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People From Different Households Were Given $100 To Spend On Groceries, Here’s What They Bought
No matter how rich or poor we might be, if somebody would come up to us and hand us a $100 bill, we’d definitely flash a smile (and be a tad confused and suspicious, for sure). However, how we spend that $100 at the grocery store and what it means to us will vary wildly depending on our personal spending habits, our tastes, and our current financial situation.
Video producer Cut showed the vast differences between households by showcasing just what $100 gets them at the store in a series of YouTube videos. Scroll down, upvote your fave pics, and be sure to check out Cut's original videos in full at the very end. Odds are, you’ll relate to one of these people (let’s just hope it’s not the student who spends nearly half her money on frozen pizza rolls!). So, dear Pandas, how would you spend $100 at the store?
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"I'm 98, Served As A Marine Engineer During The War"
"I live in an apartment with my son-in-law and my daughter. I raise chickens."
Komal, Age: 35, Married Mother, Software Engineer
"I am married and I have two kids.
There are families back in India for whom [a 100 dollars] is like a monthly income"
"A Hundred Dollars Means Food For A Week"
"I'm always thinking budget, thinking practical."
For some of these people, $100 means the difference between surviving and going hungry. Meanwhile, for others in a better financial position, the money is something that can be spent on luxury foods or even a night out. Anyone who’s ever tried to fall asleep with their stomach rumbling and their thoughts jumping to food will know that even a few extra dollars can be precious.
Now, this doesn’t mean that nobody can have fun or that we’re supposed to get angry at others for spending their hard-earned money how they see fit. However, it does highlight the inequalities in society. For instance, in 2019, the US Census Bureau found that the gap between the rich and the poor—income inequality—had grown to be the biggest in 50 years.
Mick & Anthony, Age: 36 & 46, Married, Unemployed
"We met online and it was love at first email.
Money means getting by. We're unemployed, starving artists sort of thing."
I love the diversity of produced food... for 90 € would be full + beverages.. is food shopping so expensive in USA?
Karen, Age: 19, Single, College Student
"I live on campus with three other girls.
Usually everyday I have pizza rolls. I don't think I'm good with money at all."
What Would You Buy With 100$?
However, there are some positives, too. Statista shows that the number of Americans living below the poverty line had shrunk from 38 million in 2018 to just below 34 million in 2019. There’s also been a downward trend in Americans living in absolute poverty since 2014.
But (and it’s a big ‘but’) we shouldn’t rush to celebrate because we don’t have concrete numbers about the situation during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It had greatly affected unemployment levels during the spring of 2020 (though they rebounded in the summer) and the US economic situation is still up for grabs with lockdowns continuing for the foreseeable future even with mass vaccinations being rolled out worldwide.
"I'm 64 And I Work As A Lunch Lady At An Elementary School"
"[Food] is a communication. It's making people happy.
I live by myself. Unless I'm meeting friends somewhere, I eat alone, probably watching TV."
"I Collect Social Security. Not Near Enough, By The Way"
"I get 1,110$ a month, puts me pretty close to, if not under, the poverty level."
Its mostly sugars & not that great for you. Most juices are, technically. Thats why we're recommended to dilute them down for babies & not to give them as a bedtime drink. It rots their teeth
"Having Kids Now Is Crazy At Times"
Melina And Kevin, Married
"We've got three kids, a dog and a boat.
We love to gather around food and celebrate our family and friends."
"The Angriest We've Been At Each Other Have All Been Shopping Experiences"
"We love cereal.
I kind of see food as fuel, nothing more."
"nothing more"? Culinary experiences have been some of the best in my life
"I Am 88, A Retired Metro Bus Driver"
"Food is sustenance. I used to [cook], I used to love to do it, all that's gone because I can't see."
"65 An 67 Years Old. We've Been Husband And Wife For 18 Years"
"I don't necessarily like his style of cooking. One time he made me Vietnamese Norvegian gambo."
"Oreos And Energy Drinks... I Have To Have That"
"I would say food is just a medium for community, family."
"My Name's Gertrude. I Go To Restaurants A Lot For Company"
"Food means nourishment, especially since being older, [it has been] very important to eat the right things."
