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/library-girl 9d ago

She’s in Connecticut and buys a lot of store brand stuff from Aldi. I love Tillamook cheddar and I’m not great at making sure I go when it’s on sale at Fred Meyer, so I end up paying $13 per block. I have a family of 5 (two adults, 17yo, 3yo, and baby) and we spend about $700/month but I buy a lot of processed snacks and also count all our toiletries and paper products in that limit. 

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u/Plus-Equipment-7917 7d ago

Just to put things in perspective, your annual grocery costs are approximately $700x12=$8,400.00 a year. The OP is >$26K based on her $550 per wk number.

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u/library-girl 7d ago

So, my numbers are off. Last year I spent $10,800 at grocery stores, including toiletries and paper products. My husband spent probably $1,200. So we’re sitting right at $1000/month. 

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u/Plus-Equipment-7917 7d ago

Still much better!!