How much $ do you need a week
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Topic: How much $ do you need a week
Posted By: IVFGirl1111
Subject: How much $ do you need a week
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 1:25pm
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To spend on groceries and money for you ie coffee, lunch, shopping money etc.
Reason I ask is that we are going to put away a set amount from DH's wages a week to cover that for when we go down to one wage - but we have no idea really on how much we should average it out to be! So how much do you spend a week on groceries (and how many people in your family) and on yourself? If that isnt to personal that is! |
Replies:
Posted By: Spudling
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 1:34pm
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we are spending about 200 a week on groceries and then have a bit left over for us...I would say we spend about $170 all up, this includes one in nappies (bout $15 a week) and about $40 in formula a month
------------- http://tickers.families.com"> 
http://tickers.families.com"> 
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 1:36pm
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We spend between $80-$140 a week on groceries. That's for me, DH and Daniel and including a tin of formula each week. But we don't buy nappies as Daniel is a cloth bubba. The reason for the big difference is every 4th week we buy meat for DH (im a vege) and every now and then we get something that's randomly expensive (girly products etc). But we write shopping lists and stick to them.
Money for us. DH doesn't spend anything really on himself, I tell him to go out to lunch on ocassions. I sometimes buy a random item for myself but generally we don't spend anything because we are saving for a holiday. |
Posted By: baalamb
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 2:17pm
We have a grocery budget of $150, which we stick to and never go over (apart from the Christmas grocery shop  ). Basically, we write a list of all the essentials, do the shop (taking a calculator with us) and if there's a little left over, then we possibly get a treat, or something extra for dinner that week.
The other thing we try to do is buy meat in one week, and formula in the next, otherwise it ends up being a very expensive shopping trip! ETA: if we're WELL under the $150 limit, we'll buy an extra can of formula or pack of nappies. Try to put as much as possible away before baby comes along or even during TTC! We saved lots, knowing that I would potentially have 12 months off (most of which is unpaid after that maternity pay runs out!). When Ashlee was about 8-9 months old, I was ready to start looking for a part-time job and just as well I guess, because the money was starting to dwindle by then. It's definitely more expensive when baby is younger. That's what I found anyway. They require more formula, and cans of food (if you don't make your own) than when they're older and can eat what you eat. For spending, we budget on $50 each per week. And since doing WW, DH tends to make his own lunches and just buys coffees occasionally. I use my spending money to buy Ashlee the occasional item of clothing as I'm not out of the house as much as DH is. If we don't use up that spending money, we'll save it up and go out for dinner/lunch within the month. |
Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 2:45pm
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We budget $250, that is suppose to pay for groceries, my petrol and money for me to have coffee/lunch out 1 or 2 times a week. DH then has $75 which pays for his petrol and any lunches etc he wants to get at work. Most weeks we spend over the $250.
The above pays for me, DH and Spencer. That does not include nappies as he is in cloth, or formula as we get that on script and pay for it 3 monthly it also doesn't account for pet food as we buy that in bulk about once every 2 months. We spend so much on food cos I don't buy anything that is processed and those things that I can't make myself (like yoghurts) I buy organic. ------------- 
 
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Posted By: IVFGirl1111
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 2:47pm
| So if we budgeted for $250 a week and that is just for groceries and my spending ie going out for lunch, hair cuts etc that should be enough? |
Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 2:56pm
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Hmmmmm that $250 doesn't pay for anything out of the ordinary, things like haircuts etc come out of DH's overtime money that normally goes into savings. I think if you work out how much you spend on groceries now, add about $30 for petrol (that's what I budget but most weeks don't use that much) and then say another $30 for coffee/lunch (some weeks you will spend more some less) and go with that. And then think about whether you are going to use cloth and whether you are going to breastfeed (and then budget for formula anyways as you never now how breastfeeding will pan out)
Hope that helps -------------
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Posted By: CuriousG
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 2:56pm
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Provided you don't have expensive tastes and or hair cuts, that should be fine. We spend anywhere from $150 to about $200 a week on groceries. And I cook all bar one night a week. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: IVFGirl1111
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 3:04pm
| Sorry ment to say that that $250 is just for groceries and my spending, all the bills, petrol, eating out etc would come out of a different account. |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 3:28pm
| $250 in my opinion is MORE than enough. There's so many ways to cut down on grocery bills. It just depends how organised you are and how expensive your tastes are. |
Posted By: IVFGirl1111
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 3:34pm
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Cool thanks for that Stacey and everyone else - I appreciate your honesty :)
I would rather I guess try to budget on having to much rather than not enough. |
Posted By: cuppatea
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 4:00pm
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Yeah that's what I tried to do, over budget, is better to have a little extra fun money each week than not have enough to even buy the groceries. And like Stacey says there are ways of saving money too. But I still go over, I don't know if we over spend or whether it is just cos I don't buy processed stuff but I can easily spend $200 a week on just groceries, and we rarely have expensive or luxury items and I stick to a list, perhaps we are just pigs... haha -------------
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 4:02pm
lol cuppatea. We go under ours quite a bit and that was when we had a golden retriever to feed as well as Daniel  And we have a sh*t load of food in our pantry
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Posted By: AliaDawn
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 4:22pm
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We spend $70-100 p/w on shopping etc. Seb only goes through one bag of nappies a week now, and maybe a tin of formula a month... wipes last a couple of weeks for a $5 huggies pack. Am going to be very pleased with myself if I can get my next bubs to bf... formula price can be horrific when they're young.
