.creativesavv.com, as she spoke to this very subject today:
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Just barely enough
I did the grocery shopping this morning. I use cash when I buy groceries. Cash keeps me accountable in my spending. I thought I had more than enough for groceries. Imagine my surprise when at my final stop, I had just barely enough and was counting coins to make that last purchase. I will say, I skipped grocery shopping last week and needed to buy more than I might usually. But still, grocery prices have really jumped up in my area.
I’ve got two sets of receipts in front of me, one set from 6 weeks ago and the other from today.A month and a half ago, I bought a 5-dozen case of eggs at Walmart for $9.98. Today, I paid $16.38 for the same size and brand of eggs. Six weeks ago I bought 2 pounds of butter at WinCo for $2.98 a pound. This morning I bought 2 pounds of the same butter at WinCo for $3.68 a pound. Six weeks ago I bought 1 gallon of milk at WinCo for $3.11. Today the same brand and size of milk at WinCo was $3.48. Six weeks ago I was paying $2.68 per quart of soy milk. Today I was shocked to see it had jumped to $3.38, same brand, same store.
It isn’t all bad news. The flour that I normally buy for bread, the natural peanut butter that my family likes, our staple fruit bananas, and the usual cheese that I buy have stayed at the same price. But nothing on my usual list has come down in price this year.
I didn’t actually go back and resubmit because I know it wouldn’t be accurate. I only buy things that are on sale and keep a large pantry. If I was to just repurchase without the same items being on sale, I would definitely pay more. This is especially true for processed foods. I can’t imagine just throwing chips or cereal in my cart and paying full retail.
My order from August 2020 was $204.40. Today, $258.79. I purchased a wide variety of items from fruits and veggies to cat food to an oscillating fan:) (The fan accounted for $5 of the increase). There were several convenience foods in the order. Eggs went from $0.95 to $2.68, pasta from $0.75 to $0.98, and paper plates from $3.64 to $5.54. I noticed some items now have smaller package sizes. A box of “family size” cereal was 19.6oz for $3.43 in 2020, same box today is 18.9oz for $4.93.
I don’t have the online ability through Costco but I do have my receipts.
-2020 Toilet Paper (Kirkland) Sq. Footage was reduced.
-Olive oil Organic 3 price increases since 2020
-Non fat greek yogurt tub 4 prIce increases since 2020, the last one 4 weeks ago up 40 cents.
-Heavy whip. Cream, 5 increases since 2020 , last one 4 weeks ago up 40 cents
– Best foods Mayonnaise, 4 price increases since 2020
– Grass fed Butter, 3 price increases since 2020 but the highest increase by percentage.
-Rolled Oats (2 price increases since 2020)
– The only price that stayed the same consistently that we purchase was the 2 lb brick of Cheddar at 4.99
– Now the membership fee has increased (and this comes out of our grocery budget as the rebate goes in once per year.)
We shop mostly at Costco and I would say that in the last 4-5 years, our bill has easily gone up a solid 30%. or more. I have started to buy our organic apples at Azure instead of Costco as they are about $1/lb or so LESS than Costco (at least if you buy a case) and they have more varieties of organic than Costco has lately. We don’t buy a lot of processed, either. A few examples: organic b.s. chicken breast was 3.99/lb now 5.99/lb. The organic whole chickens have gone up at least $1/lb, but maybe $2. Organic white flour 20lb was 9.99, now 16.99. Their vanilla ice cream is the best value around! It IS super rich, but it has real vanilla and is around $0.12/oz. The organic ground beef was about $4.25/1b and now I think it’s closer to $6 or $7. The organic eggs have stayed roughly the same at about $3.75/doz. Oranges – they don’t have organic, boo-hoo, lol, but they used to be around $0.80/lb and now are always over $1.10/lb. – I have learned to just stop the penny pinching as the prices fluctuate and just go up anyway. It’s too stressful and what are we going to do, not eat? Just learnin’ to be wise and go with the flow. I try to focus more on NOT WASTING! learning which leftovers will get eaten and which will not, etc.
Around here, some things are definitely pricier, even with fresh/frozen foods, but not by much. The processed foods have definitely gone up though. In 2020, I was able to get pop 4/$10 as mentioned. Now that’s not possible, at all lol. Boneless skinless chicken breasts were often on sale for $0.99 per pound, and now I get thrilled if I can get them for $1.99 per pound on sale. Cheese has gone up slightly, but not too terribly, eggs always vary, and milk is up a bit. One drastic increase I noticed was the price of heavy cream (I don’t know off the top of my head the difference, but it’s extreme). We buy half of a cow, and that has increased due to their costs going up, but it’s much cheaper than buying from the store. I have also noticed that pasta doesn’t go on sale like it used to.
A note, we don’t do pick-up orders, and shop mostly at Aldi. We also shop at Costco, sometimes Sam’s Club, sometimes Meijer, two local stores, and almost never Walmart. We try to stock up on things like chicken when it is on sale.
I’m a little late to completing this but I compared two shopping orders from 2021 and 2022 to todays prices… and then added the same items back in my shopping cart. One order was for $46.72 in 2021 and those same items are $72.01 today. The other other, which happened to be mostly produce items was $92.64 in 2022 and only $98.44 today