Here's How Much the 'Home Alone' Grocery Trip Would Cost In 2023
With Christmas now less than two weeks away, there's no better time for a cozy rewatch of "Home Alone." But this year, a famous shopping trip scene in the Christmas classic is leaving a bad taste in many consumers' mouths.
In the 1990 film, eight-year-old Kevin McCallister (played by the now 43-year-old Macaulay Culkin) heads to his local grocery store to pick up a few groceries while his family is out of town for Christmas. His shopping haul included a loaf of Wonder Bread, a TV dinner, frozen macaroni and cheese, a half gallon of milk, a half gallon of orange juice, saran wrap, Tide laundry detergent, toilet paper, a bag of toy soldiers, and Snuggle brand dryer sheets. His grand total came out to just $19.83 after using a coupon for a $1 discount on the orange juice.
But how much would all of those grocery items cost in 2023? TikToker Geoffrey Lyons (@sellitlikelyons) went viral with a video last month where he set out to answer that question.
The TikToker checked prices online for all of the items at either Target or Walmart. Lyons couldn't find the exact TV dinner Kevin purchased in the film, so he substituted in a Hungry-Man Frozen Classic Chicken Dinner, which is currently listed for $4.99 at Target.
The grand total for 2023 came out to about $68 after Lyons totaled all of the prices, added an extra $5.25 to account for tax, and then removed a dollar to account for McCallister's orange juice coupon. That's more than three times what McCallister paid for the same set of items in the movie.
Lyons' video has racked up 5.5 million views and thousands of comments from other TikTokers, many of whom were baffled by the price disparity.
"Insane how much it's changed," one TikToker commented.
"$100 bill is the new $20 bill," another wrote.
It's important to note that you may not pay exactly $68 if you picked up all of the items from the movie yourself. Different retailers often charge different prices for the exact same grocery items, so you could pay more or less for those products if you shop somewhere other than Walmart and Target. You can also probably cut down your total by opting for generic brands instead of the name brands that McCallister chooses.
Still, the viral TikTok is a telling sign of how much more it costs to buy a load of groceries in 2023 than it did in 1990. Grocery prices spiked at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and they've continued to tick even higher month after month. A Dec. 12 report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that food-at-home prices were 1.7% higher in November 2023 compared to November 2022.
Sign up for our newsletter!
