I have recently been asked what exactly our monthly food budget is. I was a bit hesitant to share what exactly our monthly budget is. But here it is.
Our monthly budget is $700 max. BUT I am always aiming to keep it under this. By as much as possible. I haven’t gone past $530 at the moment.
But this month I was able to beat that and get it under $500
This month I didn’t need to buy any meat at all except for the lunch things and I still had a pretty stocked pantry but I did add some things that we don’t need to buy each month. Cleaning supplies, formula sachets, a brush for washing up, dishwasher powder and fly spray. Plus a few treats.
So for this reason our budget was under what I usually spend. We did our fruit and veg shopping at the Wellington Market. I had a budget of $100 and we spent $65 including parking which was $12 which is really good.
The total price for our food shop from Countdown was $465.67 where we usually spend around $530 to $580.
We still have a lot of fruit and veg but we do a roast on Sunday’s for dinner so my trip to the fruit and veg market will costs about $50 in veggies that will last about two weeks. Because honestly you can’t beat fruit and veg market prices compared to supermarket.
So this is what our shopping list consisted off this month:
Frozen Items:
2x Chicken Nuggets 2x Straight Chips 3x Mixed Vegetables 1x Hash browns
Baking Items:
24 Eggs
1x Chocolate Drops
1x White Chocolate Drops
1x Plain Flour
1x Sugar 1.5kg
3x Surebake Yeast
1x High Grade Flour 5kg
1x Milk Powder
1x Cinnamon
Fridge Items:
1x Milk
3x Ham packets
1x Edam Cheese 1kg
1x Mozzarella Cheese
1x Butter
2x Cocktail Sausages
1x Frankfurters
3x Marge
Kids Extra Lunch Treats:
1x Mini Biscuits Variety
2x Potato Chips bags
4x Oaty Slice Muesli Bars
2x Muesli Bars
1x Vege Crisps
2x Crunchy Muesli Bars
1x Shapes Variety Pack
Drinks:
3x Drink For Dad
3x Drink Us
3x Juice Syrup
Kid’s Items:
4x Nappy Pants Packs
2x Formula Sachets Boxes
10x Baby Wipes
2x Nappy Bags boxes
1x Kids Toothbrush
Personal Items:
2x Tissues Boxes
1x Depends (For After Labor)
1x Toilet Paper
Cleaning Items:
2x Paper Towels Packs
1x Dish Brush
2x Fly Spray
1x Washing Up Liquid
1x Dishwasher Powder
1x Rubbish Bags
2x Stain Remover
As I say this month was a meat free month shopping wise. No mince, No sausages, No chicken which is what I usually buy each month. It was just a basic, this is what we need as we have everything else.
The drink for us will last the month and the kids lunch treats will also last the month, because they won’t have them in their lunchboxes every day as they will have the baking that I do.
While picking up my groceries I was handed a leaflet that let me know that from 7th October we will have the option to either bring our own bags and pack the groceries when we pick them up or they will continue to pack the groceries in the brown paper bags and will charge an extra $1.00 to pack your groceries for you. That is also per order and not per bag.
When we spend under the budget and we have accounted for the top ups then what we generally do is buy an extra two reusable diapers for this baby. Because I am hoping to cut out all disposable diapers for this baby. This is one of the things that will keep down our grocery bill. Because we will have to be formula feeding and that means the budget will automatically go up in the end.
Next month we will be up a bit more to replace some of the meat that I didn’t buy this month because it wasn’t needed. But it will balance out because I won’t need to buy the cleaning products I topped up on those this month.
As I say my biggest tips are Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping online and not going in. Helps keep the prices down because you can’t see everything in the shop so you don’t end up impulse buying. I also keep a running table on what we need throughout the month so come grocery time I can just double check everything, confirm I am missing nothing and then place the order the day we get paid usually for pick up the next morning.
And I am always on the hunt for ways to cut our grocery bill down even more.
How does everyone else do their budgets? Are you weekly, fortnightly or monthly? Do you shop online or go in?
– Just A Happy Mum
