I may be aging myself but I noticed this past weekend when I went to the grocery store that most items now have a starting price of $8 and it kinda blew me away. I remember a time $2 was the starting point for most items.
Let’s take a look at my recent grocery bill
- $7.92 – A 12 pack of coke zero (cans)
- $8.99 – Asian boneless wings
- $8.49 – Gyro sandwich kit
- $6.48 – Ginger sesame dinner kit
- $7.31 – Skinless, boneless chicken thigh meat
- $7.98 – Instant dry non-fat milk
- $8.98 – 1 lb deli meat – roast beef
- $8.16 – 1 lb deli meat – turkey breast
- $11.19 – 1 lb gulf shrimp
- $7.48 – 12 pack of Keurig coffee pods
- $9.98 – Frito lay classic snack box
- $6.48 – Chai Latte Keurig Pods
These are just 12 items on the list and the average cost of these items is $8.29. What strikes me is that minimum wage is still $7.25 in many states so if you wanted to buy these 12 items you’d have to work 13.71 hours (assuming you pay zero taxes) or 34% of your paycheck for a dozen items!
Not too long ago most of those items were under $5 and quite a few were in the $2 to $3 range.
I bought 2 lbs of steak meat and that cost a whopping $40 total. Ouch! My total bill for 41 items was $242.53. At minimum wage $7.25 x 40 = $290. If I were living on minimum wage nearly all my paycheck would have gone to buying groceries and that’s a very depressing prospect.
In the past I wouldn’t have given this a second thought but as I get closer to retirement and living on a fixed income I have started to do some extensive planning. Inflation is a primary concern and while prices in the U.S. are out of control, our recent trip to Asia gave us hope that there are places where inflation isn’t a big issue for now.
Share The Wealth
Are you shell shocked yet on the prices of food? Let me know in the comments below.