please help me find where I can make savings on my weekly budget

[BayView]

I've tried to do a budget to see how much I would spend a week if I moved out of parents and see if I can still keep my properties. Well, it doesn't look too good . I thought a single person without a car doesn't need much to survive so how come my figures are coming out at circa $750 a week. So thought I might post my figures and see if you peeps could help me cut it down. Need to reduce it by a couple of hundred dollars a week to circa $600. Does my figures look correct/are realistic. Is there tips and tricks I could use to make some savings.


How much do you guys spend a week.

Gym membership for a start. Total waste of money - unless you are a professional athlete and need access to the best equipment available. If you are simply trying to get fit - just run, walk very fast, ride a bike, run, swim, run, walk - and diet.

Speaking of that; food is another one - $100 per week should cover you as one person, unless you insist on little extravagances in the mix. Make you own lunch for work, and cook dinner. Lunch for me would be about $3 maximum. What is 4 slices of bread, a few slices of ham, a few slices of cheese off the family sized block of tasty, or a small tin of tuna, an apple, banana and bottle of tap water?

Most of our (evening dinner) meals cost about $5 each person - maximum.

No soft drinks, use tap water. I put hot water from the tap into bottles and put into the fridge. Tastes exactly like a bought one. Shop at Aldi for most of the rest (some cheap-@rse habits die hard ).

Forget the seminars (on investing). If they are for work and will translate to more salary dollars, then yes. But investing - you'll get it all right here for free.

Overseas trips - over rated. Air travel is now a pain in the derrier when you go O/S. Go on short, budget accom trips around Aus. Just as much fun, no dollar conversions and language/custom pains. Bali is cheap though.

You can do the overseas thing when you become loaded from your IP investing.

Get rid of the PO Box. Do you really need one? Are you running business and cop heaps of mail?

All of the above is not going to decrease your lifestyle at all; unless you like going out for restaurant food every day and insist on thinking overseas holidays are better than Aus.

You will still live well, but spend less doing it. Great when you are "on the way up" and need to be careful with funds.

 

[Jindaro]

I'd like to see what your menu looks like for the week.

My food budget for 2 adults is similar to Y-mans. I allow $85 per week for 2 adults and I find that this is more than enough as every 6-8 weeks, I can stop shopping for a couple of weeks and live off what I've already bought. I then add any excess money to our holiday account.

I feed 2 adults, 3 meals a day plus snacks and desserts if we feel like it.

We eat meat most nights and have roasts on a regular basis (I have 4 chooks and a lamb roast in the fridge right now). It's just a matter of shopping correctly and buying when the specials are on.

Also, bulk buying and cooking helps bring the costs down and that way when I arrive home from work, I just need to defrost the meal and serve it. It's a great time saver for me.

If you really want something badly enough, you will organise your life to work around it.

 

[Piston Broke]

CashflowPlus your asking the biggest bunch of tightass's in the land that question.
So here's my take:

Food is your biggest expense. And here it's time or money.
either you spend the money, or you put in the time. and food places have very high margins.
Instead buy quality food ingredients and learn to make the food yourself. Buy quality not quantity. that does'nt meant the highest price though, most times it's the mid priced items. And generally not at the supermarkets.
Now hold that thought, it's much easier than you think.
Invest in a George Forman type grill, and a few Jamie Oliver, Antonio Carlucci vids & books, and learn to cook.
Pastas are the easiest and tastiest dishes to cook, even though most still can't get it right lol.
It does'nt take that much time, and it taste's much better that the junk you pay way too much for.
And no, you may not get it right first time, but it should'nt take more than 3 attempts if you are able to follow a few simple instructions on a page.

If you can do this, you'll eat better than most at ~$50-60wk and still have your 2 nights out.
But here's the best part, learn to make one simple dish really well. Cook it every nite if you have to. Use your family and friends as taste testers.
Then after dating someone a couple of times (since your moving out alone) invite them over for dinner and tell then you'll be cooking.
If you can make it taste decent, your phone wont' stop ringing on the weekends.
And it's a much cheaper (and better ) date.

Good luck

 

[eggnog]

CashflowPlus your asking the biggest bunch of tightass's in the land that question.

hahahahahhaha lol. You might have just opened pandoras box.

 

[kathryn d]

Food at $150 pw - wow I heard Bris Vegas was expensive but not that bad!

Our shopping for TWO people gets to about $60 to $70 per week - and that's with no eating out (3 meals x 7 days)

Cheers,

The Y-man

Same here.
Thought we were the only ones here who was cheap..umm thrifty.

 

[rugrat]

Food is the one thing we don't skimp on, we spend $300 f/n for our family of five (that includes all toiletries etc - But not Nappies, which we don't pay for in our groceries anyway and which could add another $40-60 f/n for our two kids who wear them).

 

[lizzie]

Food is the one thing we don't skimp on, we spend $300 f/n for our family of five (that includes all toiletries etc - But not Nappies, which we don't pay for in our groceries anyway and which could add another $40-60 f/n for our two kids who wear them).

and yet - is still only $150/wk for a family of 5 ... the amount in the orginal budget for one!!

after having to work out what the big kids were costing us per week when they moved back to their mothers' ... around $60/wk covered all food, electricity and water usage.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

but maybe its just his estimate of what he thinks his food bill will cost per week. he could be guessing. he hasnt left home yet. he might discover it only costs him $100 or something a lot cheaper.

