Budgeting - can you please help with some figures

[singlewithtwo]

Hi,

I have recently become single and as most of you are aware things are going to be TIGHT now. In fact I am worried I will not make ends meet.

Anyhow, I have prepared a budget but have to cut costs substantially and was wondering for all of you experienced budgeters out there how you much you allow for a weekly food budget - not including nappies (I will budget for in another section). I have two little girls. 1 9 month old that I am still introducing solids to and a 2 1/2 year old. Also, how much do you allow in your budget for entertainment?

Also, any other budgeting tips would be appreciated and any websites that also may help.

Thanks

[Ella]

Hi, well that depends, we do our fruit and veg shopping at hte markets each week as it is cheaper that way. so we usually spend $25 a week on fruit and veg, $40 at the butcher for the fortnight and $100 at the supermarket. so that's $190 a fortnight. We get away with that if I'm really strict and look for lots of bargains.
We also do all our other bills on a fortnightly basis as I find this helps. So we average our phone electricity and other bills and then pay half the monthly average every fortnight.
As for entertainment, we do that on a fortnightly basis, depending on the bills we may have nothing, but we try to aim for $50, that's some fuel and a meal out...

By the way I know doing fruit and veg, butcher and supermarket seems annoying but I think we worked out we are saving about $65 a fornight doing it that way!

Hope this helps, PM if you want some more specific help!

[mitzy81]

I don't know how much we spend on food a wk, it is just the 2 of us but we will be budgeting soon once we are on 1 wage.
We buy fruit and veg from the fruit markets, buy no name brand items. If we see milk reduced we stock up and freeze it, bakery bread seems to last longer and I am sure is better for you than the processed stuff you get from the supermarket. Mince can go a long way. Sit down when you get your supermarket catalogues and write out your shopping list and meal & snack planner for the week.
Entertainment wise we hire dvds on the cheap nights, ask friends, people have huge dvd collections these days and you can borrow from them. Think cheap if you are going out for the day with the kids. If you go to the park, take snacks, pack sandwiches etc. It costs a small fortune having to buy drinks from takeaway shops!
Good luck

[*Ali*]

I have to agree that shopping fortnightly really helps with the budget. I also do f&v shopping at the markets, and buy meat from a butchers. Another thing that really helps me is meal planning, so I only buy exactly what I need and not any what if's. I also buy meat in bulk and then use it to make double batches of things and freeze half for lazy days, this has a double effect of cutting down meat costs and also means we dont have to buy take away when we dont feel like cooking.
With bread I always buy from Bakers Delight, but buy 4 at a time because they do a deal for that. I try and spread out my toiletries, cleaning items etc and pick up 1-2 a fortnight so that I don't run out of everything in the same fortnight, as they are really expensive to buy (or you could just use vinegar and bi-carb for cleaning that help to reduce costs).
I also plan what baking I am going to for snacks etc, sometimes I bake from scratch, otherwise coles does a range of .79c packets (right down on the bottom shelf) which do as a base and i just mix something through them to jazz them up a bit.
I also have figured out the average cost of my bills over the year (phones, internet , car rego etc) and I have broken that down into a fortnightly amount, so I never get a suprise when a bill comes in.
Good luck with it all, it can be tough, but I find that having a budget and sticking to it has meant I havent had to use my credit card in months.