re: Can your family of 4 keep your grocery bill to 4200/yr?

I'd say we are at $1000 or so a month at our house. Full disclosure, we get our beef and pork in bulk from a local farmer. We also do a lot of Aldi and Walmart shopping. Even with buying in bulk, and eating cheap options (rice, beans, etc) I don't think we could do it on $4200 if we had to use a grocery store.

Now relax some of the hunting and fishing regulations...I can make $4200 go a long way...

No one should have a family of 4 and be completely dependent upon me to feed you the rest of your life.

Might not be luxurious but it can be done.

I grew up poor. You lose a lot of sympathy for the poor when you live amongst them.

We probably could but we're not going to because we work.

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You're not going to get much meat (especially fish) on that budget. Even chicken is approaching $3/lb at most stores.

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What? Shop at Kroger and continually pick bone-in chicken breast and boneless/skinless breast for under $2.00 lb either on sale or markdowns.Thighs are even cheaper.

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But we spend at least $2500-3000 at the grocery store every month.

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That's just absurd. We are a family of 4. We do eat out a few times a week with all the kids activities. But we spend ~$200 a week on groceries and could certainly cut that back. For instance, I went shopping instead of the wife last week and cut that down to $150.

At $200 a week, that's about $900 a month. I could use the remaining $1,600 to $2,100 (to meet your 2,500 to 3,000 a month) and have $50-$67 bucks a day to eat out on top of the groceries.

To the original point, $4,200 a year would be very tight. But we also aren't a low-income family and haven't practiced being frugal for some time.

Nope. I exceed that in a couple of months.

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No one should have a family of 4 and be completely dependent upon me to feed you the rest of your life.

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Which is what always gets lost in these conversations.

SNAP

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

I don't even think it's that hard. It just means buying in bulk and cooking at home.

Sample breakfasts: eggs & hash browns, pancakes & eggs, cereal, oatmeal, maybe yogurt. ( Egg prices are down again)

Sample lunches: grilled cheese & tomato soup, peanut butter and jelly sandwich & an apple. Maybe luncheon meat sandwich. If it's bought in bulk.

Dinners: bean soup using a ham hock with corn bread, quinoa soup with frozen vegetables, chicken noodle soup. Even things like shepherds pie wouldn't be too bad if you get a lb of ground beef, tomato sauce, frozen veggies, instant mashed potatoes.

Bags of potatoes,apples and oranges are not too expensive. Bananas aren't too bad either.

Frozen vegetables come in bulk and are much cheaper than canned and taste better too.

Ramen, pasta, and rice can go a long way to feeding people.

Kids also get free lunches and lots of times breakfasts at school in addition to snap.