“This Is Not Sustainable” — Mom Says She Spent $50 on Just 5 Grocery Store Items

A mom, Alex Thebeau (@alexthebeau) slammed the cost of living in 2023 as not being "sustainable" and that she fears for the economy her children may be forced to live in when they're older.

To drive her point home she highlights how she spent nearly $50 for just 5 items: toilet paper, some eggs, deodorant, and ingredients for a cabbage dish: hardly the stuff of luxury.

Alex begins her video holding a bunch of items in her hands while resting on a well-polished kitchen countertop. She said in the clip: "This was basically $50," she says, referring to the five items in her hands.

Her clip cuts to a screenshot of the receipt for the items, indicating that she spent $47.43 on her trip to the store.

"I spent $47.43 but to be fair I used $10 of my PC Optimum points. So everything said and done $37 for ingredients for a cabbage roll dish which the sentence in itself sounds pretty cheap, eggs, deodorant, and we need to wipe our a-- and I didn't have time to go to Costco."

She's referring to the rolls of Charmin toilet paper that she purchased, intimating that she would've spent much less money had she decided to purchase the paper goods from the popular bulk retailer than the Atlantic Superstore she bought them at instead.

Alex continued, "We're a family of five. Toilet paper: $14, the minimum wage in New Brunswick is $14.75. You're telling me that I have to work an hour to wipe my a--? The eggs: seven dollars and eighty-nine cents. Do you know how much a chicken costs? One chicken produces one egg per day. Let that sit, just let that sit," she says.

"This tomato soup, six dollars and ninety-nine cents. I should have made this myself. This dented can of diced tomatoes, three dollars and seventy-nine cents. This deodorant because we don't want to stink but we also don't want cancer, $9.99."

The video briefly cuts to Alex gathering her nearly $50 grocery store haul, "Because I don't have a farm in my backyard. I'm just spiraling right now because I have three children that I will eventually have to send out into the world. This is insane," she says seemingly fearing for the state of the economy that her children will be forced to try and make a living for themselves in in the future.

"This entire country needs to change because the reality of things is nobody is just gonna go oh I just saved about 50 grand for a down payment on a house. Oh, my God if life were this expensive when I was in my early 20s I would have died. Like that's the reality of it."

She went on to illustrate how prohibitively expensive the cost of living has become since she was younger, highlighting that if she was a younger person trying to make it in the state of the world's economy today she doesn't see how she would be able to afford anything these days.

"I moved out when I was 16 years old. Some people can't live in their house until they're 25. And if you do, amazing. I love that for you. You're, you're so blessed. But the fact is this is not sustainable. This can't continue. So..." she gestures on camera, seemingly defeated, and then lets out a sigh before the clip ultimately finishes.

There were a number of other folks who responded to her video who seemed to agree with her point of view, like one commenter who penned: "When I was a kid I wished for things like ponies and private jets, now as an adult I wish that I could go grocery shopping without sacrificing basics"

Others lampooned those who argue that shoppers just need to frequent stores that charge less for their items: "So many people saying if you 'buy somewhere else”' or 'wait until it’s on sale' or 'buy the generic brand' those just bandaids on the issue."

Someone else said that the cost of food is so high that they've began to question if there are alternative forms of food out there they can fill their bellies with: "Grocery shopping lately has made me wonder what pinecones taste like.."

Another said that the cost of living is so high that the thought of moving out is something that ultimately scares/depresses them to no end: "I'm still living with my parent at 30, I'd be living in my car otherwise. Did I mention I'm working 40hrs a week and student? Depressing"

While another TikToker wrote: "I have a panic attack every time I go because I know I’m leaving with only 6-8 things costing me almost $100"

One expectant mother said that prices are so high they feel as if they'll have to rely on food banks in order to feed them and their baby once they're born: "It cost me $32 for a large bottle of Gaviscon yesterday. I'm 38 weeks pregnant, and I'll admit, I might need foodbank while on maternity leave."