Food bill 2A 2C per week?

[~me~]

We are 2 adults and 2.5 kids

Our budget is $150 grocery
$ 50 f & v

That includes everything, napppies, top ups also. I stick to it pretty well.
We don't buy our Fruit and Veg at the supermarket as it's more expensive than our fruit and veg market. I rarely buy meat at the supermarket.

My DH goes to the market to buy our meat and spends $100 at a time, that lasts us for a month sometimes longer with a few vegetarian meals thrown in.

I only shop by a list, so as I run out of things, on the list they go. I don't walk down shopping aisles like the the confectionary or soft drink one at all.

HTH

[toomanyshoes]

We're spending $350+ per week!

What kind of meals do you make?

[Fuzzywuzzy]

Wow TMS that is alot. We feed 4 adults and 1 child for less than $250 per week and that's having meat every night. Use cloth so don't buy nappies though. What does the majority of your money get spent on?

[toomanyshoes]

Wow TMS that is alot. We feed 4 adults and 1 child for less than $250 per week and that's having meat every night. Use cloth so don't buy nappies though. What does the majority of your money get spent on?

I don't know TBH. We have meat every night, fish 1-2 times a week, we go through a lot of fruit and veg, the kids take a piece of fruit plus cucumber and capsicum sticks to school 5 days a week but then we don't spend money on pre packaged/processed stuff

[Arimeh]

I don't know TBH. We have meat every night, fish 1-2 times a week, we go through a lot of fruit and veg, the kids take a piece of fruit plus cucumber and capsicum sticks to school 5 days a week but then we don't spend money on pre packaged/processed stuff

We have meat twice a week, a fish meal, some vegetarian meals and then I also incorporated some cheap and easy meals too each week, just to try and keep it down.

I have a meal plan for the month that I follow too.

[Astrolady]

2A 3C - approx $280

As for meals. It is generally a roast and corned beef once a week. Something to do with mince another night, chops, a slow cooked meal with either chicken or beef, then marinated chicken pieces, & chicken thighs with lemon chicken sauce or whatever. Some weeks we have home made hamburgers.

But it is generally the same week in week out. I also buy in bulk when there is a good special. For example our washing powder was half price, online, for about 4 weeks, so each week I brought 4 till the special ran out. That was sometime last year. I have brought 4 more since, but that is cause it was another half price special. I still have about 8 boxes to get through.

[~me~]

Every couple of months I go to Costco which has opened here in Melbourne.
I buy things like toilet paper, diced tomatoes, nappies, wipes, paper towel, glad wrap, and other things that come in bulk.
They then don't come into my weekly shop, it saves quite alot!
I buy my washing powder from Big W in 9kg lots, it's usually on special by the time I come round to needing it again

[Arimeh]

We spend $250 a week, most of the time. Sometimes we run out of fruit so will spend a bit more halfway through the week for extra, but usually we get away with that amount. Thats for 2 adults, 3 children.

[*Efjay*]

We spend $250 a week, most of the time. Sometimes we run out of fruit so will spend a bit more halfway through the week for extra, but usually we get away with that amount. Thats for 2 adults, 3 children.

Ours is about this but with 4 kids.

[Olive]

we shopped today for the week and it was $160, it was $180 but our coles has 10% off because it has been redone, it was an exxy shop this week.
thanks for 7 meals, snacks etc.. i also bought salmon fillets and king island steak, 3 tins of deoderant as well.

[Livinthedream]

I just about fell over last week went I went and did a shop and it was $170 (2A, 1 toddler)
It was my first week of non vege patch (we are currently putting in winter veges)
$50 on F&V!! I couldnt believe it
I breed chooks and we eat the boys so at least 2 chicken meals a week here and 1 egg meal, 1 vego and super butcher bulk buying means that a huge shop for us would be $150 and that would be toilet paper, shampoo etc.
The chooks more than pay for themselves, as I sell excess hens (actually the chooks net around $200p/m and only cost about $60)
Grow your own, so worth the everything LOL

[toomanyshoes]

Thanks for all the replies, we would love to grow our own and have chooks etc but being in a rental we can't.

