Just starting an open discussion to see monthly expenses of an ozbargainer's family
Please use this format may be? :)
Mortgage / Rent :
Grocery :
Bills ( electricity, internet, gas, medical insurance, house insurance etc) :
On Kids :
Others :
For us its appro $4500.
Mortgage(in Sydney) : 3500
Grocery : 300
Bills ( electricity, internet, gas, medical insurance, house insurance etc) : 400
On Kids : 150
Others : 100
Wow, I itemize everything with a total average expenditure of 7.2k /month for 2 adults, 6 kids. My friends know me as tight, but apparently I'm not…
Monthly:
Entertainment/holidays $60
Food/Personal Supplies $1493
Eating out $331
Health $121
Total Transportation inc fuel, services, 2x vehicles(no repayments) $487
Mortgage $1649
Net, Phone, Rates, house maintenance, insurance etc. $835
Daily Living $834 includes education, office supplies, clothing etc.
Other about 900ish.
Need to remember who's company you're in here :)
I live in a shared house so rent (bills included) is 600 a month, i spend $10 a day on food on average (sometimes slightly more/less) and eat whatever I like really for 300 a month. 50 a month on public transport.
I lived like this for a couple of years with 1000 a month expenses, saved my arse off, then joined gym (60 a month), bought car 1650 another 1500 rwc rw, equipment for gardening business, spent about 1000 on clothes and shoes from ozbargain deals which should last me 10 years…
Plan is to rent own place in next 6 months for around 300 a week, if business takes off in warmer months. My bro furnished his house for under 1k from ppl selling/giving away online so i will do same.
Im 33 and always lived in shared housing as never had a well paying job before… or if i did i pissed it against the wall during 20's.
Living like a pauper for 2 years turned me into extremely shrewd money spender now… i never go out now, quit smoking, only cook own food. Funnily enough when i did that 1000 a month felt like i had more than when i was blowing 5k a month.
Will not look to buy house until I am married… any savings ill invest somewhere… any advice for best place to camp about $5k?
Rent: $2,300 - 1 bedroom apartment, Sydney CBD
Gas/Electric: $130
Internet: $100 - expensive but Internode is worth it IMO
Mobiles: $50 - wife's only, I get a work one
Groceries: $500
Eating out: $500 - we eat out regularly, don't drink though :)
My spending money: $500 - mostly goes on work-day lunches and pool tables
Wife's spending money: $500
Total of around $4500 wasted per month for just two of us, no kids … yet
Which is interesting because before having all this data I thought we lived relatively frugally, compared to colleagues and friends at least! I'm going to suggest culling my wife's spending money first thing tomorrow, will let you know how that goes.
Guess he never made it out alive.
Hard to itemize mine, but here goes.
24yr male, living with a single parent.
Rent: Own a house, so no rent to pay, but Strata fees and council fees = $70 a month
Power: $130
Internet: $60
Mobile: $20
Travelten Tickets for the bus $55
Groceries: $160
Takeaway lunch for work: $80
Insurance $20??
Misc spending: highly varies, only buy when on bargain, $100~250.
I spend roughly this every month:
Mortgage - $1350
Groceries - $650
Utilities - $900 (gas,rates,water,elect.,ins.car.)
Invst- $200
Kids-$200
Medical-$200
Misc-$600 (clothes, takeaway, presents,cash,misc.entert.)
Total = $ 4100
Kids go to public primary school, one wage, 2 adults, 2 kids & 1 baby. Have 2 cars 1 ours other work vehicle. Hubby can fix cars so save on repairs. Save to go on holidays and try to have as little debt as possible and only 1 cc paid monthly. Use ipad app to balance expenses/income and it's been great.
Just a couple living in rented unit house.
Rent: $928
Utilities: $120
Mobile: $20
Internet and Homephone: $$49
Car insurance: $50
Groceries: $200
Alcohol: $100
fuel: $100
Other: $50
Being a vegetarian helps reduces the cost of Groceries at some extent.
Very interesting and informative thread. So far only expenses are quoted….just wondering what is the amount of saving per month for Ozbargainers….u know savings not to buy more Ozbargain crap but for rainy days :)
Couple with 1 kid
Rent : $1690
Childcare : $1036
Groceries : $400
Insurance : $250 ( health & car)
Utilities : $250 (broadband , mobile , gas , electricity )
Transportation : $200 ( 1 car )
Shopping : $200
Miscellaneous : $200 (eating out etc)
Total : $ 4026
These expenses excludes yearly car registration & maintenance. .
