Woman analyses the USDA's average grocery budget and she's got some very valid concerns

The cost of living continues to increase across the country. People are especially starting to feel the alarming rise in prices while buying their daily groceries. TikTok mom Sarah Biggers (@thebiggersthebetter) recently shared a shocking video highlighting how the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) calculated the average grocery budgets for Americans in October this year. The video has got 757.4k views and 11.7k comments on the social media site.

Biggers begins the video by sharing how the USDA released their average food-tiered plans multiple times in a year. The woman reveals that she looks at them because she's nosy and wants to know if she is spending too much or too little on groceries. More importantly, the report was what the government used to allocate the budget for food stamps. She says, "So, I like to just be in the know about what's going on."

The woman shares how the numbers are downright alarming this time. Biggers explains, "And I shouldn't be shocked because I know what our grocery budget is, and it's expensive." She assumed her family's budget would be on the higher end of the USDA report since they were not trying to cut too many corners when it came to groceries. But this turned out to be far from the truth.

She explains, "Unless you're literally willing to eat ramen, potatoes and rice for every meal, everybody is spending a ton on groceries." Biggers then highlights how the report contained a low-cost plan that came in at about $700-$850 in a month. At the same time, the moderate plan would bump it up to $900-$1200 a month. Finally, the liberal plan would be an astounding $1200. In reality, many people spend up to $3000 a month on groceries, according to Biggers.

This is especially worrying considering the fact that the median household income in the United States was $75000, Biggers reveals. After paying their taxes, people are not left with that much. Looking at these numbers, the woman reveals that people were spending almost 20% to 30% of their income on groceries. She says, "Budget financial people will say, 'Try not to spend more than 15%,' and I just don't see how that's possible."

The situation becomes even more bleak when considering that people also have to contribute roughly 30% of their income to rent. Biggers mentions how people were getting raises, but it was not keeping up with the cost of living. The woman goes on about how basic living necessities should not become luxuries. She concludes by saying how calculating the numbers presented a very unideal scenario.

People firmly agreed with the woman's breakdown and shared their own insights in the comments section. @breadavies said, "They're not only raising the prices, they're giving us less food in the packages! It's ridiculous! We keep having to up our food budget." @alyssabusse1 shared, "We are spending at least $800 a month for a family of four. Most months, it's more like $1000." @susvibes88 commented, "Family of five spending $300-$400 a week. My grocery bill is more than my mortgage."