How much do you spend on food per month?

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#1169273 5-Nov-2014 14:30

DravidDavid:
CokemonZ:

Doesn't specify where the actual fruit came from. Our fish is the same, caught here, shipped to China or Vietnam for processing and shipped back here.

What a waste of time and effort :(

Never has hoki had such a high carbon footprint...

Most of our catch is exported. It's cheaper to run a cannery in Thailand.

BigMal

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#1169276 5-Nov-2014 14:48

2 adults and 2 small kids and we spend $400 per week. I find food to be expensive in NZ.

MileHighKiwi

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#1169288 5-Nov-2014 15:03

Disrespective: I've been using some software called You Need A Budget for nearly a year now and have noticed that our monthly grocery bill feels ridiculously high on average.

In the ballpark of $1500 per month. That's $375 per week...

There are two adults and a toddler in the house but it would be good to know if we're either terrible shoppers (which is what I suspect) or if that's fairly typical.

I won't go into specifics of what we buy etc but it would be good to know if others have to spend that much. We don't eat out more than twice a month and I cook most meals each week from scratch for what it's worth.

Seems high to me. There are two of us (soon to be 3, baby due soon) and we spend $160 per week, so about $690 per month. But then we don't include things like alcohol or personal toiletries like moisturiser or face wash in the shop, that's extra from our 'own' accounts.

We tend to shop to a pretty strict budget and plan all meals before the shop. We have takeaways usually once per week, occasionally two times if we really can't be bothered.

It's defintiely getting tougher to stretch the budget but I like the challenge of creating nice meals on a relatively low budget, and having enough leftovers for lunch. I hardly ever buy lunch.

mattwnz

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#1169306 5-Nov-2014 15:19

CokemonZ: And here is an article referencing watties fruit being packaged in Thailand.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11341314

Doesn't specify where the actual fruit came from. Our fish is the same, caught here, shipped to China or Vietnam for processing and shipped back here.

I still buy and eat it all. Lots of it is great. Basically sows fear uncertainty and doubt, and it is all likely to be fine.

Probably depends on the product, and maybe they have recently started to do more of it overseas. But they used to do it all in NZ from the Hawkes bay. I only buy NZ or Aussie grown and packed ones.

Geektastic

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#1169323 5-Nov-2014 15:26

khull:
Demeter:
BlueShift: The problem with eating out rather than cooking at home is getting a decent balanced meal. There's stuff-all takeaway options that you could healthily eat on a daily basis, and even at restaurants the portions tend to be a lot more meat and carb heavy than I'd cook at home.
Where do you go for a decent variety?

1. Zap Thai is a great go-to for lots of veg with some meat. Avoid the mostly-noodle dishes and explore the menu a little, you'd be surprised how healthy and delicious it is. :D
2. Pita Pit does salads instead of wraps. I ask them to leave out the iceberg letuce (which has no nutritional value) and they load the bowl up with lots of great veggies.
3. Habitual Fix has fabulous options for the health conscious
4. Sushi. Avoid the deep-fried crap. Try a Teriyaki Salmon Donburi, it's yum.

There are other options too, but those are generally my go to. I could eat Thai every day quite happily. ETA: We usually spend around $300 a week, adults and one teenager. We get takeout regularly because I work ridiculous hours and commute 4 hours a day.

good examples, don't forget Kapai and ditch certain dressings - I can't guarantee it will taste great but if you have dietary requirements then eating out may be restricted to certain establishments and businesses. It is tempting to eat unhealthy when you are out, but no greater than stocking up something unhealthy at the supermarket like sodas

Eat curry. You do not see many fat Indians in India!

Being originally British I have grown up eating curry more or less - the hardest thing here is getting it made hot enough! Usually solved as soon as someone realises I am from the UK - along with an anecdote of how their cousin/uncle/brother/sister/ETC used to/does work in Manchester/Birmingham/London!

tangerz

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#1169329 5-Nov-2014 15:34

Like the OP we are a family of two adults and a toddler. Our average weekly spend would be $350 so pretty close to the OP's $1500 a month. That includes some non food items (nappies, toiletries, cleaning products etc)

Usually do a 'big' shop every 2-3 weeks @ ~$500 and a 'top-up' in between @ ~$150 (essentials milk, bread, vege and fruit). Butcher every 2 weeks @ ~$150 has us pretty well covered.

I'm the first to admit we eat pretty well and could probably cut the spend by maybe 30% if need be. But that's the thing, we don't NEED to. We all enjoy our food (especially our little boy!) so I feel no need to change at this point... maybe things will change when #2 comes along! ;-)

alasta

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#1169382 5-Nov-2014 16:28

I live on my own and spend $150 per week. That covers a bottle of wine once a week, a dozen beer each month, cleaning and toiletry items, animal welfare friendly products, and some 'nice to haves' such as bacon and cooking sauces. If I were strapped for cash I could probably cut it down towards $100, but I feel happy with the value I'm getting currently.