Couple with 1 child
Rent : $1400
Childcare : $400 (Occasional care)
Groceries : $300
Insurance : $220 ( health & car)
Utilities : $200 (broadband , mobile , gas , electricity )
Transportation : $170 ( 1 car )
Shopping : $200
No eating out…
Total : $2850-$3000….
I get the feeling people grossly underestimate groceries. Either that or I'm doing it wrong. 3 meals a day for under $200 per person a month is like $2.50 a meal. That doesnt even take into account groceries like toilet paper, razors & washing detergent etc. Pretty sure people would be shocked to know how much we all spend on groceries a month.
Totally agree.
I do the odd $40 shop for 2, but it's because that week I'm eating frozen leftovers or using up stuff that's in the pantry.
I suppose if you're literally eating just chicken thighs and rice for every meal you could do it but it wouldn't be much fun.
It might also depend on where you shop? Supermarket vs green grocer/market & butcher.
Not really that hard if you have oats for breakfast, a few sandwiches or leftovers for lunch and make multi-meal dinners. My dinners usually work out at $1.50 per serve in raw ingredients, and that's the most expensive meal of the day.
$1.50 a serve? Sorry but I just can't think of anything I could make for $1.50 a serve
Pasta - 90c
chorizos - $2.50 for two
pasata - 90c
tinned tomatoes - 45c
a carrot, onion or whatever veggies I have handy and a few herbs from the garden - 50c
Total of $5.25 for 4 meals = $1.30 a serve.
One of my fav dinners.
Any sort of stir-fry, curry, chilli, stew etc tend to work out about the same price
This website compares your spending habits with other people in Australia - pretty cool and a little bit creepy on how they managed to collect such detailed data:
Interesting…thank you
Couple aged 32 with no kids.
Mortgage $2400
Food $500
Rates $160
Internet $60
Mobile $70
Home phone $10
Car insurance $35
Fuel $120
Public Transport $75
Total $3,800 :(
In rental, engaged to be married.
Monthly expenses
Rent: 750
Mobile:20
Internet: 25.00
Phone: 16.00
Electricity: 430/2/4 =53.3
Groceries: 200
Martial arts:83
Gym:64
Monthly alcohol amount: 400- rarely reached.
M-F discretionary coffee/food:80
Ctp: 53 (scooter)
Public transport : 120-160
Fuel per month: 30 (shared)
Fiance tax: 100-but some overlap since some of this is increased groceries expenditure.
Can usually save between 2000-2300 per month.
Will drop the gym after 12m is up. Not my thing.
Not a family, this is just my personal expenditures for a month, 26/yo excellent lifestyle but strongly control buying habits:
Rent 695
Food 170
TV 12
Wine 120
Party & eating out 280
Utilities 100
phone 40
Oz bargain and similar shit 180
Total 1592
PS VERY sobering reading the expenses of raising a family…
Weekly budget roughly $950.
Trauma Insurance (not paid through Super) - $13
Contents Insurance - $9
Health Insurance - $20
Mortgage - $430
Strata - $50
Rates - $20
Utilities - $17
Unit Maintenance, Furnishings & Appliances - $20
Electricity - $18
Food & Alcohol - $150
Holiday - $50
Clothing - $20
Phone & Internet - $25
Car Rego, Insurance, Maintenance & Fuel - $80
Public Transport - $30
As a single student in a sharehouse.
Rent: $537.50
Groceries : $55 - 60
Utilities : $30 (electricity and hot water)
Others : $10 - 20
I never eat out, and I only have one cooked meal a day. I eat home baked bread and scones for lunch.
Also for bonus points ;)
I never use the heater regardless of season and I rarely eat meat.
Total : ~$650 (roughly)
Respect.
You only eat $60 dollars worth of food a month??
You must be eating just carbs and not much else then…probably going to get health complications sooner or later.
