A look at how much food prices have increased since 2020, what grocery items have gone up the most in price, and how to still save money.
Food costs for U.S. consumers have gone up in recent years, and at a faster pace than in the past. But just how much more are we paying on groceries now than several years ago?
The consumer price index measures the average change over time in prices but I find it much more informative to look at my own data (aka my past grocery orders) and make comparisons that way. 🙂
Earlier this year I shared this blog post and video taking a look at food prices five years ago in 2019 versus this year. Today, I thought we’d take another look back, this time going back four years to 2020. Let’s take a look at how grocery prices have changed since 4 years ago in August of 2020.
Prefer video? See my entire grocery haul and all the price comparisons here.
Current grocery prices compared to 2020 grocery prices
In August of 2020 I published this meal plan and grocery list with all the prices from my local Walmart. I made this meal plan with a $100 budget and came in under budget, spending just over $95.
Four years later in July of this year I decided to purchase all the same items again and see how much the prices have changed. I thought it would be interesting to see which items have higher prices (spoiler alert: most of them) and discover which types of groceries have had the largest percent increase.
I shared a video on my YouTube channel of the entire grocery haul and all the prices a month or two ago, but it’s taken me until now to get all the info put into a blog post, so please excuse the fact that this is just a bit late.
A couple things to note:
The grocery store prices below are from my local Walmart (both in 2020 and now.) It’s also important to note that the prices are for store brand rather than name brand items. (I typically only buy name brand when I’m shopping sales or using coupons.)
I would be curious to know if there’s a difference in the food price increases of generic versus store brand items, but I can only really speculate about that since I don’t typically buy the name brand. If you have any insight on this let me know!
At any rate, the bottom line is that we’ve experienced a rapid increase in the cost of food across the board and my grocery bill is definitely larger than it used to be (plus add in a growing family and whew!)
Okay, let’s take a closer look of my exact grocery list. The original 2020 prices are listed first followed by the current 2024 prices.
Fresh Fruits and Frozen / Fresh Vegetables
Apples (3 lbs.) – $3.13 / $4.18
Oranges (3 lbs.) – $3.24 / $4.98
Carrots – $0.98 / $1.38
Cucumbers (2) – $1.00 / $1.16
Romaine Lettuce – $2.78 / $3.18
Tomatoes on the Vine – $1.48 / $3.76
Potatoes (5 lbs) – $2.27 / $2.98
Green Beans (frozen) – $0.77 / $0.98
Corn (frozen) – $0.77 / $0.98
Meat
2 bags of frozen chicken breasts (6 lbs) – $11.88 / $17.52
1 lb. of sausage – $2.88 / $3.48
3 lbs. ground beef – $7.98 / $12.94
Dairy Products / Other Refrigerated Stuff
Milk (3 gallons) – $8.31 / $8.46
Shredded Colby/Monterrey Jack cheese (16 oz) – $2.77 / $3.74
Shredded Mozzarella cheese (16 oz) – $2.77 / $3.74
Sour Cream (16 oz) – $1.00 / $1.97
Cottage Cheese (16 oz) – $1.28 / $2.24
Plain Greek Yogurt (32 oz.) – $3.47 / $3.54
Eggs (2 dozen) – $1.68 / $5.36 (Notably, egg prices have gone up even more in the last month or so.)
“Center of the store” / Bakery Products
Cereal (3 boxes) – $6.64 / $7.31
Old Fashioned Oats – $2.67 / $3.98
Pretzels – $0.82 / $2.24 (Pretzels and graham crackers have more than doubled in price!)
Graham Crackers – $1.00 / $2.22
Peanut Butter – $1.18 / $1.94
Jelly – $1.33 / $1.98
Applesauce – $1.98 / $3.12
Salsa – $1.23 / $1.98
Brown Rice – $1.37 / $0.88
Black Beans (2 cans) – $1.16 / $1.72
Pinto Beans (1 can) – $0.58 / $0.86
Ro-Tel (off brand) – $0.98 / $0.96
Refried Beans – $0.78 / $1.00
Taco Seasoning Mix (2) – $0.88 / $0.94
Ziti Pasta (16 oz) – $0.82 / $0.98
Pasta Sauce – $0.88 / $1.67
Hamburger Buns – $0.88 / $1.46
Tortillas – $1.48 / $1.98
Tostadas – $1.98 / $2.58
French Bread – $1.00 / $1.00 (Still the same price, yay!)
Pita Bread – $2.50 / $2.93
Whole Wheat Bread (2 loaves) – $2.96 / $3.94
Total = $95.54 (Less than $100!)
New Total = $134.24
In summary
As you can see, the price now in 2024 increased by $38.70 which is a 40% price increase.
This is a smaller increase than the 53% increase that I discovered when I compared food prices from 2019 to today. However, a 40% increase is still quite large and is significantly more than the 25% food inflation rate that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported for American consumers here in the United States.
Look at it this way: with a 40% increase, if you normally spent $200 a week on groceries in 2020 you’re now spending $280! Multiply that by 52 weeks in a year and that’s a whopping $4160 more per year that you’re spending on groceries now than in 2020 (never mind all the other consumer prices that have gone up as well.)
Grocery items that have increased the most in price
Obviously I can only speak from my experience with the specific groceries that I purchase, but the foods that I’ve seen with the largest increase in price points are probably meat and eggs (though the price of eggs seems to bounce around a lot), as well as many processed foods, especially snack items like pretzels, crackers, and chips.
How to combat food inflation
No one likes higher food prices. The higher costs are affecting household budgets all around the country and let’s be honest, it really stinks. But the good news is that even with the cost of groceries rising, there are still things that you can do to save money. Here are just a few:
1. Shop sales + use coupons
I mostly buy meat when it’s on sale at Kroger and I’m able to save a lot this way!
2. Stock up when things are at the lowest prices
My friend Kristen has tons of excellent info on building a stockpile on her website. This is a good article if you’re starting out.
3. Don’t forget to meal plan
Meal planning and then sticking to your grocery list will help you avoid spending more than you need to.
4. Be willing to reevaluate
Either raise your grocery budget (can you afford to spend more?) or be willing to cut some things out.
It’s easy to look back at prior years and wish that prices were still the same. However, hopefully grocery inflation will occur at a slower pace in the coming years. We may still see some prices decrease as well, although maybe I’m just being optimistic haha. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
Have the high prices and inflation rates affected your family? What are you doing to combat food price inflation and keep your grocery costs down? Let me know in the comments!
Leave a Reply