A Woolworths customer who discovered a 15-year-old receipt has revealed how much more expensive the groceries are after ordering the same groceries today.
Sunshine Coast woman Amy Coulston found her mother’s receipt from January 14, 2010 and decided to do a comparison.
“I was honestly so excited when I found this because I want to compare it to today’s prices,” she said in a TikTok video as she held up the receipt.
“It’s been fifteen years since this shopping trip and I wanted to see the price difference between then and now.
“I’ve added as much as I can (but) there are brands here that just don’t exist anymore.”
The total price for 30 items, including chicken pot pies, salami, cereal and a DVD of the animated film Up, was $127.26 in 2010.
She searched for the same items, or good comparisons, on the Woolworths website and the January 2025 bill was ‘$170.45’.
“That’s an increase of 35 per cent,” Ms Coulston said.
Sunshine Coast woman Amy Coulston found her mother’s receipt from January 14, 2010 and decided to make a comparison
Many commenters were surprised by the price difference, with some claiming it wasn’t as big as they thought.
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) inflation calculator estimates that a basket of goods that cost $127.26 in 2010 should have cost $178.01 at the end of 2023.
“The total cost change is 39.9 percent over a thirteen-year period, at an average annual inflation rate of 2.6 percent,” the RBA notes.
Another commenter pointed out that there is another problem at play.
‘An (increase) of 35 percent over that period is actually not that bad. It is the fact that the product shrinks as the price increases,” they wrote.
Although Ms Coulston did not claim that all, or even most, products had shrunk in size over time, she did mention one popular treat in particular.
“There are definitely a lot of differences here when it comes to things getting smaller, so for example the Turkish Delights were 55 grams and now they are 50 grams,” she said.
Ms Coulston also mentioned the increase in the price of dairy products over the past fifteen years.
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) inflation calculator estimates that a basket of goods that cost $127.26 in 2010 should have cost $178.01 at the end of 2023 (stock image)
“The biggest thing that shocked me was cheese. 600 grams of Devondale cheese cost $5.79 (in 2010), and today that same bag of cheese costs $10.80,” she said.
“Three liters of light milk cost $3.59 (in 2010) not $4.35,” she said.
Ms Coulston pointed out that mushroom prices have risen dramatically over the past 15 years.
“500 grams of sliced mushrooms cost $4.98 (in 2010) and now it’s $7 for the same thing,” she said.
However, one commenter spoke for many by pointing out a striking detail in the most recent store.
‘It doesn’t seem like a big increase over that period. Most of the increase has occurred in the last two years!’ they wrote.
“Just like cheese prices didn’t increase gradually, but went from $6 to $10 overnight.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Woolworths for comment.