My brother-in-law only has one meal a day. I don't know how he does a physical job as a mechanic with just one meal…
Lots of carbs, yes. Vegetables are cheap from the farmers market when I buy in bulk =)
Eg: 10kg onions for $6, 10kg potatoes for $7.80, Gray pumpkins for $0.50 per kg ++
I do a lot of cycling and spend long hours in uni to burn off the sugars haha. Am still underweight =P
We have a big family. Mom and dad are living with us as well as my brother. We have only 1 kid. My mom cooks everyday but we (the whole family) go out for dinner at least once a month.
Monthly cost:
Grocery: $800
Gas: $100
Electricity: $120
Water: $120
Internet and phone: $200
Mortgage: $2600
Childcare: $500
Insurance and stuffs: $200
Dine out: $200
Drinks and socializing: $200
Petrol: 2 cars - $300
Total: $5340
We are not really into shopping for ourselves but for my daughter it does cost a bit here and there. Plus the regular trip to various playgrounds and also her swimming class would add another $200 on average per month. I would say we survive on $5500. Averaged out for 6 people still less than $1000 monthly which is acceptable at the moment.
We go on holidays once a year. That comes from our tax return and our saving. Consider having to get a new car every 5 or 6 years, not much left in our pocket but we are happy
Mortgage / Rent : 0
Grocery : around 200 per month
Bills ( electricity, internet, gas, medical insurance, house insurance etc) : 155 per month, however in fact it is 0 as flatmates` rent covers the bills
On Kids : none 0
Others : depends, quarterly train ticket is 170 (with concession)
The ABS has published some stats on average household expenditure
http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/CB07CC895DCE2829CA2579020015D8FD/$File/65300_2009-10.pdf
For example, look at page 32.
Raw excel data also available here:
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/DetailsPage/6530.020…
I have compared these numbers with my own budget and in some areas I spend more and others I spend less, and usually its all for good reasons.
Its definitely worth checking out
Family with 2 kids (6 months and 19 months old)
Rent - $1250
Electricity - $200
Groceries - $1000 (conservative, nappy and formula weeks top $300 easily)
Petrol - $200 (2 cars)
Foxtel - $130 (2 boxes, hd channels, all packages except movies)
Internet - $100 (optus Cable unlimited)
Mobile Phones - $200 (2xphones)
Car repayments - $520 (2013 Cruze on 5 year loan)
Rego/insurance - $350 (guessing here, pay them yearly)
So comes in around $4k a month with most being conservative amounts. Realistically it's probably closer to $4200.
We do waste a bit of money we don't need to. I have a separate living room with Foxtel purely for watching the nrl. I'm on a $130month phone contract between voda red 100 plan, $20 month handset repayments and insurance. But I chose a higher monthly rate to upgrade my phone every year.
We get by. Have around a grand of Laybuy for the kids for Christmas and their birthdays. Only debt is my car, but it's manageable to live off what we have and not struggle. But the way we live means buying our own house will be near impossible barring some huge luck at work and pay rises etc.
Our 2 person family:
Rent 1000
Phone and Internet: 120
Public Transport 200
Electricity + Water 100
Grocery 300
Car maintenance + Fuel 200
Others 200
Total 2150 (approx)
Not a Family single 27 yr old,
Roughly my expense PM
Rent 475.00
Utilities 50.00
Internet 20.00
Mobile 20.78
Car Rego 75.00
Car Insurance 71.43
Public Transport 136.30
Groceries 40.00
Dance Classes 225.33
Drinks Eating out 955.50
Lunch at work 170.00
Other 500.00
2,739.34
Now looking at this i spend way too much money eating out but this is what happens if you're out 7 days a week.
For all that's been said, I think the biggest thing is living within your income. I see people trying to justify why they spend X on entertainment or eating out, but seriously, your life is to be enjoyed. I have friends who are envious of trips or things we buy, but I know we make cuts in other areas so we can do the things we feel important to us. If they made the same choices they could do the same. It's all about priorities and what you choose to spend your income on.
So enjoy your life with the income you have Ozbargainers, for we are one of the top few countries that the world wants to live in. So many folks would give everything for the opportunity to live in this wonderful country!
Live life king size with controlled expenses…
Single 25y/o - rough break down of large expenses..
Mortgage: $1500
Petrol: $500
Groceries: $300
Eating out: $200
Misc bills: $200
$2.7k regular expenses… wow.
