Thanks to inflation, food shortages, and other headaches, the cost of groceries will always be a hot topic. Despite all this, a New Mexico politician had no idea that posting her nearly $800 Costco receipt on Twitter last week would cause such frenzy.
Clearly upset with her grand total, Stefani Lord, a Republican member of New Mexico's House of Representatives, shared an image of her Costco receipt and included the following caption: "Thanks, Joe Biden! $799.38 for ONE full cart at Costco with 58 items and only 9 non-food items like paper towels, plastic bags, trash bags, and razors."
The replies to Lord's Twitter post, which are currently limited to people she follows or mentions, echoed her sticker shock.
"I feel your pain as that same thing happened with us on Saturday," one person chimed in.
Others continued to pull politics into the convo, with one person stating that "Joe Biden's world is too expensive."
While some turned to politics to call out Costco, others turned to mathematics to defend the store. One Twitter user did the math on what $799.38 would average out to per item with 58 items being purchased.
"$800 / 58 items = $13.80 per item. At a bulk-item grocery store, where large quantities per item are sold (e.g., 3 large bottles of lotion = 1 item)—this is not ridiculous. The average shopper buys 9 items. I’m a Costco shopper; I couldn’t imagine buying 58 items for home use," they tweeted.
Another person questioned if Lord posting the receipt without any info on what was actually purchased is hindering the conversation on food inflation.
"Inflation is real, but this viral post is adding noise, rather than signal, to the discussion," their tweet read.
Danielle Harling is an Atlanta-based freelance writer with a love for colorfully designed-spaces, craft cocktails and online window shopping (usually for budget-shattering designer heels). Her past work has appeared on Fodor’s, Forbes, MyDomaine, Architectural Digest and more.
