Mother finds receipt from 2005 and can't believe what she reads on it

Newcastle (Australia) - A mother (35) from Down Under came across an almost twenty-year-old till receipt by chance. What she read on it horrified her and caused a furor online.

Rachel Petersen lives with her family in Newcastle, Australia. With three children, a normal week's shopping can add up to quite a lot. Especially in this day and age, not everyone can shop on impulse, but has to use tactics and discount campaigns to get through the checkout as cheaply as possible.

A receipt from the supermarket chain "Coles" from 2005 proves that this was quite different two decades ago. At the time, the customer had paid 77.01 Australian dollars (equivalent to around 47.30 euros) for a total of 33 items in the store.

The receipt alone was clicked on millions of times when Rachel published it on TikTok. What users immediately notice is that none of the items purchased cost more than 5 dollars, although some branded products are included. "Now it only takes about 4 items to get to 77 dollars," says one user bitterly.

Other users also wondered how much one would spend today for that 2005 purchase. So Rachel decided to visit a Coles store to fill her trolley with the items from the receipt.

Of course, the Australian didn't get exactly the same products as 19 years ago, but she simply replaced the items in question with comparable items. The surprise came at the checkout: Rachel "only" paid 132.29 Australian dollars (equivalent to 81.25 euros) for her purchase.

The mother told News.com that she had expected the price difference to be "worse". "When I first saw the Coles receipt, the prices shocked me. The total amount shocked me," Rachel said.

She was particularly upset when she noticed during her research that some products would cost more but had less content. "Comparing today's online prices, I noticed that our bread weighs 100-150g less, which sucks, but of course it weighs less; the shrinkage inflation is so obvious now."

For many users, Rachel's revelation was a reason to get angry: "This is the world we live in now! Disappointed is an understatement," said one person.

When asked, a spokesperson for the Coles supermarket chain explained that there were a number of reasons why some items simply cost more these days. "We know that increased food prices are influenced by inflation and economic changes due to global events such as wars and pandemics that cause supply chain disruptions," the spokesperson said.

Mother Rachel has been shopping differently since the cost of living crisis. She mainly avoids ready meals and buys most of her food from ALDI.