What Are Your Average Weekly Expenses?

clownfish on 04/12/2017 - 08:00
Last edited 04/12/2017 - 11:24

Interested to compare how frugal/wasteful we are compared to other couples in a similar position..

Also, what are you happy to spend money on? E.g. Alcohol, cars, games, food, technology etc.

We are a mid-late 20s couple with no kids. We got a small 2br house together 6mo ago because we were sick of sharehouses and wanted privacy.

We each put $300 a week into a joint account and it's spent roughly like this:
-$350 rent
-$70 bills (incl gas, elec, water, cable internet, contents insurance and car insurance)
-$20 alcohol
-$80 groceries and household items
-$80 entertainment (dates, take away, movies, groupons, videogames/boardgames, squash court hire-$30)
=$600

Usually there is a little bit left over which goes towards joint bday presents for family and such.

Admittedly our weekly spend on entertainment is high but we like to do a weekly date and we both enjoy pc gaming and buy a boardgame every couple of months too…

I think our grocery spend is pretty good because we don't buy meat but we will treat ourselves to avos and more expensive fruit & vege, and occasionally buy mock meat.

The only things not included in that is our expenses incurred separately. For me, that's myki, my phone, the odd lunch or drink with friends and stuff for my dog (~$60 a week total).

How about everyone else?

Financial

Comments

  • The tiger on 04/12/2017 - 08:17
    +4

    Gee! $80.00 per week for groceries and household items that is sure fantastic for two young people . We , a senior couple definitely spend more than you two.My hat off . Keep your savings for your future especially acquiring a landed home after you got your kids.

    • clownfish on 04/12/2017 - 08:26
      +3

      Thanks.
      Instead of meat we buy tinned lentils/beans/chickpeas and Tofu for protein which ends up being a lot cheaper…
      I think that's where the savings come from :)

      • dcep on 04/12/2017 - 12:40
        +1

        geezz not all protein are "whole"

        and you need vitamin b

        • clownfish on 04/12/2017 - 12:47
          +6

          We have fortified soy milk and cereal, eat nutritional yeast with pastas and take a b12 supplement once a week.

          Soy is a complete protein, it's just low in one amino acid.

          Rice & beans or chickpeas are a complete protein together.

          It's very easy to obtain complete proteins with a bit of variety.

        • dcep on 04/12/2017 - 12:50
          +2

          @databoi:

          Glad you've done your homework.

  • chumlee on 04/12/2017 - 08:19
    +2

    Rough guess $1500 per week. Could be more as some months are more due to council rates, car rego and insurance for 2 cars, home insuramce etc bills coming in so spread across 12 months

    • clownfish on 04/12/2017 - 08:31

      House ownership is a while off for us. I only just finished studying…
      Do you have kids/dependents?

      • chumlee on 04/12/2017 - 08:34
        +3

        2 kids.

        It's all the fixed costs such as rates, insurance, health insurance, utilities that get you. They go up every year faster than wages and hard to cut back except to shop around

        • clownfish on 04/12/2017 - 08:36

          Very true.
          1500 is good for two adults, two kids, two cars and a house!

    • pjetson on 04/12/2017 - 12:21
      +4

      Damn, $1500 per week is way more than I earn after tax!

      • chumlee on 04/12/2017 - 12:40

        Most weeks it's less. I've just averaged it out for the lump sum expenses mentioned above.

  • [Deactivated] on 04/12/2017 - 08:32
    +4

    Annual income - expenses - ozbargain impulse purchases = 0

  • pennypincher98 on 04/12/2017 - 09:01
    +6

    Depends how much I'm on Ozbargain or at the shops quite frankly.

    Goes on Ozbargain to save money, ends up buying loads of junk because it's cheap

  • dasher86 on 04/12/2017 - 09:15
    +1

    ~$600 pw individual.

  • TheBilly on 04/12/2017 - 11:11
    +2

    Same, mid-late 20's couple no kids. Expenses are pretty much the same as yours however entertainment might only be $20-$40 per week and our biggest expense is motor vehicles which you haven't listed (2 x motor vehicles with fuel, servicing, rego, ctp, insurances) comes to about $800 a month (1 big car and 1 small car). Thinking about moving closer to work and getting rid of 1 motor vehicle, which should cover the difference between rent.

    • clownfish on 04/12/2017 - 11:21
      +1

      We actually sold our car last month (rego was meant to be due in Jan) with the intention of buying a new one but it has been 4 weeks and we haven't needed it once so we may not buy a replacement in the foreseeable future.
      Rego works out about $70 a month and car insurance was another $70 a month which I just cancelled.
      We only drove it to the supermarket and back once a week/fortnight so petrol was negligible.
      I hadn't factored in servicing because it hadn't been serviced since we moved in together.
      Just signed up to goget in case we need one for an emergency

  • peterpeterpumpkin on 04/12/2017 - 11:50
    +1

    For the average Australian I assume the primary expense is nearly always property-related (rent/mortgage repayments and related household-bills).