The rest goes into my car modifications.. :)
This is for me per month. Couple with no kids:
Rent $500
Food and groceries $450
Utilities, mobile phones $240
Car Insurance $75
Petrol $50
Train ticket $90
Total Monthly basic expense: $1405
Occasionally buy clothes etc: $300
Single income family here. Wife has been off work for roughly 6 months and we're expecting 1st little one imminently.
Rent - $2200
Groceries - $800
My lunches - $200
Phones - $80
Internet - $50
Elec - $75
Water - Not sure
Primary car - $700
Secondary car - $130
Health insurance - $80 (company subsidized)
Baby related (appointments, gear etc) - $500
Public Trans - $160
Eating Out - $200
Sport and Fitness - $100
Clothing - $100
Holidays - $200
Random(useless) stuff - Everything else!
Savings (First Home Deposit) - $1500
Long term savings - $300
Total - $7375
Would ideally like to save a bit more but we're still learning how to live off a single income. Food is currently very high but I want to make sure my wife is eating plenty of high quality produce. Primary car is on fully novated lease so locked in there, but still trying to determine if we sell off the secondary car.
I could probably spend less on lunches and we will no doubt cut right back on dining out.
Since my wife has been pregnant, I have cut back on drinking so there's a bonus!
Rent: 740
Grocery: 360
Bills: 350 including rego
Insurance: 190
Spending money: 300
Total: 1940
No kids
2 adults dual income expecting a baby soon. We will move over to single income once the baby comes for about 5 years. Logged our spending over the last 6 months in prep for baby with the following results.
$ 4,462.16 Financial comm (2 x loan)
$ 534.50 Home (Insurance, maintenance)
$ 440.00 Utilities
$ 628.10 Health (insurance, doctors etc)
$ 850.00 Shopping (food, clothes and general)
$ 375.00 Transport (train and petrol for one car)
$ 120.00 Entertainment (movie)
$ 360.00 Eating out
$7,800 per month total
:(
$120 on movies a month?
$120 on any entertainment (just have movies as an example as we go to the movies about once every 3 months). Would also include our few visits to the football, show at the lyric theatre, drinks with friends, going to a music concert.
I log all my spenditure using an app called TrackMySpend and use Pocketbook app to manage all of my incomings and outgoings. Pocketbook is really great as it merges all bank account statements into one for easy management and allows you to assign a category to every transaction.
Single/ 25 years old
Rent: $50 (living with parents)
Utilities: $0
Insurance/Gym: $60
Internet: $50
Mobiles: $40
Groceries: $50
Eating out: $200
My spending money: $100
Myki: $100
I only work part time due to study :(
Income: $2500
Expenses: $600
Saving up for a car or a first home…Haven't quite decided yet, just focusing on bulking up my puny savings :(
If you can, you could really save a bit more by reducing the eating out part as well as mobile costs (depends on who you are with and exactly what you want).
The savings will considerably add up, helping you get that house sooner!
2 + 1 toddler
Mortgage Interest Repayment : 500
Principal Mortgage Repayment: 3000
Grocery + Entertainment: 700
Bills (mobile, health, council, water, electricity, internet, gas, car, house insurance etc) : 1000
Toddler : 100
Charity : 500
+1 for charity. Not many people (if any) I know who actually leave some money aside for charity.
Our family monthly expenses are
Rent $1278
Grocery $400
Rego $175
Phone/internet $20
PT $66
Take away $40
Entertainment $100
Holiday $500 we are planning a big europe trip next year
Big shopping expenses $60
Petrol $320
Child $50
Health insurance $41
Car insurance $58
Medical $30
Water $60
Gas $90
Electricity $90
Total $3,378
2 Adults, no kids. Clearly spending too much money on food.
Rent $2080
Public transport $120
Car (running costs+petrol) $120
Electricity $110
Internet $65
Mobile phones $90
Grocery $300
Dinners (take away/eating out) $225
Lunches $230
Coffee/breakfast $90
Entertainment $100
Alcohol $60
Medical $85
Misc spending $150
Total $3825
If I didn't track spending via a spreadsheet and took a guess my guesses would be much lower, especially on the lunches and dinners. :(
Couple with no kids. Have a pet.
