Over the past several years, American consumers have endured historically high inflation levels. Many households have suffered from tight financial conditions as their budgets have been strained by the rapid increase in the price of necessities such as housing, groceries, and much more.
One TikTok user recently documented a trip to the grocery store where it was painfully apparent that his dollar did not go as far as it used to. Despite claiming that he bought some of the cheaper goods the store offered, the father noted that it cost him what was once a week’s worth of food just to put two night’s worth of dinner on the table for his family.
“Am I the only one that feels like they just can’t do this anymore. I just got back from the grocery store. Let me show you what I bought. This is all I purchased. That’s it,” he said, panning the camera over his purchased goods, which featured just several bags of chips, a few vegetables, and a handful of other assorted goods.
“This is dinner for tonight. A few snacks for my kids they wanted and dinner for them tomorrow night. The pizza. That’s it. Some veggies. I didn’t even buy the organic stuff. I bought the cheapest stuff. Lots of those on sale. There’s a few things I am picky about ingredients such as tomatoes, but that’s it. Everything else was the least expensive,” he added.
The father urged viewers to guess the exorbitant amount he spent on such little groceries, lamenting that it wouldn’t even last more than two nights. He further claimed that, for roughly the same price, he would have been able to obtain at least a week’s worth of groceries in a better economy.
The man emphasized the harsh reality that inflation is for many American households who have been placed in a financially compromised position trying to fulfill basic necessities such as putting food on the table for their family.
“Take a guess. Take a guess what it costs and you’re probably wrong. $123, $123 that was with all my discounts for barely two nights of dinner. Barely two nights. I remember when I could spend about 120 bucks and get groceries for a whole week. And that was breakfast, lunch and dinner for all of us. And $123 is gonna get me through the next two days. Can’t do this much longer financially. I can’t I don’t want to spend the money but it’s also just killing me and I make decent money. So someone’s got to give here,” he said.
As economists have touted the decline in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation, as evidence of improvement in price increases, many Americans are still reeling from a higher cost of living.
“We’re always told to look at the CPI, a factor that was generated by Harvard elites and alike. We need to look at the PCE which includes more of the expenses we’re all being screwed over by because of the actual inflation we’re experiencing,” one person commented under the father’s video.
Watch the clip below.
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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