Viewers are divided after watching a woman grocery shop for the week at Dollar Tree.
The video has stuck a nerve with people, earning more than 1.6 million views and more than 1,500 comments.
In the video, Jennifer (@keto_duchess) takes viewers along with her as she does her grocery shopping at her local Dollar Tree with a $65 budget to feed her family of three.
She ends up getting a variety of items including household goods like toilet paper, paper plates, and body wash.
Aside from that, she grabs a slew of snack and meal items including frozen fruits, cereal, cooking oil, frozen peppers, coffee creamer, and frozen burritos. But the thing some people can’t get over is the two packs of seemingly frozen ribeye steaks she threw into the cart.
“Dollar tree steak is crazy,” a top comment read.
“I’m in shambles seeing that,” a person said.
Others swiftly came to her defense.
“Buy her groceries for her then,” a commenter wrote.
“Just season it very well and cook it thoroughly,” another chimed in.
And some advised her to shop at Walmart or Aldi, claiming they had similar items for cheaper.
Jennifer didn’t seem fazed by the comment, sharing that Dollar Tree has carried the item for a while now and it tastes fine as long as she defrosts it before cooking.
Several people applauded Jennifer for showing the reality of her situation and how she still makes it work to feed her family.
The thing is, in the United States nearly 13% of households (about 17 million households) were food insecure, meaning they struggle to have access to enough affordable, nutritious food, according to 2022 United States Department of Agriculture data.
Plus, the United States is full of food deserts where a significant number of residents don’t have convenient access to a supermarket to buy fresh and affordable food. In these areas corner stores and dollar stores prevail, often leading to people being forced to primarily subsist on packaged and frozen foods.
What Jennifer is showing is the reality for millions of people.
@keto_duchess #dollartree #dollartreefinds #dollartreediy #dollartreehacks #dollartreehaul #dollartreecrafts #dollartreediyprojects #dollartreedinners #dollartreeorganization #dollartreehack #cheapmeals #cheaptok #budgetmeals #budgettips #budgetfriendly #fyp #foryou #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Jennifer 💕
In a follow-up video, she shows how she turned the steak, frozen veggies, and boxed rice into a delicious and well-rounded meal.
“HONESTLY SHOPPING @Dollar Tree IS BECOMING MORE CONVENIENT THAN SHOPPING AT THE ACTUAL GROCERY STORE,” a person said.
“Gotta do what you gotta do,” another added.
The Daily Dot reached out to Jennifer for comment via Instagram direct message.
