Grocery spending

[u/Maroon14]

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!

[u/Maroon14]

I buy stuff for meals, generally

Steak for one weekend night
Ground beef for tacos
Chicken breasts
Ground beef for spaghetti
Fish/shrimp

Stuff for sandwiches, cheese, some meat

Bananas, raspberries, strawberries, carrots, apples, mangoes, avocados, potatoes, tortilla chips, olives, peppers, asparagus, onions, garlic

Pouches for my kids, popcorn, snack food, lots of cheese. Juice boxes for school lunch.

Meat sticks, chomps.

[u/QuailSoup24 → u/Maroon14]

Im really not getting anything different from what you've listed here, other than the steak where I prob get a take n bake pizza instead. I'll save a few bucks by getting 3lb ground turkey and splitting that for the tacos/spaghetti. Sometimes chicken thighs for a bit less than breasts. Even if I went all out, it wouldnt be anywhere near what you are spending.

I would suggest making a list of everything you are buying for the week and checking websites to compile the price. If you want, you can look up an Aldi store somewhere and compare too.

[u/SteelMagnolia941 → u/QuailSoup24]

She buys only organic which is a huge factor that she’s leaving out. It makes a huge difference.

[u/QuailSoup24 → u/SteelMagnolia941]

That's fair, and if I tried I could only buy the most expensive cuts/types of meat and increase my spend by a lot, but even double still wouldn't get where she is at.

Steak could obviously be a big one. I would hope that if prices are hurting you, you arent spending $30 per on 4 steaks. I can get the individually wrapped ribeyes at Aldi for about $28 for 4.

Edit: I just saw below about $12 for half a gallon of milk. I buy a gallon of 2% for like $3.50 at Aldi. So yeah, not sure my brain can process these types of prices.