Posted on 01/11/2026 11:47:56 AM PST by Libloather
A grocery store receipt from 1997 shows just how much prices of everyday items have skyrocketed in less than three decades.
TikTok user Zoe Dippel shared the shockingly low costs in a viral video after a family member found the proof of purchase in a box of mementos.
“$155 for all of this!” one of Dippel’s relatives remarked after holding up the lengthy receipt from Texas chain H-E-B dated June 20, 1997.
“That’s a lot of stuff,” Dipple declared, as she started to sort through the 122 items and read the prices out loud.
The receipt revealed that Little Debbie brownies cost $1.09, Dannon yogurt was just 50 cents, and a loaf of bread was rung up for $1.26.
Meanwhile, Gerber baby food jars were 55 cents each, while a jumbo pack of Pampers diapers cost $12.99.
Today, a jar of the same baby food is $1.57, while Pampers diapers are $29.97.
The receipt additionally shows that a one-pound carton of strawberries was $1.89. Today at H-E-B, they cost $3.97.
According to the official US Census website, the median household income in 1997 was $37,005. In 2024, that number had risen to $83,730 — a little over double.
In comparison, the cost of many grocery store items has more than tripled, showing that incomes aren’t keeping pace with prices.
Dippel’s video quickly clocked up more than 2 million views, before she shared a second clip in which she tried to purchase the same 122 items online from H-E-B.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
The stock market has outperformed gold for all but a small number of years since 1900. Here is a link:
https://www.macrotrends.net/2608/gold-price-vs-stock-market-100-year-chart
The reason is simple, stocks are all about creating wealth, while gold is about preserving wealth.
Of course, of the world falls apart, and we lose a major war, gold might be better for a while. It is still a store of wealth not a creator of wealth.
Alaska is pretty high income state.
Cost of living is also high.
I kept our receipt from our first grocery trip after we were married. That is more shocking. Most incomes were not that good, though. That was a tough year with layoffs.
Speed reading failed me. I read Alaska instead of America...
In the 1990s $10 an hour was a good wage, too.
I do remember going to the grocery with $50 cash for groceries for the week in the early 2000s. But also we had meat, milk, chicken and eggs from the farm which helped.
Yes, that number is "household" as opposed to "individual."
We were so broke in 1997—renting a small apartment in a bad neighborhood.
That’s true. I didn’t realize it was focusing on Alaska. I guess it’s time to check my eyes.
But inflation is only 2.4% a year? That’s nothing right? Try compounding except in reverse.
did they mention 1997 salaries?
Thank you.
From $280 a week to $1520 a week for me. I had more in taxes deducted per week than I earned then. $72K a year, and the taxes could have fed and clothed and paid my mortgage in the 1970’s. The money is worth nothing, the Reserve banks have it all.
O’Bonzo and Pedo Jo Bidenskyymalarky really stuck it to us.>>. You can’t exclude “W”. No republican has done anything to stop real inflation and wage depression.
We all need to adjust all amounts for inflation, to make a comparison of wages and prices now, vs. what those amounts were then.
I recall family stories of how grandma and grandpa bought a house for $11,000, but it was a struggle to make the mortgage. Because grandpa earned less than 4000 a year then.
Just went to buy cat food and it went up 11 cents a can it is now 1.00 a can for fancy feast cat food!! I thought prices were coming down!!
1997? That was just a few weeks ago.
The National minimum wage was $5.15 an hour in 1997.
I remember being upset that bananas had gone up to 10 cents a pound.
Now they’re 86 cents a pound at WalMart.
Household income means ALL the income of those living there so often at least two and possibly the kid’s part-time pay as well.
$83,000 is not the average for one person.
Plenty of “retirees” work full time at a job because Social Security isnt enough and their previous job wasnt enough to invest a significant amount.
Government has driven up the cost of everything but the grifters do well.
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