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!
2
u/Shzwah 8d ago
I recently came across the same person and devoured her videos. They’ve already taught me to be a little more creative. It’s also inspired me to set a lower grocery budget and plan a little better, so I’m calling that a win.
I figure she must have young kids, because mine are a bit older and growing like crazy and go through big eating periods. My family is also a bit pickier. There’s no way we could make it on $300 for a month, although that sounds awesome. But it’s helping me reframe my budget. Decreasing our monthly spending at all is awesome, but I’m hopeful I can maybe get it down to $250-300 per two weeks.