I know this has been done so many times before, but this time I need it...lol. There is my husband, myself and 1 very hungry 16 year old at home. I am trying tyo sort out what is a realastic amount to spend on food, cleaners, etc for a week. I have got into a bad habit of buying week to week and know that I can do better. (got sloppy since 2 of my kids are now at uni). My teenage son (16) will eat just about anything? I have given hima $15 budget to buy fruit,meat (for sandwiches),yoghurt and whatever he can budget for theweek for his school lunches (trying to show him that convenience foods are soooo expensive!). We are blessed that my husband hunts and we eat venison, but to keep variety going I need more for meat. I freeze what I can from the garden and at the moment have frozen silverbeet, leeks and bottled beetroot.I have picked all the elderberries and will make a rich high in vitamin C tonic from these (will send some to kids at uni) I have an idea about what to spend, but would like some ideas to see if I am balanced or am expecting to much for the budget? I make most things from scratch but would appreciate comments on cleaners, soap powder, etc?
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lilyfield,
Mar 20, 12:50am
How long is a piece of string? realistic i would say you should manage on 100 $ easely.I use far less than 1/3 of this on my own. But i do not eat meat or cheese. Cut out all cleaning agents- a bit of detegent and ellbow grease will clean anything.there is a wonderful thread going here about budgeting. you would have seen it. Try and get a wholesale card from Gilmores for flour, still only 85 cents a kilo on their specials. Hope you have a breadmaker. use your freezer potential to the fullest. Eat more pulses. Never ever buy anything that someone else cooked or prepared. That includes cans. It all depends how frugal you want to be.
bedazzledjewels,
Mar 20, 12:53am
Cleaners - hot water, baking soda and white vinegar will do quite a lot.
cgvl,
Mar 20, 1:21am
2 adults here and I allow approx $40 for meat per week but it depends on what I already have and what I buy eg sometimes much less than that but thats what I budget. Again approx $20 for milk and bread and and $20 for fruit and Veg although that too can go up or down depending on what is in the garden/freezer etc. And lastly $20 for extra's eg cleaning stuff, toilet paper etc. So for the 2 of us I would spend on average $100 pw.
I buy my soap powder/laundry in bulk from either Mitre10 mega or Warehouse a 6kg bag will last me around 6 months or more. I just use 1 scoop full, using the scoop from an old box of powder. Last lot cost about $20
ant_sonja,
Mar 20, 3:22am
we are a household of 2 adults and one 8 year old boy (+1 on the way :-)) and we spend between $90 + $130 per week on average. Don't buy any junk or pre-packaged stuff really so that cuts things down by a lot - snacks are things like seasonal fruit and/or veggies; a slice of home made pizza or bread etc. Don't eat much between meals really and everything is made from scratch more or less. Most of our food budget is taken up with buying meat/dairy & veg - we also have 3 dogs & 3 cats to feed so I think we're doing ok with how much we spend. Once every 5 weeks or so we do a 'big shop' of around $200 which includes replenishing and topping up on stuff like oil/vinegar/seasonings/dried herbs & cleaning things plus whatever else may be running low.
julie28,
Mar 20, 4:27am
2 Adults and 4 kids aged 14, 12, 11 and 8 and we are around $300 a week
duckmoon,
Mar 20, 7:10am
google otago university food cost survey
they have liberal, medium and low cost of feeding adults, teens, under 10s and preschools (both male and female).
If you are working on a budget, you can do it for less, but it will give you an idea of what other people are doing
sit1,
Mar 20, 7:50am
2 adults, 1 teen & 1 kid, We are spending about $180 per week at the supermarket on food & cleaning products, dishwasher tablets etc. I supplement my supermarket shop with homegrown fruit & vege, I don't buy prepackaged food or biscuits etc as I do baking each Monday for the weeks lunchboxes. I also make jams, pickles, preserves from homegrown produce.
kob,
Mar 20, 6:14pm
there is a budgeting thread I started called '' who needs to budget, ME'' search for it on the search engine and thats gives ideas of supermarkets shopping amounts and even some grocerie and meal lists to cut cost, as well as home made cleaners and baking etcertc all you need, if you have any questions please ask, I when lazy would spend $160 for 2 adults and 2 teenagers and when I was being super strong and following all my set rules could do it for anywhere between 90-120 per week, just depends how dedicated you are and how much time you have, we all work but if you rushing through the door at 5pm and everyones hoovering on you for ameal you wont feel as calm as you would been at 2 pm when your tring to creata a masterpiece........no pre bought package meals are needed really, but on my investigations I did find that in winter months frozen veg at the supermarket were cheaper to buy than fresh, so thats an interesting point, and budget tomato sauce still looks the same and the family will believe its watties if placed into a watties sauce container, homeemade pickle( my family hated) would get devoured if I put it in a cerebos pickle jar ( i would blend it to make it look smooth and shop brought), loads of tricks & tips so check out the thread, and accept anything free anyone offers you, wheter you like the product or not its always good for swaps or turning into a stew etc etc, look forward to hearing from you
lythande1,
Mar 20, 7:44pm
The Warehouse has laundry powder for $11 for 5Kg. $20??!!
lythande1,
Mar 20, 7:47pm
Don't buy meat, fruit or veges from the supermarket. Other meat from the butchers. I know Mataura butcher had whole lambs for $80 a year ago. Might be a bit more now but still a cheaper way to get it. Gore - beef when the have those sides for bugger all per kg.