Rent: $1,500
Groceries: $300
Internet + fetch TV: $100
Mobile: $40
Other Bills (health insurance, spotify, subscriptions, etc): $600
Gas/Elect: $250
Fuel and public transport: $200
Going out and eating out: $200
Work Lunch: Avg twice a week at $10 per meal, total $100
Pet supplies: $20
Misc $200
Probably around $3600 per month on average.
Married 3 kids
Mortgage $0.00
Investment property $300
Groceries $1000+ (my kids like to eat)
Gas $80
Electricity $200
water $70
Internet/foxtel $140
mobile $99
fuel $400
hobby $200
kids stuf(swimming etc.) $160
Clothes $500
Insurance Cars/house/cameras $300
rates $250
house items $200
I'm sure there's other things we spend money on but this is most of it.
Mortgage: 960 ( long story )
Rent : 700
Grocery : 120-150 ( we make our stuff from A biscuit to Yogurt )
Eating out: 0 ( our foods taste way better than theirs )
Electricity: 298 for 3 months
Internet: 40
Mobile: 10 ( just to received calls )
Phone: 20 ( dont use ,but need it for the internet :( )
Gas: 100 ( normally )
Medical insurance: 0
Water: 0
On Kids : 0
Fuel: 0 for me, 30-40 for wife
Car's insurance: 0 ( wife got a piggy back from her dad nomination )
Bargain crap: 30-50
Total: 2308-2368
Wife might buy some crappy foods now and then, so i give that an extra $50.
Long story please!
For me, my monthly expenses are:
Rent: $656 (including electricity and water)
Washing Machine + Dryer: $9
Food: $490
Transportation: $5
Clothing + Stationary: $12.5 (divided monthly from last years spending)
Mobile: $30 Prepaid Monthly
Internet: Free (from my Uni)
Medical Insurance: $0
I don't have a car as the public transport where I live is excellent!
Total: 1202.05 per month
Single male-
Mortgage: $1600
Internet/Fetch/Mobile: $135
Health/Car insurance: $157
Elec/Gas/Water: $200
Food: $450
Council/Owners Corp: $150
Entertainment: $120
Fuel/Maintenance: $200
Pet (insurance,food,meds): $200
Charity: $30
around $3250
Single, nearly 30, and live by myself:
Mortgage: $2500
Phone: $30
Internet: $70
Food: $350
Fuel: $100
Hairdresser: $150
Health Insurance: $130
Elec/Gas/Water: $200
Total: $3530
Couple under 35, 1 income no kids, Brisbane suburbs
Mortgage: $2,000
Building insurance: $75
Internet: $82
Mobile phones: $44
Groceries/eating out: $560
Fuel/transport: $180
Regos x3: $210
Gas/Water/rates: $210
Misc spending: $200
Total: $3,561
Single, no kids
Mortgage – $1,600
Groceries - $150
Eating out/activities - $450
Utilities – $200
Petrol - $100
Body corporate - $100
Pet expenses excl vet - $30
Sport/gym - $100
Clothing and luxury items - $150 average
I have not factored in: home and car insurance, car servicing, health insurance, medical expenses, council rates, home maintenance and improvements, car rego, holidays, vet bills…. How depressing!
I definitely could save by cooking at home more and not eating out as much – that’s my biggest waste. On the other hand I work long hours and don’t have much time to cook anyway.
I barely drink any alcohol, it’s included in my eating out calc. Work pays for my phone and internet.
For those who are struggling to save money don't know where to start…look at your item list and think deeply about whether or not you need to spend money on those things. Understand the difference between what you really want versus what is just a luxury thing. It helps.
Couple- base on own knowledge and my own expenses.
Speculation on weekly everage rates.
Rent $0
Food $250-$300 p/w almost never cook.
Event cinemas $34-90 vmax 3d Telstra tickets p/w
Petrol car number 1.$100 p/w - car 2 $60 3-4 week usage.
Mobile $80 month/ home phone none.
Internet $80 month
Health fund $100 month
Physio therapy $30 p/w
Rabbit/dog/cat food average $30 p/w
Travel expenses every quarterly $1500-$3000 domestic travel. Next travel snowy mounts $2500 "August"
Can't think of anything else at time being.
I learnt many things from OZB and put them to good use over the time. We are a couple living in ACT region, renting a large one bedroom Unit.
Rent:770
Water+hot water: free, landlord pays.
