Nate Armbruster
It is widely acknowledged that grocery prices have significantly increased in the past year, even being brought to attention by public figures such as Cardi B.
But without keeping records, it may be difficult to comprehend the extent of the increase in spending on everyday items.
Recently, TikToker Amy Way to Save (@amywaytosave) posted a video on TikTok comparing the prices of the same items purchased in 2020 to the prices in 2023. The video gained significant attention, with over 1.8 million views and 300,000 likes.
In the video, Amy Way to Save states, “Towards the end of 2020, I went to Walmart and I purchased all of these things for $10.09. And I made a week’s worth of meals for one person.”
Here’s the list of items Amy bought along with their 2020 prices:
• Pinto beans: $1
• Rice: $0.72
•Tortillas: $1.31
• Corn meal mix: $1.15
• Skim milk: $1.26
• Frozen mixed vegetables: $0.84
• Chorizo: $1.22
• 6 Eggs: $0.77
• Bananas: $0.48
• Potatoes: $0.84
• Green onions: $0.50
She also shared a YouTube video showing how she transformed these items into a week’s worth of meals for one person, in case you are curious about the meals she made.
She then states in the TikTok video, “In the beginning of 2022, there was a lot of talk about inflation at the grocery store. So I went back and purchased all of the same things, and they cost me about 10% more.”
Now is her list of the same items along with their 2022 prices:
• Pinto beans: $1
• Rice: $0.72
•Tortillas: $1.48
• Corn meal: $1.26
• Skim milk: $1.68
• Frozen mixed vegetables: $0.84
• Chorizo: $1.33
• 6 Eggs: $0.86
• Bananas: $0.56
• Potatoes: $0.86
• Green onions: $0.54
She returned to Walmart in 2023 to repurchase the same items but found the prices had risen significantly. The cost of the items was now $15.10, an increase of about 50% from their prices at the end of 2020.
Now, here is that same list along with the 2023 prices:
• Pinto beans: $1.24
• Rice: $0.88
•Tortillas: $1.98
• Corn meal mix: $2.28
• Skim milk: $1.72
• Frozen mixed vegetables: $0.88
• Chorizo: $1.42
• 6 Eggs: $2.18
• Bananas: $0.45
• Potatoes: $1.19
• Green onions: $0.88
Eggs have most notably gone up in price but AAmy notes that even taking eggs out of the equation, her groceries have still gone up 38%.
Viewers in the comments questioned if these increasing costs are inflation or GREEDflation.
Other commenters are sharing their experiences with navigating the rising prices at the grocery store.
In an interview with BuzzFeed, Amy explains why she decided to compare her receipts.
“I’m a couponer, so I pay attention to prices and have many prices memorized. Lately, every time that I go to the grocery store I notice price increases, and that prompted me to do another price comparison video.”
She also explained that while she wasn’t totally shocked about the price of eggs increasing, but there was one item in particular that did surprise her.
“The price increase that surprised me the most was on dried pinto beans. It seems like a one-pound bag of pinto beans has been $1 forever. The price only went up by 24 cents to $1.24, but dried beans are so cheap to begin with that 24 cents higher meant a 24% price increase!”
Amy said, “Rice and beans are the stereotypical budget foods. They both went up in price since last year.”
Since Amy loves talking about saving money, she shared a couple of tips for lowering your grocery bill.
Number one, coupons. “Most stores now have digital coupons that you can clip to your account and will automatically come off at the register,” she says. “If that option isn’t available at your grocery store, the coupons.com app provides a coupon reimbursement when you upload your receipt.”
She also suggested using rebate apps such as Ibotta and Fetch Rewards.
“Rebate apps provide reimbursement on a wide variety of food and household goods. Many of them are easy to use and you simply need to upload a receipt to earn cash back or gift cards.”
You Can View The Full Video Here:
@amywaytosave Full vide0 & price comparison on my Y T! #inflation #groceryshopping #groceryprices #grocerypricetoohigh #inflationisreal #pricecomparison #10dollarmealchallenge