I did up a very basic shop for us online last night and it was still $250 without personal items, toilet paper, etc.

Going to have to re think it a little.

[Astrid]

I breed chooks and we eat the boys so at least 2 chicken meals a week here and 1 egg meal, 1 vego and super butcher bulk buying means that a huge shop for us would be $150 and that would be toilet paper, shampoo etc.
The chooks more than pay for themselves, as I sell excess hens (actually the chooks net around $200p/m and only cost about $60)

We are probably about 6 months to a year away from selling any extra girls we breed. Nice to know we will be able to make some money in the future.

[~me~]

You sound like a GF of mine, she spends about that too and has 2 adults and 2 kids.

Lot's of different things...Salmon Steaks on Potato Rosti
Spag Bol
Gourment Pizza (use things like basil, bocconcinni, chorizo, prawns from the market). I make up pizza dough in advance and freeze it.
Tonight is Chicken Kievs (from the market) with roasted veges.
Lemon chicken from scratch.
My DH loves our slow cooker and makes everthing from scratch like Ossco Bucco (yummy!)
Lentil pie
Lasagne
Salads
Stir fry's with Hokkien noodles
gnocci (made this with a burnt sage butter once, very nice)
Beef Stroganoff with home made pasta (I use the master chef recipe)
Rissotto
I make a fried rice from the biggest loser website using tofu, it's very tasty.

I only buy home brand bread as I freeze it, I buy 4-5 loaves at a time.
My DH just spen $100 at the Vic Market and got heaps, including chicken breast, roasts, chops, mince, whole fish, pork chops.
We also said we would never skimp on food and we don't We eat very well.

I meal plan on the days I am home, so I think what I feel like then google recipes. That's how I came by the home made lemon chicken, about to make it again as it really was nice.

[AndiE]

We're spending $350+ per week!

What kind of meals do you make?

If it makes you feel any better, our weekly shopping bills are generally between $250-$300, sometimes a fraz more if we need nappies.
I'm going out of my skull trying to cut it down - I pretty much get what we need, there's little waste (just the odd veg or fruit that expires before it gets eaten). And I don't remember the last time we ate steak!
The price of a head of cauliflower last week was $9 - I know it's due to the bad weather, but still!!! Used to be a staple in this house, but not for ages.

[toomanyshoes]

I just spent $150 for a week but that was going through the fridge/freezer/cupboard and making sure everything is used up this week.

Guess I will have to wait and see what the following week is like.

[Olive]

goodwork!!

[Bathsheba]

Since we have moved from Melbourne (where grocery shopping was much cheaper) to rural NSW our weekly shop has increased from about $180 to $200 per week. This is for 2 adults, 1 teenager (she eats more than me!) and 2 children... but that includes bathroom and laundry items.

I mainly cook from scratch. We don't eat red meat. We do eat fish and poultry. My sister often gives us excess produce from her hobby-farm sized garden: watermelon, zuccini, squash, chillies...and also the occassional carton of eggs from her chooks.

I don't do a weekly meal plan but instead I (daily) assess what's in the pantry/fridge that really needs using up and make sure I use it. I have worked as a chef's assistant and am a pretty good cook (if I do say so myself!) and maintain a very high rotation of our food stocks. Very little is wasted... food is rarely scraped into our bins or goes off in our fridge. This is a VERY important aspect of saving $ on food... just make sure it's not wasted!!! My mother will agonise about which is the cheapest tin of beetroot on the supermarket shelf BUT then she will shove it in her fridge and forget about it until she finds it mouldy at the back 6 months later... crazy! I have a policy of making sure i can clearly see everything in the fridge so nothing is ever forgotten. That's where the big savings are made

We also aren't big eaters. We use old fashioned sized crockery... (don't look confused!)...and compared to the serving sizes of most of our friends and family (who use modern super-sized crockery) we apparently "eat like sparrows". But we aren't fussy.... far from it... our kids eat what we eat and turn their noses up at most "kids' food" like Kraft processed cheese, they prefer Castello Blue! We have expensive tastes (we have smoked salmon about once a fortnight for eg)... but it's quality not quantity.

We have at least one vegetarian meal per week but that's not for savings reasons... just personal preference.