Oh yes, and we don't drive - so we save a bit of money via petrol. Will occasionally take the bus to Lower Hutt, but we always walk to Petone, and parks/beaches etc. -------------  
 
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Posted By: IVFGirl1111
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 4:25pm
| Awesome thanks guys! |
Posted By: lizzle
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 8:06pm
| also depenbds where you live. we found that in Gisborne, we spent $50 a week more for groceries. |
Posted By: busymum
Date Posted: 29 January 2008 at 9:15pm
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I was going to say that too, fruit & veg vary a lot and also what shopping centre etc.
We spend approx $160/week groceries for 3 adults and 3 kiddies, I cut DH's hair myself and get mine cut only every few months (I'm still undecided on style so keep growing it out!) $30/week petrol but if we were commuting for work it would be a lot more of course. We don't pay for formula or nappies  If you want to do cloth nappies, now would be a good time to buy your first 6, get used to them in the early days and buy a few more after then.-------------  |
Posted By: CuriousG
Date Posted: 30 January 2008 at 7:36am
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And the other thing we have found really helps is meal plans, I never believed it until I tried it but if you can actually write down what you need to get and stick to it, it actually helps!
And there will be more expenses some weeks (ie when you need shampoo, tampons etc) but overall it seems to work out. I also try and buy my veges from the vege markets in Otaki, its a bit of money on Petrol but the quality, size and price is soooooo worth it - and they taste HEAPS better! ------------- http://lilypie.com">
http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: yummymummy
Date Posted: 30 January 2008 at 7:44am
We spend about $180 a week on groceries/washing stuff etc at the supermarket for 2 adults (1 pregnant  ) and 1 child and 1 cat. We also spend about $60 a week on take-aways/coffees/going out.
In saying that I can see easy ways to cut this down but with being both pregnant and going to work, I often can't be bothered cooking etc so we buy loads of pre-prepared easy to cook meals and take-aways. How much do you spend at the moment? I'd say budget about the same as the savings you can make cooking from scratch etc will be taken by things like nappies. Unless you alter your habits, your spendings will be about the same after as they are now. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 30 January 2008 at 8:17am
Yep Im finding it more expensive in Gisborne too. Also petrol costs more here, and you have to pay for parking (which is mostly just annoying cos I have to rememebr to make sure I have coins!). |
lizzle wrote:Posted By: Spudling
Date Posted: 30 January 2008 at 8:18am
Man, you are the budget queen, well done you 
...how do you do it? I very rarly buy extras and there is no way I could ever get our food down to that price. I only have to buy half our veges cos we have a garden, we are not big meat eaters. I buy one multi-packet of chips or whatever for Cailin a week and 1-2 prepared tins for Jeremy and that is all the processed foods I get for the kids, We don't drink coke or lemonde, and we hardly ever drink beer or wine but can still not get my food any less than $130-$150 in a week and as I said before, it is usually around the $180 mark Stacey, you should run "how to by groceries on a budget" course! ------------- http://tickers.families.com">
http://tickers.families.com">
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Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 30 January 2008 at 8:49am
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Ours is usually around $100, less if I am in Palmy and get to Pak n Save. We only have New World here and OMG its expensive! ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: MissCandice
Date Posted: 30 January 2008 at 9:09am
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New world is really expensive here too!
I shop at pak n save. We used to spend $80 a week when kylah was born up untill about 2 weeks ago when we realized we are getting low on everything and falling behind. So now we spend $120 a week which includes one can of formula. We do our main groceries at pak n save and we do all our meet at raewood fresh. Dont have to buy nappies as Kylah is in cloth. I would say $250 is HEAPS! ------------- ~ Mummy to a beautiful girl ~ |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 30 January 2008 at 9:19am
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lol it's actually not very hard to keep groceries really low in cost. I'm lazy and don't make any of Daniels food so its all tinned stuff and most of our meals have some form of egg in them so I can't be bothered making a whole seperate thing for him.