Brie And Ralen
"When you have a child and you have to make ends meet, you could go to the cheapest store and $100 barely stretched."
Dylan, Private University Student, Finance Major
"I like to cook fresh food so I got greens. I get UberEats and stuff sometimes. I spend about $150-200 per month on it."
"We're Both 19. Everyone Says That We Eat Like Children"
"I feel like normally when we spend $100 it's not ever on this much food. We were like wow we can actually get a lot for $100."
Rich And Bernice, Engaged
"We try to have dinner together, at least the nights we're at home at the same time. We don't watch TV while eating"
"I'm Going To Be A Medical Assistant"
"I spent about a quarter of the $100 on baby formula. I always cook dinner for me, my boyfriend and my daughter"
the amount of people on these posts talking about how unhealthy these people are need to mind there own business
"I Study Strategic Communications And Live In A House With 8 Girls"
"Usually I spend about $50 on groceries. I don't come from a family that has a lot of money. So that kinda sucks when everyone else is going out to eat and you just have to stay home to save money."
Tripp, Age: 30, Single, Bartender
"I would say I'm really striving to be middle class, but I don't know if I am quite yet.
A hundred bucks means like a couple of days worth of money or one frivolous night of indulgence.
I would say I drink at least six days a week."
With the equivalent of $100, I buy a whole lot more than that. Actually buy all my monthly groceries.
Studies have shown that even the most experienced wine connoisseur cannot tell the difference between cheap wine and expensive in a blind test. Wasting $63 on a bottle of wine is total idiocy.
that is definetly not true do research before posting
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He doesn't know if he's middle class but he will blow $100 out drinking? What privileged bull.
When he claimed he drinks 6 days a week I didn't know he meant that he nurses a bottle of expensive wine over 6 days lol
If you're spending $100 every couple days or on one frivolous night or $63 on a single bottle of booze and you haven't been evicted for not paying rent, you aren't "striving to be middle class." You're already there or beyond, depending on where you live. I've seen this so many times - the more money people make, the less they claim it, because they always see the next rung up the ladder and wish they were there. I knew someone through my old job who paid over a million dollars a year in taxes alone but considered themselves "upper middle class" and dreamed of when they would be "upper class."
Anyone striving to be a certain class is worth avoiding. Improve your lot in life by all means, that makes sense, but this is type of person who has a posh car on the drive but nothing in the fridge in the hopes of impressing people. Skewed values.
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Thats what i thought, in my job we have a cafeteria, they give us $80 aprox to spend them as we like, so i spend other $80 for the weekends.
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I love that he seems honest with his choices. I feel like the goal of this was not to see what one could purchase that would be the most efficient for their family. When I was single my purchasing would look similar to this. With vodka in place of the wine.
$63 for a bottle of wine is way above middle class, dude. Food should be the priority. Hey, Aldi's has Winking Owl wine for all of $2.95, lol
Sorry $62.99 - on one bottle of wine!!! It's all I can think about. 'Scuse me but what a k**b.
If 3/5’s of your food budget goes for alcohol and you admit to drinking at least six days a week, you might want to go to AA.
That's the key! Steak & shrimp with a bottle of wine for one night or hot dogs, chicken nuggets, spaghetti and canned veggies, a dozen eggs and a loaf of bread for 5 to 6 days!
We do too...not to excess anymore tho! Those days haven’t happened since this whole mess started. No get together with family and friends. Have sat outside with neighbors a few times.
Of course, bartender spends over half on ONE bottle of alcohol. Priorities
Ryan, Public University Student
"My room consists of a mini fridge and a toaster oven to cook pizza rolls."
"I'm Trying To Be An Actor. I'm Going To College Because My Parents Require That"
"I just buy little snacks that I can add to my school day.
I spent a quarter of my budget on honeycomb. I love honeycomb.
I don't cook. I eat out almost every day"
My husband and I both work but we certainly couldn't afford to eat out every day.
The lack of feminine hygiene products like tampons and pads was odd in some of these.
A lot of the commenters missed the point. This isn't the only items they buy or eat, this is if someone hands you $100 and tells you to spend it. I'm sure of lot of them treated themselves to stuff they normally wouldn't buy.