Veges is a bit harder your way, I found them incredibly expensive down there, but is the market out Wallacetown still going? They had cheaper veges.
jan2242,
Mar 20, 8:59pm
Not sure if this will help, but what I did was write down everything I bought for 3 months. Then went through the list and it was easy to see exactly how much was spent on everything. I worked out exactly what I need each month and it has saved me lots.
topherino,
Mar 20, 9:13pm
2 adults and two kids including one in nappies, 4 cats and a dog. We spend $20 a week at the fruit and vege shop and $130 a week at the supermarket. We do grow our own veges as well and very rarely buy cleaning products. We buy a lot of Home Brand products which I find are mostly superior to other products anyway.
isis.,
Mar 21, 12:17am
Is that the "shots" brand stuff?
Usually nice and cheap but im allergic to it :(
snookum0_0,
Nov 13, 1:10am
Homemade washing powder (I've used this for the last 6 mths) it's brilliant, cleans your clothes and makes them smell nice.I got the receipe from the book by Cath Armstrong and Lea-Anne Brighton, Debt-free, Cashed Up and Laughing. WASHING POWDER 2 cups grated pure soap (sunlight soap 4 pack from the supermarket is it) 1 cup washing soda (from Countdown) 1 cup borax (from the chemist - 1 container is equal to 1/2 cup) 1 x 500g box bicab soda
Grate soap in a food processsork add remaining ingredients and whiz until mixture is a fine powder. You will only need a level tablespoon-barely level-of laundry powder per load.Really dirty clothes get a rub with a bar of soap or a smear of shampo before going into the machine.
uli,
Nov 13, 1:16am
Or 5l dish washing liquid and 1l "handy andy" for the tough bits plus 1 small "cif" for pots and pans. That would last me a year.
buzzy110,
Nov 13, 1:58am
Honestly. The most realistic amount to spend on groceries is what your income says you can spend.
Read the posts where people say they only spend x amount of dollars very carefully and you will see that they spend extra to buy in bulk and don't add that into their average. Also some spend such a tiny amount that I presume lunches are not included in their shop and b/f is barely tea and toast. If you factor in the extra amount spent by every family member buying lunch and a snack at morning tea to get them through to lunch, you'd find their weekly shop is actually a whole lot more. Others supplement from their homegrown produce. For some, like me, gardens are an on going expense but the pay off is that I produce a lot more edibles than we can eat at the time so it can be 'saved' for later. However, that money should be factored in as well.
My DH spends quite a lot on wine and beer. Should that be factored in! I reckon it should be.
Keep records of every cent you spend on food, be it at the supermarket, butcher, dairy, fruit shop, farmer's market, cafe, takeaway, bakery, etc and even sweets and ice cream from the service station. Tally it all up at the end of the month and divide by the number of days in that month. You will have a pretty good idea how much you spend per day and can decide how much you can shave off that daily amount and where to make savings.
cgvl,
Nov 13, 2:17am
buzzy a good point there. I have just re done my budget and on average while I could get away with a $100 spend it is probably more likely closer to $120 now. I bought 2 x Persil sensitive last xmas one a 5kg and the other a 6kg bag, I am now about ¼ of the way through the 2nd one now. Cleaning products are the expensive ones IMO.
lythande1,
Nov 13, 2:26am
Freeze silverbeet! Why! It grows all year. Freeze your beans, peas, carrots, swede, pasnips. I have 3 adults, son having moved back in recently. I spend $40-$100 a week. $100 if buying his convenience foods - he wants those instant pot noodles, mini pkts chips, and stuff like that, his money used so OK. $40-$60 is more realistic when just the two of us.
We have vege gardens, herb gardens, strawberries, plums, oranges, lemons, grapes, passionfruit and gooseberries. I never buy meat or veges or fruit from the supermarket, always the cheap vege stalls. Cleaning stuff, you don't need a big variety, most are interchangeable you know. I wash the floor with dishwashing liquid. Windows and walls too. Washing powder -Shotz at warehouse $11.99 for 5kg, lasts ages. Loo paper 40 rolls $10 also Warehouse. Don't buy tissues or paper towels. meat I buy in bulk 3 times a year, chicken when on special, no more than $4.99kg. I make everything (except sons junk), was making bread for a while, but no time now I'm, working full time again. Still don't use a lot of it. Son has leftovers for lunch, me I take a bunch of snacky things, some fruit, tomatoes, crackers, whatever I have. Make wraps if I do have sandwich type lunchs, 1/2 wrap is enough, the rest stores in the freezer. never buy jars or pkts of ready mix sauces or cooking stuff, do it from scratch. Dry my own herbs, those that don't dry well (parsley) I freeze. Don't buy soft drinks or juice.
buzzy110,
Nov 13, 3:10am
Why freeze parsley! Like silverbeet, it grows all year round.
samboy,
Nov 13, 3:56am
we spend approx $240 a week, husband, myself and 21 yr old (who is 6ft 7), I get the veges and fruit from a Saturday market and the meat (as much as possible seeing as its 30km away) from Mad Butcher, otherwise I get it from the supermarket.Its interesting reading here as husband and I often have a discussion (sometimes heated) on what others are spending so good thread here.He thinks I spend too much.
frances1266,
Nov 13, 4:27am
lilyfield - can you give a rough idea of what you would eat in a week please.
lythande1,
Nov 13, 4:38am
It does go to seed.so the bit in between.
uli,
Nov 13, 8:30am
Like silverbeet that goes to seed right now - together with the parsley . BUT if you are a supermarket type girl you wouldn't know aye!
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