This figure excludes eating out once a week, which I code against a different budget line.

I'd also add that I think it's a misconception that living alone makes it impractical to cook most nights. I usually cook enough for two nights and don't mind having the same thing twice in a row. There are plenty of quick and easy recipes that have good nutritional value.

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Elpie

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#1169387 5-Nov-2014 16:35

Living alone for the past fifteen months and my average is $80 a week, including Nespresso coffee, cleaning items, loo paper etc. That also includes a takeaway roast dinner about once a fortnight ($15, lasts two meals and one lunch). When we are together our food bill varies month to month depending on how the cooking/baking mood strikes and whether we are having people over for dinner. Eating out is a rarity and we probably get through less than half a dozen bottles of wine in a year.
Our biggest expense is bottled water. I loathe water and will only drink the stuff when its fizzed. My food bill alone is about 2/3rds of what it is when we are together.

Jase2985

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#1169390 5-Nov-2014 16:42

2 adults and a 2 year old, with a 20kg Black lab and we spend about 150-220 a week, depending on if we need nappies, dog food and cleaning product. We dont buy extravagantly but we also dont buy frugally. Those number include toiletries as well.

i think you are spending way to much for the number of people you have.

do you mind sharing what you buy to get a $375 per week grocery bill?

Handle9

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#1169441 5-Nov-2014 18:01

We spend $1100-$1200 at the supermarket + fruit and veg + butcher each month and a couple of hundred dollars eating at cafes and having takeaways. Two adults, two children with disposable nappies. That includes 2-3 dozen beer and $50 of dog food each month.

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#1169469 5-Nov-2014 18:23

My cost is about $35/person/week (it scales up when I cook for others about that rate) which I guess is about $5/person/day. However, from time to time when I need to re-stock on basics such as flour and the like, I'll increase the spend a bit. I'm not including in that amount the cost of house-hold things like shampoo, loo paper etc.

My main cost savers are only use fresh ingredients and have a good relationship with the local grocer and butcher. My time saver is doing the prep work before putting a meal together (for example, make the fresh pasta the night before)

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JimmyH

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#1169499 5-Nov-2014 19:21

I don't have a budget that I follow, mostly don't use shopping lists, but I do look at price reasonably carefully before I buy and tend to hunt for specials - although I don't stint myself for the occasional treats I really want. I estimate circa $120-140 per week, on average, on both food and alcohol.

That's mostly just for me, does go up a bit if the GF is round for dinner a few times etc - as she (obviously) eats as well, and I'm more inclined to pay a premium for quality when I have company. As well as food at home, that covers lunch out (about twice a week) and a couple of drinks out (around once a week).

I could cut $20-30 per week out fairly painlessly if I wanted/needed to do so.

Handle9

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#1169512 5-Nov-2014 19:55

TwoSeven: My cost is about $35/person/week (it scales up when I cook for others about that rate) which I guess is about $5/person/day. However, from time to time when I need to re-stock on basics such as flour and the like, I'll increase the spend a bit. I'm not including in that amount the cost of house-hold things like shampoo, loo paper etc.

My main cost savers are only use fresh ingredients and have a good relationship with the local grocer and butcher. My time saver is doing the prep work before putting a meal together (for example, make the fresh pasta the night before)

Can you describe what you are buying for $35 per week please.

PhantomNVD

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#1169528 5-Nov-2014 20:08

we do a fortnightly at P&Save for around $250 (including toiletries/loo roll/houshold cleaning products, etc), and add about $50 a week for fruit/veg and milk, so around $150/week or $700/month...

that's with 2 sons about-to-be-out-of-nappies-NOW-PLEEEEASE (!) :D [ages 3 and 6]

We do budget quite aggressively, but then I throw in at least $30 of 'snacks' at the last minute, which always gets SWMBO eyes rolling :)

BUT this doesn't include the "health" supplements that SWMBO has recently decided we all need, which must run to at least another $200 a month (easily) these days too!

JaseNZ

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#1169529 5-Nov-2014 20:09

just me and the missus here and our two cats , We spend on average $200 - 220 , we always get a $10 xmas club voucher so we have a good $500 for when xmas rolls around again. oh and we have takeout once a week and that costs us around the $40 mark.

It used to be over $400 (3 years ago) when we both smoked so the drop was good , no idea where the smoke money goes now though as we don't seem any better off.

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