Unless you live in a low cost of living area, have generational wealth, or a lucrative career, there’s no doubt you’re feeling the strain of living these days. It’s expensive just to exist in 2024, and the internet has some concrete evidence on just how much more expensive things have gotten in the last few years.
TikToker @Sewerlidd, who largely uses the app to broadcast his music, discovered a window through time in his Walmart App. After jumping on the app to order some groceries, the musician decided to scroll through his order history, and the cost difference is enough to make you scream.
Back in 2022, he was able to buy a month’s worth of groceries – 45 full items ranging from foodstuffs to paper towels – totaling a reasonable $126.67. It breaks down to around $30 bucks a week, less than it would cost to go out to eat.
But the TikToker has something most of us don’t, a “Reorder All” button. When he smashed the button, the revealed total was a whopping $414.39, around 230% more than the 2022 cost. If you managed not to faint, it’s the best kind of validation. For months now, those of us counting pennies have felt like crazy people, gaslit by the media to think that we are the problem rather than rising costs.
The American TikToker is far from the only one feeling the pressure on his wallet. Commenters were quick to share their own grocery woes. “I used to spend $180 for 2 weeks for my family of four and the dog. I am now spending upwards of $430 and trying to figure out what else I can cut. sorry kids you don’t get barbecue sauce,” One exhausted mom wrote.
Dotted throughout the posts filled with righteous rage were people complaining about “Shrinkflation,” a disturbing trend where products are packaged in a smaller quantity, while costing the same amount as before. The Creator chimed in saying, “All the packaging feels looser [sic] and everything feels smaller.”
Some angry users tried to bring Walmart into the conversation, tagging the retail giant and asking for accountability. They speculated that rather than answer for the higher prices, Walmart would “edit how many old transactions show up OR make it so it doesn’t show past prices.” Major grocery chains like Albertsons, Safeway, and Kroger have already started limiting how far back customers can see previous transactions. A surprising number of netizens stood by the corporation, as though they were ready to throw hands over the billion-dollar company’s “honor,” if the need arose.
Through the noise, most people just wanted answers on why it seemed much more like price gouging than natural inflation. “Yes government is at fault. But even target came out saying they ‘noticed’ they’ve been priced too high for a few years.”
Target announced in May of 2024 that the company was cutting costs on certain goods to help customers who “may be sticking to a budget,” but most retailers haven’t found a way to cut costs. More than one commenter speculated that it all comes down to the shareholders. “Investors about to have another record year.”
The comment section quickly devolved into a finger-pointing nightmare of Trump and Biden supporters accusing the other’s candidate of causing inflation in the first place. Regardless of which side of the aisle commenters identified with, the problem was the same; too much inflation, and too few (and too-small) pay raises.
“And on the Presidential debate they had the nerve to say the groceries we bought 2 years ago would cost $20 more today… I WISH.”
But for everyone who took the rage bait, there were plenty more who noticed that the reordered page had items listed 3 times. Whether or not the TikToker made the whole thing up for clout is its own issue, but the folks in the comments were clearly frustrated with the state of the grocery store. People have been feeling the squeeze for months now – if not years – and for many, the pressure is getting worse instead of better.
One user from the U.K. summed the feeling up perfectly, all we can do is “work harder than ever to make up for the fact that salaries stayed the same.”
Published: Jul 9, 2024 12:20 pm