Before Kevin McCallister had to defend his home against an invasion from crooks Harry and Marv, he had to fend for himself, being forgotten as his family rushed to get to the airport for a flight to Paris. He needed groceries, so he raided his brother’s “life savings.” He purchased laundry detergent, microwave mac and cheese, orange juice, milk, and other things for $19.83 with a coupon.
Given how we’ve all been shredded by Bidenomics, some decided to analyze Kevin’s grocery bill and found that the little guy would have been screwed if he lived in Biden’s America. There would be an almost 250 percent price hike if McCallister walked to his local grocery store. In one analysis, the price spike from just a year ago due to Biden’s inflationary policies was simply outrageous. Here’s a breakdown of the bill (via USA Today):
According to the Schnucks grocery store's website, here's how much Kevin's groceries cost today:
Half a gallon of milk: $1.71
Half a gallon of OJ: $3.99
Butternut large white bread: $2.79 (Wonderbread not available)
TV dinner: $4.49 (Stouffer's classic meatloaf frozen meal)
Frozen mac and cheese: $1.49
Tide liquid detergent: $12.99
Saran wrap: $3.39
Snuggle dryer sheets: $2.94
Toilet paper: $7.99
Toy soldiers (not available so Amazon price listed): $9.99
Kevin would have spent a grand total of $54.94 (with Illinois sales tax) in 2023 or $53.94 with his dollar off coupon.
[…]
$1 in 1990 has the same purchasing power as $2.30 today. Over the past 33 years, this is a change of $1.30. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator, $19.83 in December 1990 has the same buying power as $45.62 in October of 2023 − the most recent CPI data available for this year.
From 2021 to 2022, U.S. retail food prices rose by 11% − the largest annual increase in over 40 years, according to the Government Accountability Office. While average inflation was increasing in 1990 at 5.4%, it was not nearly as high as 8% last year.
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‘Home Alone’ fans shocked by how much Kevin McCallister’s iconic grocery shopping trip would cost today https://t.co/PLNb8kgC4c pic.twitter.com/Vy4DaStUNN
— New York Post (@nypost) December 9, 2023
Fox also crunched the numbers but had a different 2023 total for Kevin’s mini-shopping spree, which came out to $72.28 this year. It was $44.40 in 2022 (via Fox News):
Items including a half gallon of milk, a half gallon of orange juice, a TV dinner, bread, frozen mac and cheese, laundry detergent, cling wrap, toilet paper, a pack of army men and dryer sheets cost the character, played by Macaulay Culkin, $19.83.
Last year, the same grocery list cost $44.40, and this year, it costs a whopping $72.28 in 2023.
One West Virginia mother-of-two and small business owner joined "FOX & Friends First" Thursday with her reaction to rising costs.
"Different parts of the country are going to see different rates of inflation. And I know that some rates of inflation are normal across decades. But the inflation that we have felt in the grocery store has been just the same as every other American. And it is tough trying to pay for groceries week to week," Drifter Donuts owner Rochelle Chalmers said.
While there has been some cooling in prices since inflation's peak, prices are still pinching the wallets of everyday Americans and creating challenges for business owners.
Either way, both sets of figures show that inflation has exploded under Biden, which has been screwing over the average American family for years. Given last year’s spike alone, you cannot dismiss it with a “that was the 1990s” explanation either. Forget Marv and Harry staging a home invasion; Kevin would have starved unless he rationed his pizza from Little Nero’s.
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