4 ms·

$2100/mo to feed 3 people is ridiculous. You can feed 3 people on $750/mo. $700/mo/person is $7.65 per meal, which is quite reasonable. $250/mo/person is about

$2100/mo to feed 3 people is ridiculous. You can feed 3 people on $750/mo. $700/mo/person is $7.65 per meal, which is quite reasonable. $250/mo/person is about $2.70 per meal, which is not. "In 2005, sociologists William Thompson and Joseph Hickey estimate an income range of roughly $35,000 to $75,000 for the lower middle class and $100,000 or more for the upper middle class."[0] In 2018 dollars, that's $44,800 to $96,000 for lower middle class and $128,000 for upper middle class. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_middle_class#Income https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_middle_class#Income

harryh 8y ago
$250/mo/person is about $2.70 per meal, which is not It's plenty. I just looked at my mint. I've averaged $678/month on groceries for my 3 person family over the last year. One of those 3 people is a toddler so I'm obviously saving some money there. We eat out occasionally (so not part of this budget item) but rarely more than once a week. And I'm not in a position where I have to scrimp. My wife and I had lobster last night. 2.70 doesn't sound like much if by "meal" you think of "dinner" but it's a ton if you're eating eggs or cereal for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch.
- dvdhnt 8y ago
  Same here. Family of 4 and we rarely cross $1k/mo for our entire family.
- graeme 8y ago
  Do you live in a coastal city and work a professional level job that pay $150,000 and requires intense hours at the office? And does your partner as well? An assumption in the article was that both parents were too busy with work to cook reliably. I agree it's plenty for most households. Just may not be for the households this author is talking about. It's a good illustration of how a higher paid job may not net that much more: you lose a lot of the income in extra taxes + extra lifestyle expenses to support the job.
dvdhnt 8y ago
Are you saying $700 per month per person is reasonable? That’s pretty insane if you are, we’re a family of 4 who live a pretty sweet upper middle class life and spend maybe that much each month on our entire family...
AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
> $250/mo/person is about $2.70 per meal, which is not Are you eating out literally every meal? Because otherwise that's not bad at all. I eat on about $5/day and I'm not even trying to be frugal about it.
anonuser123456 8y ago
My family of 4 does quite well on 800/month in coastal southern California. We only eat organic and eat the RDA of fresh fruit, veggies nuts, meats etc. The only people I know that spend in the 700 / person are eating out 3-4 times a week at 20+/plate restaurants. Doesn't sound middle class to me.
ThrustVectoring 8y ago
A pound of ground beef is like 800 kcal and roughly $3, and more than you'd eat in one sitting. $2.70/meal is more than reasonable, you're just largely cooking stuff yourself.
ineedasername 8y ago
I cook a lot. My food budget for 4 people is about 1000/month. My cost for something like tossed vegetables tossed with pasta, chicken breast, and a cream sauce is under $2 per meal. Most meals are similarly priced. These $700/person monthly estimates are crazy
owlsaway 8y ago
I'm a 20-something college student currently trying to strike a balance between eating out, cooking, and pre-cooked meals. My grocery costs have ranged between 300CAD and 500CAD, with the 500CAD occurring when I get lazy and eat out far more often than I feel I should. I find it interesting that 500CAD (~400USD) is completely unreasonable to me (I frequently get frustrated with myself for spending this much when I know I could get it down lower if I stop eating out), whereas your 'reasonable' ceiling is much, much higher. This isn't even taking into account the cost savings of cooking for multiple people, vs. cooking for one person, too! Per person costs will definitely change depending on context.
mratzloff 8y ago
To everyone responding, unless you live in a large, coastal city, your family budget is not germane to this discussion. This article is talking about middle class in large, coastal cities. I live in NYC. Try eating less than $3/meal for a month here. Groceries cost more here. I eat at home for most meals, too.
- rickyc091 8y ago
  It's definitely possible! Cost of groceries in the outer boroughs will be cheaper, but I'll use Manhattan prices. Shopping at Trader Joes + Chinatown will significantly lower costs. Fairway isn't terrible, but if you're shopping at the local market, it's super expensive. Whole Foods is insanely priced. Breakfast will be your cheapest meal, eggs $3/dozen. Yogurt 99c each or get a larger container to save more money. Oatmeal, bananas. Bacon will be pricey, but let's splurge $6. Avocado, toast is relatively cheap. Lunch, chicken breast, thighs whatever. You can get them for $5-6/lb and even less at Chinatown. That'll go for lunch/dinner. Toss in salad, rice, etc. Canned veggies like chickpeas and beans are just a buck each at Whole Foods. Ground beef is pretty cheap. Veggies like kale, broccoli are a bit more expensive, but again, only a few bucks and you can use it for multiple meals. Grocery might cost more, but definitely possible to churn out meals at $3 price points. Of course there's the upfront cost of having basic things like salt, pepper, oil, spices, butter, etc.

