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The Daily Money

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Fri Jan 16 2026

Betty Lin-Fisher | Consumer reporter

@blinfisher

Good morning and Happy Friday! This is Betty Lin-Fisher with Friday's consumer-focused edition of The Daily Money.

Zoe Dippel of Texas and her sister-in-law were taking a walk down memory lane and looking at old family photo albums when they pulled out a long grocery receipt. Dippel's mother-in-law had saved the receipt for the 122 items she had purchased for her young family in 1997, including twins.

The total? $155.34.

Dippel's two TikTok videos she posted – about the prices from 1997 and a comparison of the prices 30 years later – have gone viral, seen by more than 3.4 million people so far.

She was surprised by some of the price jumps, like a 72-pack of Pampers diapers that more than doubled, going from $12.99 to $31.47.

"It's just crazy to me," Dippel told USA TODAY said of the price hikes.

How much does that grocery cart from 1997 cost today?

An H-E-B receipt from 1997 shows how much grocery prices have risen over the years.

@zoedippel/TikTok

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Were you among the more than 1.5 million Verizon customers nationwide who were part of the nation's largest wireless network outage on Jan. 14? Verizon is offering customers impacted by the seven-hour outage a $20 credit. Here's how you'll get it.

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Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher and @blinfisher.bsky.social on Bluesky. Sign up for our free The Dai