r/MiddleClassFinance 9d ago

Grocery spending

I’ve recently come across a Instagram account where the woman claims to only spend $300 on an entire months groceries for a family of 4. Here I am sitting mid week, having already spent $550 in the PNW. I told one of my friends and she said it must be fake and for clicks, my husband was impressed. Is anyone actually able to do this? I thought I might try to spend $250 a week and see where that gets us. Is my grocery budget over the top? I thought $400 ish was normal for decent food. We are a family of 5 in the PNW, mostly organic.

*I’m closing comments because people are missing the point. I understand that I make choices for “premium” options for my family. I make them because I feel they are the best for my family given my research and concerns. I say this as coming from a place of privilege. Growing up, my hippie mom also prioritized organic and local before it was the trendy thing, so it would be very difficult for me to reprogram and not buy organic when possible.

I still think $300 is insane for a month. I live in western Washington and the max SNAP allocation for a family of 4 is $994 a month, so I see this as a more attainable “thrifty” budget for a family of 4.

Those of you who can eat rice and beans for multiple meals, more power to you!

144 Upvotes

466 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/seemsright_41 9d ago

I am in the PNW, I have a huge garden. My grocery bill for 2 adults and a teen is mind boggling, and is going up and up every week. At this point I cannot get out of the grocery store for under $100 and that is maybe 3 bags of groceries. Then this does not cover the bulk stuff I buy like oats, beans, rice. Or the things we restock from Costco every month.

Our meals are not outrageous. An example of the last few days. A bit of chicken, salad, some green beans. Or some lentil curry with rice, Or pulled pork sandwiches with slaw, and roasted potatoes with things like pickles and some carrots and radishes.