A Tesco shopper was left gobsmacked after discovering a receipt from 1997 stuffed in an old cassette case. In almost pristine condition, it showed the stark reality of inflation with products differing considerably in cost.
The 22 item shop in June 1997 came to just £27.26. According to the Bank of England, with the costs adjusted from inflation, that would cost around £50 in June 2023.
Reddit user SteezMe1234 shared the receipt with users on the platform. And many commenters were surprised at the cost of items compared to the modern day.
Sharing the image, the user said: “Bought an old cassette today and found a receipt inside, looked down and saw the date was 25/07/1997, 26 years ago today!”
The shopping list included items such as cat food, for just 48p, cooking oil coming in at 53p, and mayonnaise costing just 49p. A majority of the items cost under £1.
Four were £2 while one item, which was scribbled out, made up for a bulk of the bill at £10.99. A comparison of prices today shows some of the items have more than doubled.
Cooking oil now costs around £2.50, a considerable jump from the 53p on the receipt. While Felix beef cat food is listed as 48p, compared to £5 for a multipack today – or £1 per individual pouch at some retailers.
Among the products was a 53p butter stick. Having more than trebled in price, butter will now cost the shopper around £1.89.
The post attracted over 1,000 comments on Reddit. One user event went as far as adding up the prices compared to today, they said: “‘I’ve been through the list and added all the items to my Tesco basket online to see how much it would cost these days. For those of you wondering, the total came to £45.13.”
Before adding: “Add another £15 say as I forgot the £10.99 item. Total is £60.13.”
Meanwhile other users were left scratching their heads at how cheap products were. One said: “65p for Weetabix, what a time to be alive.”
Another added: “I bought butter today and I’m now talking to my mortgage lender regarding re-financing.”
A Tesco spokesperson spoke to MailOnline about the increase in price of the items they said: “A lot has changed since 1997, but our focus on delivering great value for our customers has not.
“With the pressure on today’s household budgets our prices are now more competitive than they have ever been, and wherever there are opportunities to pass on savings to our customers we will do so, having cut the price of more than 500 household essentials in recent weeks.”
