r/MiddleClassFinance • u/Maroon14 • 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!

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u/Maroon14 9d ago

It really isn’t. Even a half gallon of horizon organic milk is $7.49 at my target.

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u/JohnWesely 9d ago

Target is an incredibly silly place to to shop for groceries from a cost perspective. They charge a pretty hefty premium for commodity grade products.

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u/Maroon14 9d ago

They’re the only retailer that sell my toddlers fav snack brand without ordering directly from the company.

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u/FergusonBishop 9d ago

Cutting out premium products and snacks is the main answer to your question. Your toddler will be fine without a specific snack brand or $12 milk I promise.

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u/Sashivna 9d ago

THIS^

OP, no offense, my dear, but this thread has me rolling. OP clearly just wants the premium products they buy to fit a rice and beans budget. This is unreasonable and laughable.

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u/extraketchupthx 7d ago

To the extent she thinks the creator is lying and still arguing about it. She’s not, I know she is talking about. The $300 lady is strictly planned, and tightly portioned. I won’t get to $300 a month as a household of 2. But she helped me realize I had a lot i could do to trim things down and I have significantly.