This Is How Much Kevin McCallister's Grocery Store Run Would Cost Today

The '90s classic "Home Alone" might be on your list of movies to watch when the holiday season rolls around. There's a particular scene in the movie that might now come as a shock, but it wouldn't have caused viewers to bat an eye when the film was first released in 1990. Remember when young Kevin McCallister heads to a grocery store called Schnucks to stock up on pantry staples after being left behind by his family? If you watch the movie in 2025, the total cost of that decent-sized grocery haul is enough to cause your mouth to drop

McCallister, who is 8 years old in the film, was wise and saved a bit of money with a $1 off coupon — but in 2025, it feels impossible to walk out of the grocery store with a bagful of items for under $20. McCallister bought a loaf of Wonder Bread, a frozen TV dinner, a half-gallon of milk, a half-gallon of orange juice, frozen mac and cheese, liquid laundry detergent, plastic wrap, dryer sheets, toilet paper, and a bag of toy soldiers.

The cost of food increases due to factors like inflation, supply chain disruptions, fuel and transportation expenses, and climate and weather changes. Due to inflation, $1 in 1990 is worth $2.48 in 2025. Considering that, you could roughly estimate that McCallister's grocery run would now cost $49.18. Let's go over Kevin's itemized receipt to see how the prices of certain products have changed. 

The cost of popular grocery items in the year you were born is different than what they sell for now. Schnucks' inventory has changed, too. The store doesn't carry Wonder Bread these days, but it sells a white bread brand called Butternut for $2.89. If you're curious how much Wonder Bread goes for in 2025, a loaf at Walmart costs $2.92. 

In 1990, a standard pound of white bread cost $0.70 per pound, so the 20-ounce loaf purchased in the movie probably would have cost around $0.88. Compared to the price of the Butternut loaf, that's a 228% increase! In recent years, the general price of bread has gone up due to social and environmental issues impacting wheat production. These include droughts, fertilizer shortages, and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Even with this increase, white bread is typically the cheapest option at the store when compared to whole grain or sourdough. However, when it comes to taste and nutritional value, there are better choices than Wonder Bread, which placed last in our ranking of grocery store white breads.

Certain grocery staples have increased in 2025, and food in general feels expensive every year; according to NPR, since 2020, groceries have increased by 29%. This is on par with Consumer Reports data indicating that groceries increase by around 5.3% each year in Illinois, the state where McCallister went grocery shopping in "Home Alone". In December 1990, the average price of orange juice was $2.02. McCallister bought the Tropicana brand (and used a coupon). At Schnucks today, a 46-ounce bottle of Tropicana orange juice now goes for $5.69, more than doubling in price. In 2025, orange juice has an average price tag of  $4.67 throughout the U.S. That significant increase is due to a drop in orange production caused by climate change and devastating plant disease.

A half-gallon of milk would have been around $1.30 in the Northeast 35 years ago. In the film, McCallister picked one up at Schnucks for $1.14. Today, the Schnucks brand half-gallon of whole milk costs $1.79. According to USDA research, the national average for a half gallon of whole milk in November 2025, which fluctuates significantly from one week to the next, is around $2.43. Grocery stores that use their own supply chains may be able to price their milk below cost because they make more money off of other items in the store, but they know customers are always going to need this staple. For example, Aldi is known for having some of the cheapest milk.

In "Home Alone", the savvy 8-year-old shopper snagged two heat-and-eat meals from brand names that are still popular today: Stouffer's Roast Turkey Dinner and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. It's challenging to find accurate numbers for how much a frozen TV dinner and macaroni and cheese would have cost in 1990, or the average amount these items have increased over time. A 1990 article from The Washington Post indicated that Stouffer's frozen dinners geared toward kids were priced at around $3.00. In 2025, McCallister's chosen Stouffer's meal still exists and costs $4.14 at Schnucks, while the Kraft Deluxe Macaroni and Cheese Dinner goes for $4.29.

It's certainly enviable that McCalister got away with two bulging bags for under $20. That seems like an impossible task nowadays. That said, there are plenty of grocery shopping hacks you can use to cut down your spending — for one, not spending money on groceries that are a waste.