Bacon used to have the back window so you could see how much fat/meat there was. Notice, too, the cold cuts are in tubs making them look bigger. When Marie Callender's first came out I had a coupon and decided to splurge. Learned my lesson. Never again is that brand ever coming into this house. It was a potato dish (yes, cheaper to make at home) and the package was huge. When I opened it, there wasn't enough in it to feed two people and was over half empty. I looked on the back and it said it served 3. Nope, fool me once. Yes, salad dressings are also a lot smaller. The plastic bags at the checkout are also smaller so you think you're getting the same amount in a bag. Smaller packages and higher prices. Is it any wonder we can't make ends meet now days.
Many of the packages of pasta and packaged salad mixes have alse gone down from 16 oz. to 10 or 12 oz. now too!
I am now buying foods like rice, dry pasta, and dry beans in bulk where I can get them for between 79 - 99 cents per pound or sometimes with coupons if I can double them so it comes out at a reasonable price. I have managed to get some pasta and rice mixes for free by catching items on sale and doubling my coupons. Stores here limit you to doubling only 3 or 4 coupons per week, so it is harder here to get the free stuff, than it is in some areas of the country where you can double all your coupons.
The shopping carts shrunk too - at least in some chains - they used to be Huge and now they are smaller than decades ago - little 'eye-mind' tricks...