Average weekly food bill & wage drop - can we afford to live?

[Guest thebaddeleys]

:cute:Hi everyone,

 

Can anyone give me a rough idea of how much a weekly food shop costs for a family of 4?

 

My husband is taking a a drop in wage by a third and i am struggling to realise if we will be able to live on this and i won't be working as childcare for 2 children costs more than i can earn!

 

if my husband earnt £50 GP before tax do you think we could live on that?

 

Many thanks

[Rachiegarlo]

Do you mean 50,000 pounds or 50,000dollars or 50 pounds?

[Guest thebaddeleys]

basically the offer is $52k basic wage $13 for a car and then if he earns commission then obviously get more money , thanks

[Rachiegarlo]

It would be possible to live on this, but you would have to have a tight budget.... for a while anyway. If your children are childcare age,then it is easier as they don't eat so much . The starting wage for a nurse is about that much and I know some of the younger ones at work manage on what they earn and some of them have kids. If you are coming with PR then you will be eligible for benefits for your children.

[Angela]

Back to the question, to give you some idea my weekly grocery bill can be between $180 & $230, it just depends whether toiletries, detergents are required. I never have too much food in & by the following week the fresh fruit & veg is non existent !! I also have to top up with bread, milk & cereal during the week.

 

Hope this is of some help.

[Guest donna T]

We spend about $200 per week plus extra fruit and veg plus milk and bread a couple more times per week. We try and watch the specials and always buy meat etc when on special and pop it in the freezer. On my husbands wage of $44,000 we struggle to make ends meet a bit but we are on a 495 with no benefits etc. which certainly would help!

 

Hope this helps you

 

Donna x

[Guest stufi1997]

Hiya,

I reckon the answers you've gotten are pretty average for a family shop, but everyone buys different things depending on their family make up....I reckon if you take a look at the woolies website you could do a mock shop and see for yourself http://www.woolworths.com.au/ or http://www.coles.com.au

I wouldn't say woolies is the cheapest by a long chalk but most places have them, kinda on par with tesco I'd say....there's coles as well, it's cheaper in my opinion. It'll give you an idea anyway;). Fiona

[Rachiegarlo]

and there are ways to cut down on your grocery bill. Coles at Edwardstown every night reduces all its store baked rolls and bread products to $1, we buy a lot and freeze. Similarly they discount meat that is close to date, we buy and freeze. The central market in town on a saturday is good forgetting fruit n veg cheap as the sellers bag up stuff and sell for a dollar or 2. Some of the small fruit n veg shops also are cheaper than supermarkets. We have one near us who has the small or mis shapes out the front for half of the inside stuff. Nothing like picking up a tray of mangoes in summer for $10!

[Angela]

There are definitely ways to 'shop smarter', the specials are always pretty good where ever you shop, I think the meat ones are pretty good deals IMO. When my bill is at a max its often when I have stocked up on either meat, wash powder/detergent, drinks for the kids. The fruit shops are great value for money to, strawberries at $2.50 a punnett.......bargain .

 

I don't enjoy shopping here but I am getting used to it, slowly, always make a list that way you don't stray from your budget .

[Rachiegarlo]

and home cook biscuits and cakes etc. although they always seem to be eaten very quickly in our house, spesh anzac biscuits which are just oats, flour sugar, goldensyrup or treacle and butter with coconut traditionally but i dont cos i never have it.

[Guest tiggs]

Over the last couple of months we have been on a pretty tight shopping budget - i shop for 5 (eldest eats more than i do so in effect 3 adults and 2 kids) and have managed to get our bill down to about $200 a week (give or take).

 

To give you an idea of what that gets us:

We eat a good quality balanced diet with a family meal every evening and lots of fruit and veg.

Generally cant afford a roast on sundays - but still manage beef steaks once a week. Meat in general is cheaper over here (tho chicken is quite expensive) tho i dont by any means buy the more expensive cuts! I buy meat in bulk and freeze - plus look for what is on special.

I avoid anything that falls into the 'ready meal' category - including jars of sauce (e.g. curry or sweet and sour) these are really expensive - $3.80 for the cheap end of the market. I have started recipe collecting instead and make most things from scratch.

I find cereal here very expensive (tho i appreciate the price of cereal is currently going up everywhere) so we generally stick to the basics - cornflakes, rice crispies, weetabix .

If you buy fruit and veg that is in season i find it considerably cheaper than in the uk so we actually eat more here than we did there.

I bake most of our bread - having a breadmaker is fab and makes a loaf for about half the price of one in the supermarket (and it taste much nicer)

I buy extras of our 'standard' things when they are on special - over time this cuts down weekly bills.

I think it is the lunch box extras (crisps etc) that add the most to the shopping here (well anywhere really!). I have started having a baking afternoon on sunday and making batchs of things for lunch boxes during the week - homemade cheese straws instead of crisps are much cheaper, healthier and the kids actually prefer them!

 

Cant think of anything else for now ... if i do i will pop back

Adele

[Guest tiggs]

and home cook biscuits and cakes etc. although they always seem to be eaten very quickly in our house, spesh anzac biscuits which are just oats, flour sugar, goldensyrup or treacle and butter with coconut traditionally but i dont cos i never have it.

 

 

oooh i love anzac biscuits - can i have your recipe?!

[Rachiegarlo]

The cup measure here is australian which is 250g

 

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup sugar(i use brown)

1 cup plain flour

(traditionally 1 cup coconut, but i dont)

mix together.

 

in a pan put

 

100 g butter(not nasty marg)

2 tablespoons either golden syrup-traditional or i use treacle

 

melt until bubbling together.

 

Add 1 tsp bicarb soda and stir as it becomes thick and toffee like.

