‘The cost of living has become outrageous’: Mom of two won't buy olive oil, bread because they're too expensive — and she says she's ‘tired' of being broke. Is she being too thrifty?

“Things I’ve given up since the cost of living has become outrageous,” is how the mom of two begins her video.

Among the items she now forgoes: olive oil and bread. Not exactly luxuries.

In another video, Heather explains that she works full-time at a 9-5 job that she’s been at for 12 years. Her husband has a full-time job, too, but they still don’t make enough money to pay the mortgage and feed their family of four.

Heather details a few areas of life where she has severely cut costs so that she can afford her life.

Food

Heather explains that, in place of olive oil and bread, she now buys the cheapest vegetable oil and has learned to bake bread.

Hard to blame her given the extent to which the cost of food has increased in the past few years. Since 2020, grocery prices have increased by 25%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The price of a 750-milliliter bottle of Bertolli’s extra virgin olive oil increased from $9 in October 2022 to $11 in October 2023 — a nearly 22% increase, according to New York Times reporting on data by IRI (now called Circana). The spike is due in part to a drought in Spain, the world’s largest olive oil producer.

The cost of a loaf of bread hasn’t gotten up as much but still saw a nearly 6% increase from February 2023 ($1.90) to February 2024 ($2.01), according to the CPI.

Fun presents

In the past, Heather says, she used to take her kids out on a Saturday and get them a toy — just for fun. But now, that’s no longer possible.

Fun is something of a luxury item for many. Even at-home streaming subscriptions have become a splurge: Consumers spend an average of $219 per month on subscription services, whether that be Netflix or clothing delivery, according to a 2022 study by C+R Research.