And we could actually make it lower by getting meat from my parents for DH as they have a farm and do home kill. Pak n save is by far cheaper. We also take advantage of $3 week and usually spend more then. But we go to markets to get our produce. It's sooooooo much cheaper and fresher than in the supermarket. We have our vege garden but it's DH's first year of really trying it so it's not producing that much yet. We write a list of meals we might want to have that week and then figure out what we need to make it. Like tacos, pasta bake, a rice dish etc. Then buy bread buns and freeze them for the week's lunchs. We hardly ever buy lunch anymore because its really expensive compared with making something tasty at home. We also make our own stir fry sauces etc rather than buying them. Like mixing together soy, lime juice and honey ain't hard.. so making the sauces yourself if you have those types of meals works out saving a bit. |
Posted By: Shezamumof3
Date Posted: 30 January 2008 at 9:31am
Thats about the same as us but we do a big shop every 2 weeks, but Is till only spend about $150 and that lasts us and if we need anything extra throught he week liek milk, bread etc then we get it, Im not a big meat eater so I dont buy a lot of it. DF eats what I eat and if he wants a bit of meat we will buy what he wants. I mostly eat chicken(its cheaper too hehe). We have started writing a list and are sticking to it, or I only buy what we need. No more luxerys lol. We want to get in a good habit before Caden is born. ------------- |
Posted By: newmum
Date Posted: 30 January 2008 at 3:14pm
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Have you guys all found groceries have got so much more expensive over the last couple of months?? or is it just a Blenheim thing?
Aaargh so hard to shop. We have a $150 a week budget with 2 kids in nappies. Hard to stick with sometimes but manage pretty well. Helps to do the meal plan/shopping list thing definitley.------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 30 January 2008 at 3:20pm
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I think groceries have got a LOT more expensive. Our budget is $150 per week and for a while we were doing that easily and then all of a sudden it got harder!
Our downfall is that we always seem to have one of those shops where you need to restock...but it seems to be everyweek. I must say I am impressed by online shopping as you can set your budget and not go over it but $100 minimum for the cheap delivery means I really need to stretch it out to 2 weeklyor something as we cant get chlled or forzens from them (live too far away) so I have to budget that elsewhere. |
Posted By: Rachael21
Date Posted: 30 January 2008 at 4:41pm
Oh man I am the worst at keeping to my budget, I don't know whats wrong with me and what I buy. I do one big shop every 2 weeks and usually spend maybe $240 on a bad week $200 on a good week (this week was close to $300  ) and then about $50 on the other week for milk, fruit and veges. I have 2 in budget nappies, don't buy formula or sanitary products and make all Capreces food (with the exception of maybe 4 tins each big shop). I put $40 gas in every other week.
Actually now that I think about it $250 is more than enough if you don't count haircuts and clothes. And yes nzpiper shopping has to have got more expensive, budget bread was up by 15 cents this week and we go through a lot of bread. |
Posted By: shelleybean
Date Posted: 31 January 2008 at 10:39am
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Interesting topic, one thing too, is add a few crock pot meals in for your meals - that way you are saving on take aways if you dont feel like cooking. They are not hard to prepare.... ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: MissCandice
Date Posted: 31 January 2008 at 1:38pm
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Not to mention the block butter you use for baking.. this used to be around $1.. now its $4 a block!!! ------------- ~ Mummy to a beautiful girl ~ |
Posted By: Jay_R
Date Posted: 31 January 2008 at 1:50pm
I blimmin know!!! It's only been in the last few months that I've actually realised how darn expensive butter has become! In fact, the non-discounted price at my local Foodtown is $4.99!!! We spend LOTS on our groceries Usually around $250 a week. We don't really (ever) go out anywhere, and rarely have take aways, so I like to cook pretty nice meals. Plus, both DP and I are real "foodies" so we like to have the nicer things. And, um.... we LOVE wine, and usually the shop includes 4 bottles of wine, round the $15-20 price range.
Hmmmmm.... perhaps, don't listen to me, not a good role model at all
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Posted By: shelleybean
Date Posted: 31 January 2008 at 3:23pm
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lol lol..... You are allowed to have a wee treat "joshierocks" ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: daikini
Date Posted: 01 February 2008 at 2:19pm
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Interesting stuff...
