In a TikTok video, Zoe Dippel shared that she found one of her mom’s old grocery store receipts from 1997, and it was eye-opening. When comparing grocery prices from almost 30 years earlier, the difference was stark.
It’s almost hard to imagine a time when a trip to the grocery store meant an overflowing cart and enough pantry supplies to last months. According to a 2025 survey by Popmenu, the average weekly trip to the food store costs one person $235, which seems like a lot. But as Dippel pointed out, you don’t exactly realize how expensive groceries are until you see how much farther money went 29 years ago.
A grocery store receipt from 1997 reveals just how much things have changed.
In Dippel’s video, she and her mom analyzed the 1997 grocery store receipt. One of the biggest differences was that the total for the 122 grocery items Dippel’s mom bought was $155. Running through the products she had bought, Dippel was astonished to learn that simple things like Little Debbie’s Brownies were only $1.09.
“A big yogurt was 50 cents. All vegetables were 25 cents. The little Gerber baby foods were 55 cents,” Dippel’s mom read from the list. Continuing on, she reminisced about how a loaf of bread was only $1.26, while tortillas were $1.50.
To really drive home how stark the difference was, Dippel made a follow-up video after a grocery store trip herself and pointed out that while the total for 122 items in 1997 was only $125, in 2026 a grocery store run for only 30 items came to a whopping $211.
Many people in Dippel’s comment section were equally flabbergasted at how much times have changed. Items that were once considered cheap and a staple in a household pantry have now become a kind of luxury that people really have to think about before purchasing.
Most Americans are finding it harder than ever to afford groceries.
According to a September 2025 survey by Axios and the Harris Poll, almost half of Americans said it was harder to afford groceries than it was just a year prior. Financial experts predict that it might get worse in 2026.
Drazen Zigic | Shutterstock
Compared to economists, shoppers aren’t assessing food costs in the same way. For them, their day-to-day spending keeps climbing, and they notice that their out-of-pocket spending is higher than what they paid several years ago, according to research from the University of Florida. Then there are the households that have reported food insecurity, which is roughly 14% of Americans.
The stark difference between what people were paying for groceries during the 90s versus what we’re all paying for groceries now is impossible to ignore. It’s not this small jump but a full lifestyle shift. “People are starting to notice the price increases at the grocery store in coffee and fruit and in appliances and household items,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “It’s only a matter of time before more price hikes take effect, especially for cars and trucks. Rising prices will make it harder for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates and tougher for families living paycheck to paycheck. The grocery store price increases hit especially hard for middle and moderate-income households.”
A weekly grocery trip has gone from being a routine chore that was fun to look forward to because who doesn’t love stocking up on snacks, to something that most people dread because they can barely afford the basics. And now I’m sadly craving Little Debbie’s Brownies, but I know I shouldn’t spend any more this week.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
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