DeadVim

$150 to $200 for 2 adults, 1 five year old and a dog.

And that's with plenty of veggies and not holding back on decent meat ... organic hand-fed chicken that has been read to every night, that kind of thing.

I would imagine the recent floods around the country will have a effect on all this.

The booze bill? Don't ask

irishbloo

How much do you spend on booze.

DeadVim

More than I spend on veggies

kimandken

Yes, my bill includes lunches that i make at home.

BadgeIsBack

We are also in the region of 150-200 I would say - 2 adults, 2 pre-schoolers and a baby who would nick the food of my plate given the chance...Aldi is an option but we do get lazy.

Points to note:
i. We do not buy any processed food as it is understood in the UK - or what I consider to be processed food*. Little junk. Staples: pasta and veggies, rice, cous-cous - we seem to buy bread, milk, (low and full-fat), 1kg cheese blocks, yoghurt and ham on an hourly basis. The boss makes her own bread occasionally.
ii. Lots of stir-frys so the larder shelving is straining under the load of tins of tomatoes. (Aldi).
iii. Our veggie garden is on-stream and providing daily zucchini and soon a ton of tomatoes (ha!).
iv. Other stuff like spices and sauces as and when.
v. Chicken is the main meat. I am responsible for buying steaks and chops which I could get from Tasman but get from Woolies mostly.

*What you consider to be processed might differ. Apart from the obvious junk, we don't buy food in overly packaged or presented form, if the fresh is available. Apart from the tins of tomatoes....

How about we start a 'This is a photo of our fridge/larder' thread so we can all marvel at our choices..

DeadVim

Yup, that's pretty much us too ... I am the chef at the moment so the simpler the nosh the better.

Having said that the rest of the tribe are making their own arrangements today so I am microwaving a can of Big Soup, chucking in some extra onion and going back to student mode.

Could be worse, could be a Pot Noodle ...

neil248

Thanks everybody for the replies.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Got to be honest and say that, as I'm in exactly the same position, that I find the figure of $200 a week unlikely. We spend closer to double that amount.

jad n rich

We get away with 280, but its with hell bent determination, I know darn well if I bought that lot in one shop once a week it would cost well over $400. I could do the weekly shop in probably an hour in one place, instead with markets we probably do 4 to 6 different shops/markets/barns a week

iamthecreaturefromuranus

We are starting to go the same way. Use to be almost all done at Woolies, but now its Aldi once a fortnight, for a bulk purchase of tinned goods and cleaning products, then Woolies once or twice a week to top up and buy the stuff Aldi don't do. Fruit and veg are really no cheaper here from the greengrocer than the prices at Woolies and we shop for meat at the butchers more for quality than price.

mand8002

The $200 is on the top side, this week it came to $170. I set aside $800 per month on food so when we have a 5 week month I struggle with $160 a week but on the whole it is manageable.

Kim67

We spend about $350-$450 a week for two adults and three kids (7, 9, 12). But we don't eat out or get fast food very often and my husband works from home so that's three meals a day for everyone.

BadgeIsBack

Speaking the bleeding obvious - the easiest way to spend less is to not buy 'rubbish' - and I realise that this definition is suspect and differs widely. Naturally, it is the rubbish which costs. I mean, when I was buying for myself I could add 50pc by just buying several packets of biscuits, an entire cheeseboard - et cetera. Noone needs fabric softener - my mother never used it and nor do we. You don't need Mortein or a hundred cleaning products. It's naff to buy pre-mixed drinks. I know all this because I spy the contents of people's baskets and trollies - and most of it is not needed (and of course, sometimes unhealthy). It's an individual thing, and of course, a choice they are perfectly entitled to make. And I like a packet of biscuits like the next person.

DownUnderPaddy

Ach na pratai ! Ca bhfuil na pratai ??
Oh the humanity :-(

jad n rich

Agree with you on not buying rubbish - biscuits etc and excess cleaning whizbang products, vinegar is brill and a buck for 2 litres..

But healthy food IS the expensive stuff.

Lean meat is big bucks not the meat barn fat and gristle stuff, fruit, vegies, even milk the low fat is more than full cream, granary bread is 4 times the price of bowel clog white. Fish is V expensive too, unless you want to buy some frozen imported farmed stuff. Salmon is usually near $40 a kilo

I love coming up with recipies made from legumes or oats, cheap as you can get, asian bean patties, or sugar free oat bars - delicious. In home ec, youngest took the sugar free bars to a school function, the teacher told him blunt, disgusting, you need to put lots of sugar in them, think the point went over her head.