Found my 1990 Sainsbury's Christmas grocery receipt in an old box

[Aintgointogoa]

I can't find the old thread so apologies....but I have found another receipt (of mine, like the previous one ha ha)
This is the itemised grocery bill from Sainsbury's, Dec 22 1990 🫨 I paid by cheque ! It must have been our 'big shop' but there's no celebratory turkey so I assume that was ordered separately. Hope the pics don't take too long....
I have no idea why it ended up in my scrap box of tickets, memorabilia etc. If it was a particularly memorable Christmas eludes my memory now 🤷‍♀️

Im more impressed how well the ink has survived over 36 years

I’m actually surprised how many things are not significantly more expensive now. Washing up liquid for starters. I’m only paying £1.50 for 4 pints milk now too.

I don't agree with people commenting on how cheap everything was.
I don't think it is particularly cheap given wages were a lot lower then. £102 was a lot of money in 1990
The fresh food in particular seems expensive in comparison to today

@fumingrightnow1 I agree ! It could have been printed yesterday ! But, cheque 😂

Anyway, it was really niggling me, as to WHY I had kept it when so much other memorabilia has disappeared along the way (I had no idea it was in this box btw, hence the surprise) and then I got the chance to ask my best friend what date was her first Christmas in the UK - which was when we met. Our boyfriends then are brothers, and my fella said why don't we have them join us when she arrives in London from backpacking overseas. Of course I agreed, lovely idea etc.

The crux of the matter is that I had not long been 'official' with this boyfriend, having recently separated from long term partner, and we were not having Christmas at home ! Ah HA ! So, she confirmed that her first UK Christmas was.....drum roll...1990 😅 We were off to a cosy cottage that a friend lent me for the duration, and my teen went to the big family ding dong with all his cousins etc. Things were still a bit raw on that front and it was too early to put new boyfriend through that particular mill.

HOWEVER she was unable to shed any light at all on the courgette conundrum 🤷‍♀️ She has absolutely no recollection of me whisking a gourmet dish with said veg out of the oven. We had a big fat chuck bought in the village Christmas Eve. She does remember me making porridge every morning, and how she wept salty tears into it on Christmas Day, her first away from her family in Aus, poor lass. 36 years later, we still celebrate together, both far away from our respective families now....

And I am also baffled by the coriander. But Boxing Day curry a good stab I reckon 😜

Love your recollection, @Aintgointogoa I have a Lion bar wrapper from 1992 and can’t work out why I kept it!

I think a lot Brits who’ve never been to the US or Canada would faint if they saw how expensive groceries are over there! I nearly did when I first went into an American grocery store and saw the extortionate prices they pay for crappy, basic foods. Fresh foods are even worse! $12 for eggs, $10-13 for a gallon of milk etc etc. The average family of 4 spends over a grand a month ($ obviously) just on food. Canada is even more eye watering! Obviously the Canadian dollar has a different value to the USdollar but even so, it’d make us British people cry if we moved there. Honestly, we have it so bloody good here we just don’t realise it.

To me that seems like how much stuff cost in about 2000?!

Sains isn't the cheapest but I was expecting it to be much much lower. I guess it shows either my perception of the past is warped or food prices barely changed in a 10 year period.

I've seen Lorraine Chase, Lesley Ash and Joanna Lumley in that branch over the years!

Food prices barely changed. Bread, milk and wine stayed at the same prices for years and years. I paid £4.49 / £4.99 for a bottle of hardys merlot wine for almost a decade. I remember thinking at the time that it was so weird and that the bubble would eventually burst. It's only been im the past 6 years or so that things have started jumping up post Pandemic and due to other issues

Scale it up using RPI and you’ll find out that shopping was MORE expensive in the 80’s and early 90’s.
We came back to the UK in 1992 after 6 years living in RAFG, I was utterly shocked at the cost of shopping. I can remember spending £30-£40 a week and being stunned. - equivalent to £120 ish now.

I spend maybe £70-£80 a week now.

Yeah it's true. This receipt proves it! Grocery price rises were subtle and rare. Now they are monthly and things are doubling annually!

According to the Bank of England inflation calculator, that’s equivalent to £261.87 today.

The average annual inflation is 2.6%.

I can’t be the only one who thinks £102 is eye-wateringly expensive for nearly 40 years ago? Especially without the turkey.

Do you remember how many people you were hosting @Aintgointogoa ?

A 250g block of real Grahams butter is still only 99p in Farmfoods !

Wow it’s interesting that some items aren’t much cheaper. Eg I shop at Aldi and the oats, orange juice, herbs, fruit and veg are all fairly similar prices. The apples and courgettes are more expensive than now as is the washing up liquid, bin liners.

The meat and dairy is cheaper though and the toothpaste. And obviously I shop in a cheaper supermarket.

All very interesting considering the receipt is 5 years older than me.

Have they though? My first job in London in 2018 my boss told me she was paid the exact same salary in her first job in 2005

You should put this on one of the farming subs on Reddit!

I can confirm that people (my neighbours) still use milkmen in 2026.

I get woken up by him.

Incidentally, you could buy milk in supermarkets in the 1970s, and most probably earlier.