Found my grocery budget spreadsheet from 2020 and nearly fell out of my chair

I pulled up the old Excel file last week and saw I was spending $45 a week on food for myself back then, compared to $85 now for the same stuff. Is anyone else feeling the pinch of inflation way harder than they expected in the last 3 years?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaret_williams58d ago

That spreadsheet really puts things in stark numbers. One thing nobody has mentioned is how the quality of what we buy has shifted too. Back then I could grab the store brand everything and it was fine, but now those same budget items taste like cardboard or have shrunk so much it's not worth it. So I end up buying the name brand stuff more often, which costs even more. Plus my eating habits changed after lockdown ended and I started going out again. The real cost isn't just inflation on the same items, it's that our whole relationship with food and shopping got rewritten without us noticing until we see the old numbers. Has your actual grocery list changed

phoenix_thompson48d ago

nearly fell out of my chair" is right... but $45 back then seems really low unless you were eating beans and rice every day. I think most people were already spending closer to $60 or $70 even in 2020. Still hurts either way though.