harryh 8y ago

$250/mo/person is about $2.70 per meal, which is not It's plenty. I just looked at my mint. I've averaged $678/month on groceries for my 3 person family over the last year. One of those 3 people is a toddler so I'm obviously saving some money there. We eat out occasionally (so not part of this budget item) but rarely more than once a week. And I'm not in a position where I have to scrimp. My wife and I had lobster last night. 2.70 doesn't sound like much if by "meal" you think of "dinner" but it's a ton if you're eating eggs or cereal for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch.

dvdhnt 8y ago
Same here. Family of 4 and we rarely cross $1k/mo for our entire family.
graeme 8y ago
Do you live in a coastal city and work a professional level job that pay $150,000 and requires intense hours at the office? And does your partner as well? An assumption in the article was that both parents were too busy with work to cook reliably. I agree it's plenty for most households. Just may not be for the households this author is talking about. It's a good illustration of how a higher paid job may not net that much more: you lose a lot of the income in extra taxes + extra lifestyle expenses to support the job.

dvdhnt 8y ago

Are you saying $700 per month per person is reasonable? That’s pretty insane if you are, we’re a family of 4 who live a pretty sweet upper middle class life and spend maybe that much each month on our entire family...

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago

> $250/mo/person is about $2.70 per meal, which is not Are you eating out literally every meal? Because otherwise that's not bad at all. I eat on about $5/day and I'm not even trying to be frugal about it.

anonuser123456 8y ago

My family of 4 does quite well on 800/month in coastal southern California. We only eat organic and eat the RDA of fresh fruit, veggies nuts, meats etc. The only people I know that spend in the 700 / person are eating out 3-4 times a week at 20+/plate restaurants. Doesn't sound middle class to me.

ThrustVectoring 8y ago

A pound of ground beef is like 800 kcal and roughly $3, and more than you'd eat in one sitting. $2.70/meal is more than reasonable, you're just largely cooking stuff yourself.

ineedasername 8y ago

I cook a lot. My food budget for 4 people is about 1000/month. My cost for something like tossed vegetables tossed with pasta, chicken breast, and a cream sauce is under $2 per meal. Most meals are similarly priced. These $700/person monthly estimates are crazy

owlsaway 8y ago

I'm a 20-something college student currently trying to strike a balance between eating out, cooking, and pre-cooked meals. My grocery costs have ranged between 300CAD and 500CAD, with the 500CAD occurring when I get lazy and eat out far more often than I feel I should. I find it interesting that 500CAD (~400USD) is completely unreasonable to me (I frequently get frustrated with myself for spending this much when I know I could get it down lower if I stop eating out), whereas your 'reasonable' ceiling is much, much higher. This isn't even taking into account the cost savings of cooking for multiple people, vs. cooking for one person, too! Per person costs will definitely change depending on context.

mratzloff 8y ago

To everyone responding, unless you live in a large, coastal city, your family budget is not germane to this discussion. This article is talking about middle class in large, coastal cities. I live in NYC. Try eating less than $3/meal for a month here. Groceries cost more here. I eat at home for most meals, too.

rickyc091 8y ago
It's definitely possible! Cost of groceries in the outer boroughs will be cheaper, but I'll use Manhattan prices. Shopping at Trader Joes + Chinatown will significantly lower costs. Fairway isn't terrible, but if you're shopping at the local market, it's super expensive. Whole Foods is insanely priced. Breakfast will be your cheapest meal, eggs $3/dozen. Yogurt 99c each or get a larger container to save more money. Oatmeal, bananas. Bacon will be pricey, but let's splurge $6. Avocado, toast is relatively cheap. Lunch, chicken breast, thighs whatever. You can get them for $5-6/lb and even less at Chinatown. That'll go for lunch/dinner. Toss in salad, rice, etc. Canned veggies like chickpeas and beans are just a buck each at Whole Foods. Ground beef is pretty cheap. Veggies like kale, broccoli are a bit more expensive, but again, only a few bucks and you can use it for multiple meals. Grocery might cost more, but definitely possible to churn out meals at $3 price points. Of course there's the upfront cost of having basic things like salt, pepper, oil, spices, butter, etc.