I went on a recent trip to Costco and was floored by the cost of stuff. I spent $215 on 13 items and these were normal every day items not electronics or jewelry. I had an inflation category on my old blog where I would periodically track the cost of a cart of groceries but since I rebooted the blog, I lost those old posts. I’d love to compare the cost of stuff from then to now but I decided I will restart the tracking to see how bad things get over the next 4 years until we exit this administration.
Here’s what I bought in August 2025
| Item | Cost | Discount |
|---|---|---|
| Premium Chocolate Protein Drink | 31.99 | -6 |
| Coke Zero (35) | 18.79 | |
| 1-Gallon Water (6) | 5.49 | |
| Ziplock Multi-Bags | 14.49 | -2.9 |
| Chicken Thighs (2.99/lb) | 23.44 | |
| Crest Toothpaste 5×5.2oz | 15.99 | -4 |
| Cooked Ribs | 15.29 | |
| Chicken Swarma | 11.99 | |
| Chocolate Almonds | 18.99 | |
| Rack of Lamb | 29.90 | |
| Panang Curry | 14.99 | |
| Downy Beads | 13.99 | -3 |
| Lasagne | 15.99 | -5 |
Some of the items had a discount which did entice me to buy them but most of the stuff were things we needed. The chocolate almonds are a treat that I’ve consistently bought for decades and they used to cost $9.99 for the tub but now the cost is double. The coke zero for a case is $18.79 for 35 cans which is $0.54/drink. I remember when they were about half that as well.
I’m not sure how this is sustainable but the economy seems to be chugging along. And this is coming from someone who rarely looked at prices when shopping at Costco but suddenly the prices of these things appear out of whack in relation to wages. Heck, minimum wage is still $7.25 in my state and it takes 2.59 hours of work to earn enough for a case of coke. To buy this small amount of stuff it would take 29.65 hours of work and that doesn’t include FICA taxes!
Of course my real worry is what the cost of these items would be in 10 years because it could very easily be double or $430 for 13 items by 2035 or sooner. This coupled with crazy insurance inflation, are some of the many reasons why we plan on retiring overseas since it won’t make financial sense to live in the US if not working any more.
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Are you having inflation shock? Let me know in the comments below.