    I've always wondered if Sydney or Melbourne is better "value" when it comes to renting. Sydney of course is generally more expensive and the cheaper areas are often so for a reason (http://crimetool.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/bocsar/).

    But since I've only been a working-tourist in Melbourne I don't know the area well enough to make a judgment. I used to think Melbourne was full of sophisticated, over-educated and under-employed coffee-drinkers (somewhat based on their self-descriptions) but after venturing out of the CBD a few times I felt like I'd travelled back in time to an early 90s-era high school. There was a definite rough edge. In Sydney we kind of expect certain areas to be rough based on gang and drug prevalence. But I didn't really get the deal with all of outer Melbourne's angry skater-bois. Or hearing "f*g" and other "old-school" terms being used as insults (by grown adults no less).

  • Looking4Bargians on 04/12/2017 - 12:46
    +3

    $1800 per week. Including Mortage & all other expenses.

    • Zachary on 06/12/2017 - 01:04

      fark, 1800, if I were to spend that much every week, I'd be bankrupt! Hahahaha

      • Looking4Bargians on 06/12/2017 - 09:52
        +1

        Certainly … when you have 2 young Kinder going kids…

  • cap1 on 04/12/2017 - 14:09
    +2

    Late 20s no couple, no kids. Our budget is about $900 a week which includes: rent, bills (gas, electricity), phones, health insurances, mortgage and strata payments on an investment property, internet, public transport travel (live close to work so we don't need a car), internet, regular charity donation, food, groceries, a spending allowance (clothes, alcohol, movies etc), and allocations for 'emergency' and 'holiday' funds. Everything left over is for savings. Generally works out that we spend one person's income, and save the higher one. Is working well for us. Some obvious areas to cut back on when we have a family being spending, food and holiday allowances.

  • tank17 on 04/12/2017 - 15:08
    +1

    I used to have a similar plan when I was iving in the Uk with my wife.
    £200 week rent, £100 groceries, £20 gym, £100 food and drink out…depending on extra money it mught change!

  • Quantumcat on 05/12/2017 - 10:35
    +1

    $450/week mortgage + rates / strata + bills
    $100-$150/week food/eating out
    $50/week car/transport
    $50/week health insurance (I think)
    $100/week misc (occasional new clothes or video games or birthday presents or somesuch)

    So about $750-$800/week
    This is for a early/midlife couple no kids
    No smoking, drinking, or gambling habits

  • HeWhoKnows on 05/12/2017 - 20:32
    +1

    As little as possible so I have money to spend on specials and items that count

  • Zachary on 06/12/2017 - 01:03
    +1

    Geez, 600?! You guys are living expensively! hahahaha….

    • dasher86 on 06/12/2017 - 09:24
      +1

      assuming you don't have a mortgage / high rent?

    • [Deactivated] on 06/12/2017 - 11:44
      +1

      prob lives at home with mummy

      • Zachary on 07/12/2017 - 20:03

        …yes i may or may not do…. 😝

    • clownfish on 07/12/2017 - 16:16

      I assume this is sarcasm ;)

      • Zachary on 07/12/2017 - 20:04
        +1

        …yes…………of course….

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  • tiger2000 on 07/12/2017 - 12:48
    +1

    My expenses per week, seeing that I am a early 30s single guy, living in a 4 bed modern house with one other housemate (and do not share expenses with, other than rent/utilities), 20 mins away from Brisbane CBD, without a car, and with a cat, are:
    - $265/wk rent
    - $60 - $120/wk groceries/cat food (on a vegan diet, organic foods etc)
    - $50- $70/wk on bills (phone, internet, water, elec (w. solar), an old electric debt, a vetpay debt
    - $30/wk on credit card repayments (which was a baaaaad decision overall)
    - $30ish/wk for health/gym
    - $20 tops/wk for eating out (I’m on a budget)
    - $10 - $30/wk for entertainment/shopping (cinemas, Netflix, clothes etc)

    And that’s pretty much it :)

    • clownfish on 07/12/2017 - 16:13

      Damn those rent prices!
      Ours is a tiny run down 2-bedroom and the tram takes close to an hour during peak hour.
      What are the vegan offerings like in Brisbane?

      • tiger2000 on 07/12/2017 - 19:06

        Tell me about it :/
        I’m on a lease and if we did end up wanting to move on, the moving out costs may be anywhere from $1000 - $2000 in total, not including the bond and advance of rent for a new rental.

        In Brisbane suburbs there’s not a lot on offer. On the north side we have The Green Edge vegan cafe and supermarket, Ping An Veggie Time thai, a couple of others and also vegan options at takeaways. Brisbane inner city has more, west end has some nice vegan restaurants such as Vegeme. We have heard that Melbourne has the best variety for veganism tho, am I right?
        We do however have great weather here. i here it gets quite cold and stormy there?

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