A lot of junk food comes here, almost every person spends 30-40% for that. I was very short of money for most of my life and I am really surprised that they spent so much for sweets and junk.
I thought that too, but then I thought what if they were allowing themselves to buy stuff they normally wouldn't? But I've been going through the shop here in my mind, thinking what I would buy if I had 100$ put in my hand. Depending on my situation (do I have enough food at home or not, how much money will come to me end of the months, how far away is the end of the month...), I would buy very different stuff. If I'm fine and have plenty food, I'd probably just buy some cool chocolate I wouldn't normally have or chips and stuff. Otherwise, I'd plan what I would want to cook and what would last me the longest. 🤷♂️
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I do not believe these people really thought that through. Everyone would need to have a roll of toilet paper or two in the lower right corner for this to be a realistic picture of what goes into typical needs, wouldn't they?
We shouldn’t judge on other’s diets because we don’t know the whole story. 😁
It's difficult to keep on eating well as a single person imo. Cooking for your own is not very motivating, also whatever you buy is geared at families and you either are throwing away goods or overeating even if you're somewhat decent at planning and have a freezer.
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USD is four times worth more in my currency, and 100USD I pretty much can eat well for a whole month (because single, but other households is surely different). it's quite eye opening to see how expensive it is to survive in USA with that 600USD stimulus I read about the other day.
@TexasPK - Makes me wonder if before US implements #TaxTheRich, they should question if their taxes are being used wisely by politicians. Anyone and everyone who knows Pakistan will know where the money would go and it certainly will not be spent on bettering life of its citizens :-(
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I went to the grocery store today and spent $165.00. Now I'm trying to think of what I bought. A roasted chicken, plain yogurt, fruit, a loaf of bread, 3 types of cheese, 2 types of crackers and 4 12-packs of LaCroix and 5 bags of coffee. Yeah. I like my coffee. I went to the store to buy the chicken to make soup and some coffee (not 5 bags, though!). Oh, I also bought 3 quarts of sodium free chicken stock. All of this will last a week or more, but still--$165? Nuts!! That's what I get for going to my local store instead of the big grocery store 20 miles away.
Wow they don’t seem to get much for $100. That’d be two weeks shopping for me at Aldi 🇬🇧
Ya'll don't know how to shop right at a Kroger. Buy mark downs. And for large families, Value brands and processed meats are the most inexpensive. You literally did all this shopping at a Kroger for no one that thought it through for a week except the Mom with the rice. What are your teenagers gonna eat for breakfast on Thursday, carrots and a potato?
What you get for this money varies wildly depending on the country. Here you find that fresh food is expensive. Good food is expensive but cheap, pre-prepared food is easier and probably the only option for poorer families. Being healthy is an option for the better off only. The only thing our (elected) government has done for us is to make feminine hygiene products free to all..
In the end, $100 would depend on where you can shop. At my local grocery store I'd have people criticizing my choices of processed foods and not always enough fruits and vegetables. However in my shoes it's because my local store doesn't always have the best selection of foods that are healthier. Give me $100 at someone else's store and perhaps things are vastly different.
$100 will easily get me 2 dozen eggs, 1 onion, 1 bell pepper, 1 lb. butter, 1 lb. coffee, 1 pint creamer, assorted fruits, peanuts, 1 lb. ham, block of cheese, 2 cases of beer, a bar of soap and some kind of ointment for my hemorrhoids.
Most of these either seem to be people that have plenty of money and just splurge on a meal or two, or people that must live somewhere where the cost of living is SKY HIGH. I live in a decent sized city in the US south. I could EASILY (and would in a heartbeat) make $100 last for a good week of meals... 3 a day. And that's for my wife and myself. Relatively healthy meals too.
I’m worried about the lack of toilet paper. Here in the UK it seems it’s compulsory to hoard loo roll, especially at the merest hint of a stricter lockdown. If was given a £100 half would go on cat food, the other half to clear my council tax arrears. Thanks Margaret Bloody Thatcher!
This is kind of inspiring me to lose a bit more of my pre-packaged food stuff until I'm down to zero.
