These days, it's not easy to buy a haul of groceries for your family and leave the store feeling financially intact. You can find deals and reasonably-priced staples at discount stores like Trader Joe’s, Aldi, and Costco, and oftentimes, it works as a smart money-saving option—but sometimes it still hurts the wallet.
If it seems like groceries are getting increasingly expensive every year, you’re not imagining it. According to the Federal Reserve, the prices of groceries have increased a whopping 25% since the pandemic began four years ago.
So it shouldn’t have come as a complete surprise when one Southern California family’s Trader Joe’s receipt totaled $444—and social media couldn’t get over it.
The mom posted a video that’s now been viewed over 17.5 million times on X, formerly known as Twitter, panning over a massive Trader Joe’s receipt. It included strawberries, avocados, cucumbers, and a variety of the grocer's frozen foods like chicken and cheese tamales and chicken soup dumplings.
"Here's what it takes to feed six kids [for] about a week and a half," she says in the video, scanning through a list of items that are individually affordable but add up quickly.
Trader Joe’s is known as a less expensive option than other, more traditional grocery stores, but many users responded to the post to point out that there are other grocery stores more wallet-friendly for a large family, like Aldi or Costco.
But the truth of the matter is that groceries are getting more expensive, and if you want to spend less at the store, you’ll need to plan ahead with enthusiasm—and spend a lot of time cooking.
It’s not impossible to get your grocery bill down a bit. In our Dinner Diaries series, our readers share where they shop, how much they spend, and their other habits.
One of our readers spends $150 max on groceries for her family of three each week, predominately at HEB and Kroger, and she cooks every day. Another of our readers spends about $200 per week for her family of four at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Costco. And yet another mom spends about $120 to $130 each week for her family of four on groceries at Walmart and Fareway.
While they vary in age and cooking styles, here's what these readers have in common: They plan their shopping ahead of time (whether by making a list or coming up with meal ideas in their heads); they do a "big shop" once a week; and they keep their pantries supplied with basics like beans, rice, canned tuna, pasta, and coffee.
Whether you’re cooking for a family of four or stocking up on frozen foods for yourself, we’re all thinking of ways to save money where we can while still having a fridge full of delicious food—but maybe don't post your receipts online if you don’t want to hear others’ opinions.