We budget $300/fortnight for the groceries for 2 adults and 3 children... the boys are in cloth so we don't buy nappies, but that covers everything else including all food, toiletries (except makeup) and cleaning products. We also budget $120/fortnight for petrol and transport, which sounds like more than it is - it costs us just under $80 to fill our tank from running on the fumes, and the remainder of the money goes into a monthly train ticket for DH to get to work, with a little left over incase we happen to do more driving than normal. I cut DH's hair, and am going to start cutting the boys as well. If the biggest comb for our kit is long enough (which it looks like it might be) DH will be cutting my hair too. I should be able to do Kiya's as well, as she's happily growing her hair as long as she possibly can so all she needs is a trim every now and then! ------------- Becca, mum of 2 girls & 3 boys |
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 01 February 2008 at 8:17pm
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I spend roughly $200 (sometimes just under) on groceries per fortnight for two adults and three kids, but that doesn't include meat which Willie buys and fruit and veg which I buy every 4-5 days from a vege shop (cheaper than supermarket) and costs me around $60 a week. The groceries includes one bulk pack of sposies for nights and a bulk pack of Huggies wipes which lasts a fortnight with two in nappies, plus a box of Johnsons liners and every month or so a bottle of Dettol Fresh for the nappy washes.
I also do incidental shops for stuff like milk as the gremlins get thru around 9l a week And milk is bloody expensive!
When it comes to coffee/lunches out, takeaways etc. I am pretty slack, I kind of work off the theory that I work therefore I spend There has to be some perks to being a working mum! I probably spend anywhere from $20 too $100 a week depending on how often I'm out.
Petrol is $90 a tank and usually lasts about 10 days but I do a lot of driving. Haircuts usually cost me about $20 for Maya, Willie shaves his own and mine is about $150 every eight weeks for a cut and color altho I've been slack since I've been pregnant and am in dire need of a color. ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
 (02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 01 February 2008 at 8:20pm
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Eek, that makes me sound terrible! I *do* know how to budget, when I was studying full time and on the DPB when Maya was tiny things were really, really tight, but now that we have the luxury of 2 incomes and little debt we have gotten a bit extravagant. I rarely say I can't go out coz I can't afford it, I just find the $$$ somewhere. ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: Salifer
Date Posted: 02 February 2008 at 8:22pm
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We spend $150 weekly on groceries for 2xadults + 1xbaby (that'll do 5 meals + 5 lunches + meat + veges + beer/wine). We have $50 petrol a week (I don't seem to go far these days!) and $180 spending (coffee/lunch/clothing/takeaways/presents/haircuts/doctor/dentist.....you name it that $180 has to stretch somehow!!!
Some weeks we spend more, other weeks less.....it just seems to be evening out at the moment! All other expenses (eg insurance/rates/power) come out of another account. We used to spend $120 on groceries and upped it to $150 when baby arrived. We also put aside $10 weekly while I was pregnant for nappies.....and bought about 8 packets of newborn sposies in advance. Hoping the $400 we have for nappies will last us the year. Hope that helps :) -------------    
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Posted By: daikini
Date Posted: 02 February 2008 at 8:41pm
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Oh, I forgot to mention, we don't go out but we do "at home Date Nights" where we'll get junk food, and a movie (either one we already own, or on TV, or rent one... occasionally we buy a new one cheap) or play cards or a board game or something and we spend between $10 and $20 a week on that. ------------- Becca, mum of 2 girls & 3 boys |
Posted By: Paws
Date Posted: 02 February 2008 at 8:46pm
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We would spend around $250 - $300 per fornight on our groceries...we've started getting a few more organic products however which is a little more expensive so could cut down the grocery bill by around $50 to $100 but we're finding it worth it. We also allow for a few more luxuries now that I'm working again.
Before I went back to work however our grocery budget was $200 a fornight and we managed great on that. We also now budget $40 per fornight each for coffee, lunches out etc but again this is only as I'm working, before we didn't have this either. Coffees were made at home and bought lunch was unheard of!  ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 02 February 2008 at 10:19pm
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I am trying a new plan! We really only spend around $100 a week for the 3 of us (a little more if its New World), but I tend to just buy the same stuff every week ragardless of whether we need it or not,, plus what we do need. So I am trying every 4th week to only buy fruit, veges, milk, bread etc and just make do for the week. We have enough meat in the freezer and veges in the garden - I may have to get creative by the end of the week, but it will be good for a change.
So today I went to the supermarket with the only cash in the house ($32) and just bought some basics, totalled $31.50!! So will see how we go.  ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: newmum
Date Posted: 04 February 2008 at 8:15am
I use margarine! It's cheaper, already soft and I've never noticed a taste difference with anything! ------------- http://lilypie.com">
http://lilypie.com">
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