This post really had my thinking about my own shopping habits. I think the majority of mine would be in produce and junk food. We don't eat pork in my house (I have pet pigs and just can't look at bacon the same any more). And we only eat beef maybe once or twice a month. We eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, pasta, chicken and some fish. I have kids so the snack category is also pretty full.
Aww you have pet pigs? Cool! I try not to eat pork (doesn't always work...) and generally meat from organic farms because pigs are such fantastic animals and don't deserve the way they are treated. No meat-animal does, really, but I've a very soft spot of pigs.
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My husband and I never buy snacks or premade food. Only have to go down the aisles for coffee, spices, oil, pasta, or rice. Never go to the frozen section. We were prepping for a hurricane and got all the premade junk food that could last and wouldn't need to be cooked...it was so incredibly expensive. Then we ended up having to go out to eat anyways because the junk food was making us feel terrible and we needed real food but our area didn't have electric back yet. I don't understand junk food or premade food. It is expensive, it taste horrible, and it makes you feel like crap. I feel really bad for students who live in dorms and don't have the facilities to cook decent food.
I can't believe how bad people eat, i mean the amount of pop is just crazy. The one guy is clearly an alcoholic who thinks himself something special
Do you mean the guy with a 60$ bottle? Not sure an alcoholic would be making that choice when they could get several good bottles of wine instead.
Load More Replies... That was really interesting. To see what people buy and to compare what you buy yourself. Through the right grocccerie shopping we really could improve our life and health.
what most people seem to forget was they were given 100 dollars they don't need cleaning supplies because they last c
Well DUUH.........! What do you expect from a heterogenius society? That's what makes we US folks different from the overwhelming majority of homogeneous societies the world over. This is why we are called a Melting Pot. Hey, learn to enjoy all the diversity, because its not boring or dangerous. In fact, it has far more advantages than the opposite. Spoken by a graduate anthropologist, who has lived in both types.
£100 = lots of lovely bottles of wine! Sorry to be flippant, but this article is pretty depressing.
The lack of feminine hygiene products like tampons and pads was odd in some of these.
A lot of the commenters missed the point. This isn't the only items they buy or eat, this is if someone hands you $100 and tells you to spend it. I'm sure of lot of them treated themselves to stuff they normally wouldn't buy.
A lot of junk food comes here, almost every person spends 30-40% for that. I was very short of money for most of my life and I am really surprised that they spent so much for sweets and junk.
I thought that too, but then I thought what if they were allowing themselves to buy stuff they normally wouldn't? But I've been going through the shop here in my mind, thinking what I would buy if I had 100$ put in my hand. Depending on my situation (do I have enough food at home or not, how much money will come to me end of the months, how far away is the end of the month...), I would buy very different stuff. If I'm fine and have plenty food, I'd probably just buy some cool chocolate I wouldn't normally have or chips and stuff. Otherwise, I'd plan what I would want to cook and what would last me the longest. 🤷♂️
Load More Replies... I do not believe these people really thought that through. Everyone would need to have a roll of toilet paper or two in the lower right corner for this to be a realistic picture of what goes into typical needs, wouldn't they?
We shouldn’t judge on other’s diets because we don’t know the whole story. 😁
It's difficult to keep on eating well as a single person imo. Cooking for your own is not very motivating, also whatever you buy is geared at families and you either are throwing away goods or overeating even if you're somewhat decent at planning and have a freezer.
Load More Replies... USD is four times worth more in my currency, and 100USD I pretty much can eat well for a whole month (because single, but other households is surely different). it's quite eye opening to see how expensive it is to survive in USA with that 600USD stimulus I read about the other day.
@TexasPK - Makes me wonder if before US implements #TaxTheRich, they should question if their taxes are being used wisely by politicians. Anyone and everyone who knows Pakistan will know where the money would go and it certainly will not be spent on bettering life of its citizens :-(
Load More Replies... I went to the grocery store today and spent $165.00. Now I'm trying to think of what I bought. A roasted chicken, plain yogurt, fruit, a loaf of bread, 3 types of cheese, 2 types of crackers and 4 12-packs of LaCroix and 5 bags of coffee. Yeah. I like my coffee. I went to the store to buy the chicken to make soup and some coffee (not 5 bags, though!). Oh, I also bought 3 quarts of sodium free chicken stock. All of this will last a week or more, but still--$165? Nuts!! That's what I get for going to my local store instead of the big grocery store 20 miles away.
