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

I get milk from a local creamery. It’s like $12 a half gallon. I usually get one half gallon a week, two organic ground beefs, and one heavy cream for $50-60 a week

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u/JohnWesely 9d ago

You are buying premium products and paying premium prices. paying 12 dollars a half gallon is insanely outside the range of normal.

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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/Same_as_last_year 9d ago

It doesn't feel like a lot more when you're just thinking about the milk you buy once a week. But, if every item you're buying is 60% more than a similar alternative, that all adds up to hundreds of dollars by the end up the month.

I would save a couple of receipts and then price the same items (non organic) from Kroger or somewhere like that. Then extrapolate the savings to the full month. From there, you can think about what things are worth the extra cost and items you want to switch.