My budget is $160 pw. For ages we were going over anywhere from $10 to $40, but lately I have been under. That is due to our veggie patch finally being productive and we now get milk from the local farmer in exchange for eggs. We also eat the odd rooster of ours and have chooks for eggs. We spend about $10 per week on chook food, so technically that should be added to our food budget costs.
One pack of $20 nappies is included in the shopping once every 4 weeks. There is also the usual toilet paper, washing powder etc.
We cook most things from scratch, most bread is out of the bread maker. No expensive cereals, I make a batch of bircher twice a week.
2 Adults, 1 Toddler - $200 a fortnight inclusive of personal items (hair dye, razors, body wash etc) meat, F & V and nappies etc also...
And we eat VERY well, want for nothing, still get our luxuries.
I make pretty much everything from scratch and bake a bit too for snacks etc..
I shop mostly online except for fresh stuff like meat, fruit & veg etc but always make my meal plan to mostly make use of the meat/deli specials. We do a couple of veg meals, like soups etc but most of our meals are meat, pork, chicken & fish. I buy expensive things like coffee in the biggest tin when it's on sale, I always get at least $10 a tin off coffee (Nescafe Blend 43) toilet paper (Only Kleenex Cottonelle) in bulk on sale etc.. I find with these items usually by the time I need them again or start to look like needing them, they're on sale again! I swear they're in an even rotation sometimes!
I'll come back later to tell of some other things we do but I actually find it so easy and am always surprised at how much money people spend on groceries, most of which gets wasted.. Meal planning is AWESOME! I do all our breakfast, lunch & dinners and usually have lots leftover each fortnight so roll that over in to the next fortnight
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