Wow they don’t seem to get much for $100. That’d be two weeks shopping for me at Aldi 🇬🇧
Ya'll don't know how to shop right at a Kroger. Buy mark downs. And for large families, Value brands and processed meats are the most inexpensive. You literally did all this shopping at a Kroger for no one that thought it through for a week except the Mom with the rice. What are your teenagers gonna eat for breakfast on Thursday, carrots and a potato?
What you get for this money varies wildly depending on the country. Here you find that fresh food is expensive. Good food is expensive but cheap, pre-prepared food is easier and probably the only option for poorer families. Being healthy is an option for the better off only. The only thing our (elected) government has done for us is to make feminine hygiene products free to all..
In the end, $100 would depend on where you can shop. At my local grocery store I'd have people criticizing my choices of processed foods and not always enough fruits and vegetables. However in my shoes it's because my local store doesn't always have the best selection of foods that are healthier. Give me $100 at someone else's store and perhaps things are vastly different.
$100 will easily get me 2 dozen eggs, 1 onion, 1 bell pepper, 1 lb. butter, 1 lb. coffee, 1 pint creamer, assorted fruits, peanuts, 1 lb. ham, block of cheese, 2 cases of beer, a bar of soap and some kind of ointment for my hemorrhoids.
Most of these either seem to be people that have plenty of money and just splurge on a meal or two, or people that must live somewhere where the cost of living is SKY HIGH. I live in a decent sized city in the US south. I could EASILY (and would in a heartbeat) make $100 last for a good week of meals... 3 a day. And that's for my wife and myself. Relatively healthy meals too.
I’m worried about the lack of toilet paper. Here in the UK it seems it’s compulsory to hoard loo roll, especially at the merest hint of a stricter lockdown. If was given a £100 half would go on cat food, the other half to clear my council tax arrears. Thanks Margaret Bloody Thatcher!
This is kind of inspiring me to lose a bit more of my pre-packaged food stuff until I'm down to zero.
This post really had my thinking about my own shopping habits. I think the majority of mine would be in produce and junk food. We don't eat pork in my house (I have pet pigs and just can't look at bacon the same any more). And we only eat beef maybe once or twice a month. We eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, pasta, chicken and some fish. I have kids so the snack category is also pretty full.
Aww you have pet pigs? Cool! I try not to eat pork (doesn't always work...) and generally meat from organic farms because pigs are such fantastic animals and don't deserve the way they are treated. No meat-animal does, really, but I've a very soft spot of pigs.
Load More Replies... My husband and I never buy snacks or premade food. Only have to go down the aisles for coffee, spices, oil, pasta, or rice. Never go to the frozen section. We were prepping for a hurricane and got all the premade junk food that could last and wouldn't need to be cooked...it was so incredibly expensive. Then we ended up having to go out to eat anyways because the junk food was making us feel terrible and we needed real food but our area didn't have electric back yet. I don't understand junk food or premade food. It is expensive, it taste horrible, and it makes you feel like crap. I feel really bad for students who live in dorms and don't have the facilities to cook decent food.
I can't believe how bad people eat, i mean the amount of pop is just crazy. The one guy is clearly an alcoholic who thinks himself something special
Do you mean the guy with a 60$ bottle? Not sure an alcoholic would be making that choice when they could get several good bottles of wine instead.
Load More Replies... That was really interesting. To see what people buy and to compare what you buy yourself. Through the right grocccerie shopping we really could improve our life and health.
what most people seem to forget was they were given 100 dollars they don't need cleaning supplies because they last c
Well DUUH.........! What do you expect from a heterogenius society? That's what makes we US folks different from the overwhelming majority of homogeneous societies the world over. This is why we are called a Melting Pot. Hey, learn to enjoy all the diversity, because its not boring or dangerous. In fact, it has far more advantages than the opposite. Spoken by a graduate anthropologist, who has lived in both types.
£100 = lots of lovely bottles of wine! Sorry to be flippant, but this article is pretty depressing.