Electricity: 150 (less in summer)
Mobile (2 Vaya@18)+Internet (TPG unlimited@60)+Skype (4-5$): 100
Car insurance (AAMI)+Rego (ACT): 100
Fuel (U91): 100
Groceries: 300
Eating out: 80
Health insurance (Medibank): free, Uni pays.
Gym: free, Uni facility but too lazy attend!
OZB crap: 100
Around 1700 per month, but I think its still bit high for us. Any suggestion to cut down?
That electricity looks WAY too high. I.e. per quarter you are paying $450. Not sure of your exact living conditions but you seem quite willing to save. Might be worth borrowing one of those power usage devices to see how you are killing electricity.
Most people also have the potential to save heaps via food costs. Maybe explore some cheaper options like local grocers (if you don't already). I found for me, since I moved more recently, found some good shops and saved a lot of money since.
Canberra cold is killing us, that's why electricity bill is so high :( we use a convection heater, no gas line to house and can not afford RC AC now.
As for food, its impossible to keep an exact track of spending. But your suggestion is interesting.
my understanding is RAC is much cheaper to run
Not the initial cost including setup fee. Its not feasible for a postgrad who lives on scholarship, but I do agree that RC AC is cheaper to run.
Mortgage(in Adelaide) : 3000
Grocery : 1500
Bills ( electricity, internet, gas, medical insurance, house insurance etc) : 700
Fuel : 800
On Kids : 200
Others : 200
reading this i need to cut back…
Your grocery and fuel cost looks way too high to me…
Male / 21 :
Rent $1400
Groceries $275
Utilities: $160
Mobile + Internet: $18 + $60
Travel : $100
Gym : $58
Clothing $100
Eating out: $500
Total: $2500 - $2700 p/month
NO idea how triever is spending $1500 on groceries ^
Are you feasting upon lobsters every meal?
Living in Craigieburn, Victoria
Family of 3 - Me, Wife and 4 yrs old son
4th member expected in 3 months
*Mortgage : $2000
*Grocery : $500
*City Council Fee: $170
*Utilities : $300
*Internet + Mobil: $120
*Public Transport: $245
*Health Insurance: $365
*Car : $250 (Toyota Camry Altise 2006 - includes Rego, Insurance, Maintenance, Fuel)
*Eat-Out : $150
*Shopping : $200
*Misc : $200
Total = $4500
$500 per MONTH for groceries for 2 adults and 1.5 children?
What food are you buying?
I spend $300 per month for one person and don't even eat 1000 calories per day.
don't even eat 1000 calories per day
You should talk to someone about that.
Second that, spend a bit more if you have to Beethoven just take care of yourself. 1000 calories a day is not good.
$25 a week on groceries
Lol AlienC. This thread is depressing, not just because mortgages seem to soak up 2/3-3/4 of most people's income but the fact it is only going to be more difficult in the future to break into capital cities housing markets. Interesting a lot of people are paying in rent just as much as people are paying in mortgages, hope they have a much better place as it's not contributing to your wealth!
I've been renting for 6 years since moved in Australia. 2 kids, rent assistance, 2000-2500 in savings every month. Now ready to buy a really nice place overseas for cash. No point to go for heavy mortgage in Australia…. Don't want to sacrifice my life for that. I'm still 32 and want to travel and see the world now, not when I retire and be broken and ill even to climb upstairs in my house.
What country are you looking to buy in?
I think if a persons mortgage repayment is 66%-75% of income then maybe the loan was too big in first place…and when rates rise it will be very difficult for them
Female, early 20s.
Groceries - roughly $75/week ($300/month)
Rent - $250/week ($1000/month)
Life - $200?/month
Where are you people buying food?
What kind of food do you eat that you can spend so little?
To be fair I eat less than 1000 calories per day.
Usually
- one point Something kilos of raw skinless chicken breast
- cans of salmon
- frozen spinach
- Helgas wholemeal bread
- egg whites
- hommus 1kg (ie divide the weight as I clearly don't eat 1kg per week)
- green tea (divide the box again)
Male, 20 years old
Rent: $500 (paying board to parents)
Utilities: $0
Insurance: Around $150 inc. rego
Mobiles: $35
Groceries: $0
Eating out: $120
Petrol: $150 :(
@Psychd: it's quite cheap to eat paleo SHIT, normal shit would be cheaper though. ;)