 

[VYBerlinaV8]

My approach:

Spend in propertion to your age. Live like a total cheap-*** when young, dial it up slowly as you get older, because if all goes to plan you'll be able to afford it.

 

[Piston Broke]

Food is the one thing we don't skimp on, we spend $300 f/n for our family of five (that includes all toiletries etc - But not Nappies, which we don't pay for in our groceries anyway and which could add another $40-60 f/n for our two kids who wear them).

lol that's funny, live the high life on $150wk...

As I stated in my first post...

 

[ARS]

I'd keep living at home! If you get on with your folks alright, why move out? You will have all the expenses of moving and getting everything connected too.

I would have never left home, much to my parents disgust, if I could have worked from where they live but they are rural. However our rent is $200 a week for our own awesome house in Brisbvegas so we are still being spoiled

Save your cash and stay put!

 

[savoys]

I'd like to see what your menu looks like for the week.

I'm fond of tuna

 

[The Fence]

The ingredients are mostly certified organic believe it or not!

We grab them in bulk on "write down nights" at the supermarkets:

Meat (organic beef, organic lamb, organic chicken or free range otway pork) about $5-$7 per 500g tray

Vegetables - organic cabbages/cauli/brocci varies from $1 each to $2.50 each
Zucchinis about the same for 500gm

Crushed organic tomato from Aldi (in jars)

Must admit, have not got to organic curry powder yet

Should let you make a decent meal without too much struggle.

Cheers,

The Y-man

You are tongue in cheek right...?

organic meat.....the things a product label can sell.....LOL....

 

[craigb]

ok my tight *** take on this!
*forget the seminars, you will learn it all on this site, for sure!
*Think of the OS trips for later, they can be your long term reward , the world might still be there later.
*Instead of the gym fees, ask a builder, or somone for some labouring work, bringing in money, and working out the same time, you might even learn some clever stuff too!
*loose the PO box, the home add has worked well for the last 100 years.
*RP data, unless your a full time invester, their are other sites for free, and this site too.
*spend the dine out money to dine in, gofull on, this will teach you some awsome cooking tips, some three course meals, could be like a night out , and fun too!, get some better wine as well!
*sports , now you have the second job, laboring, you don't have time, so invest the difference.
*play money??? get set up first and allow others to pay YOU to go and play.

so doing this will add another $9,828 to your budget, PA and the other job will give you more.
if you neg gear your IP then you may get some tax back too!

 

[The Y-man]

You are tongue in cheek right...?

organic meat.....the things a product label can sell.....LOL....

I love my labels man...

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[Leikela]

I can't believe just how tight some people are!

You don't need to cut everything out of your life, there's more to life than saving every last dollar you can. What is the point of having $10M in investment properties, but not living along the way? I think some people on this forum have an addiction/obesession with making as much money as they can. Invest in your life, take time out, spend some money! I have a friend who is a huge tight@rse and never does anything, I like to think there is a nice balance. Be sensible with your money, but don't cut out everything you enjoy. If you enjoy your sport that you play, keep it. If travelling is important to you, keep that too, maybe cut it back a little (and I don't agree with the do it later - later, you might be married with kids and that will hold you back. Do it while you're young and free). Investing is about making some sacrificies but don't sacrifice your entire life for it. Perhaps cut out the gym, cut back on eating out etc. Make some sacrifices but don't give it all up! Enjoy life, you're only young once and there's no point going to the grave with $10M invested but wishing you had done the backbacker trip around Europe when you were young like everyone else did, or wishing you had played football for as many years as you could before the arthritis kicked in.

I'm not having a go at anyone, each to their own, but my opinion is, it's all about finding the right balance. You only get one life, so enjoy it!

 

[The Y-man]

Actually - gyms.... I don't "get" them..... You pay to go and do manual labour - is that correct?

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[Y33]

Y-man, no its to look at those nice shapely female bodies. That's what I tell my better half.

Food $150/week sounds like my chocolate allowance or what the better half use to spend on 2-3 days of meals until I explained the word budget.

You may be able to buy the same food for about $100 if you buy bulk.

Cut the o/s trip and gym membership. Forget the car and buy a bike or get an apartment within 40-60 minutes of walking distance to work etc. This will be just as good as a gym membership and toughen you up during winter time.

5K on an overseas trip. Are you going for 3-6 months? If you must go join a program like woof, volunteers abroad or short term working holiday job.

 

[HiEquity]

Enjoy life, you're only young once and there's no point going to the grave with $10M invested but wishing you had done the backbacker trip around Europe when you were young like everyone else did, or wishing you had played football for as many years as you could before the arthritis kicked in.

I agree - $10M is far too low a figure!

I'm not having a go at anyone, each to their own, but my opinion is, it's all about finding the right balance. You only get one life, so enjoy it!

I agree again - I enjoy investing!

It seems there is much we agree on....

 

[auror]

*forget the seminars, you will learn it all on this site, for sure!

+1 to this!

This reminds me of a question I read that had been sent to API. The writer said they had a credit card debt of 10k, but they didn't really see it as bad debt as it had been spent on property seminars.

My jaw... dropped... to... the... ground...

So yeah, ditch the seminars, SS has taught me so much more.