 

Pour over flour/oats mix etc. and stir together

 

If it is still a little dry you can add a little water until all mixed.

 

Place blobs on sheet allowing lots of room to spread.

 

Cook for about 15 mins at 180C (350F if you have an ancient relic in the kitchen).

Cook for a bit longer if you want hard ones but we like ours chewy.

[Guest Deb17]

Aren't you all frugal little housewives?!

We seem to be in pretty much the same boat though. As one or two have said, our average shopping bill for four is about $200 a week but used to be a lot more before we cut right back on treats. At least, with hubby being a baker I don't have to buy bread or rolls and the odd cake comes in useful too! Although this is probably disloyal to Woolies who employ said hubby, I do think Coles is cheaper for groceries and will probably stock more familiar items to new migrants...they do English food sections in some of them. Always look out for the discounted items in Coles - if they scan them at the till and they come up full prices you get them for free! I've had loads of freebies in this way from Coles, but never from Woolies.

One word of warning to prospective migrants out there wanting to avoid cooking and do more in the way of microwave 'ready meals'...there is NOTHING like the variety of frozen meals out here that we were used to in the UK, hardly anything palatable in the supermarket freezers at all. If you like Lean Cuisine you'll be fine, otherwise forget it. (I think it's part of a conspiracy by the Aussie establishment to keep women securely shackled to the cooker, as even I do a lot more cooking out here than I ever had to at home!)

[Guest smit]

Coles will probably start to get better . The bloke that used to run ASDA is in charge now.

 

Guess what? I have heard a rumour that there will be a new ozzy iniative coming our way.......

 

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE !!!!!!!!!!

[jo_marnes]

They don't have BOGOF???!!! Madness

 

Currently we feed a family of 5 with a £50 main shop (Sainsburys) and about £10- £20 top up shopping, but that includes nappies. We eat a lot of chicken - pay £3ish for a pack here (breast fillets etc) or get 3-4 large breasts on 2 for £6. Will chicken be more expensive then? We tend to make from scratch anyway. Pasta is a fave with the kids and we eat a lot of rice. Do you think our shopping will be more expensive?

[Guest tiggs]

Coles will probably start to get better . The bloke that used to run ASDA is in charge now.

 

Guess what? I have heard a rumour that there will be a new ozzy iniative coming our way.......

 

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE !!!!!!!!!!

 

 

oh that would explain it!!! i was wondering why there were suddenly bogof and multibuy offers in coles ... works for me

[Guest tiggs]

The cup measure here is australian which is 250g

 

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup sugar(i use brown)

1 cup plain flour

(traditionally 1 cup coconut, but i dont)

mix together.

 

in a pan put

 

100 g butter(not nasty marg)

2 tablespoons either golden syrup-traditional or i use treacle

 

melt until bubbling together.

 

Add 1 tsp bicarb soda and stir as it becomes thick and toffee like.

 

Pour over flour/oats mix etc. and stir together

 

If it is still a little dry you can add a little water until all mixed.

 

Place blobs on sheet allowing lots of room to spread.

 

Cook for about 15 mins at 180C (350F if you have an ancient relic in the kitchen).

Cook for a bit longer if you want hard ones but we like ours chewy.

 

 

thanks for that!!

i have all that in my cupboard so i suddenly feel a baking session coming on!

Adele

[cint&mark]

seeing as people are talking food [yum - my fave topic...] i was wondering how my hubby is going to cope in Oz as he is veggie.Has stuff like quorn mince hit Adelaide yet? Do they have much veggie stuff in the supermarkets? Jacinta

[suziewozie]

oh that would explain it!!! i was wondering why there were suddenly bogof and multibuy offers in coles ... works for me

 

BOGOF and Multibuy offers in Coles?????? , I have not seen them , What sort of things is that on please.

 

Thanks

[Guest Aussie pat]

Have just made a batch of the Anzac bisuits and they are lovely. Won't last long in our house!

 

My grocery shopping bill in the UK is £100-110 per week which sounds very similar to all of you in Adelaide. We've also had to really tighten our belts. I usually cook from scratch and don't buy ready meals or sauces. I think the cost of food and bills in general is going up on both sides of the world.

[Guest Nick11]

Our average food bill is around $175 a week - I shop at foodland which in my opinion is much cheaper than all the other supermarkets.

Always buy their own black and gold label - which is excellent value and good quality.

Buy my bread from the chinese bakery - $1.50 a loaf

Get my meat from the butchers - which is better value and quality.

Getr my booze from whoever is doing a special at the time!

[Guest tiggs]

BOGOF and Multibuy offers in Coles?????? , I have not seen them , What sort of things is that on please.

 

Thanks

 

 

havent been much in the way of bogofs (washing powder a couple of weeks ago).

the multibuys are now on quite a lot of things each week - in this weeks shopping fruit juice, pasta ... cant remember any more but there were quite a few in store.

It was a couple of months ago that the coles advertising leaflet started saying 'a new way to shop' and then listing the multibuys ... made me laugh that this was the 'new thing' - for goodness sake how long have they been doing these things in the uk?!!!

[Guest tiggs]

Have just made a batch of the Anzac bisuits and they are lovely. Won't last long in our house!

 

 

i agree!!! those biscuits are great!

although I think i might put a little less sugar in next time ... i could feel my teeth dissolving

[Guest cbeeb]

Quorn has not hit here yet in supermarkets, have been told there is a health food shop in glenelg that sells it but have not been looking. Sanatarium do a veggie range, hotdogs are good, veggie meat really grim. Also another range in freezer that do good veggie burgers and schnitzels but do not use them alot as can get a bit dull but a good standby. Planet organic do dries soya mince which is ok. Loads of veggies and fruit tho so am coping fine. Eating out not great alot of places though.