The way Americans continue to struggle with high rent as well as prices of food and everyday essentials despite inflation has cooled down indicates how bad things were a couple of years back. Bringing back memories of a gloomy period, one Reddit user u/IMovedYourCheese shared what groceries worth $70 looked like in the most expensive city in the U.S. in 2022 and users found it surprising.
Grocerie Baskets Amidst Record-High Inflation
As the user further clarified in the comments, the most expensive American city back in 2022 was San Francisco. The rising food costs back then gave rise to a challenge called a "$70 weekly grocery budget haul". Under this, people on social media shared how they made it through the week with $70 worth of groceries. While the post shared on Reddit did not mention anything about the challenge, it did show what $70 could buy for a household back then. The picture indicated that even in the most expensive city in the U.S. there was a significant amount of groceries one could afford for that price.
The user had bought several bags of fresh fruits and vegetables, some packaged lettuce, parmesan and feta cheese, a large pack of chicken drumsticks, packaged shrimp, several cans of beans, and a carton of eggs. Despite the inflation rate, Redditors believed that it was a lot of food for $70. Most users claimed that in their country/city, it would cost a lot more to get the same items. "I’m honestly surprised. I’m in the East Bay and I think this would cost a whole lot more at our local Whole Foods," wrote u/manatee.
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Users from overseas also claimed that for that kind of money, the Redditor got a pretty good deal. "That's about 2x more than what $70 gets me in Canada," suggested u/sketchypoutine. Another user for New Zealand made an elaborate calculation factoring in the price of each item.
While the picture in the post painted a rather positive picture of the grim times, it doesn't undermine the situation Americans lived through. Back in 2022, economists expressed that the U.S. was on the verge of a cost-of-living crisis. In 2022, food prices increased by 9.9%, marking the largest and the fastest surge since 1979. At the same time, the cost of food-at-home jumped by a whopping 11.4%, according to data from the USDA. While inflation has gone down, consumers are still burdened by high costs in 2024.
How are Things in 2024?
While the food price inflation has been cooling down for months, consumers are still burdened by the record-high increases witnessed in the past couple of years. While the average increase in grocery prices has been only a cumulative 1.4% between January 2023 and July 2024, an NBC News report noted that economists believe that it could take years for prices to go back to pre-inflation levels.
As of July 2024, consumers pay about $0.80 more for a gallon of milk compared to the pre-pandemic levels. Similarly, a loaf of wheat bread costs $0.80 and ground beef is up by $1.62. But the outlier in the grocery shopping list is eggs. The cost of a dozen has doubled to more than $3, this year alone.
