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Sunshine Cash

Creating a Champagne Life on a Beer Budget

February 18, 2016

How much “should” your food budget be??

Here is something to think about.  We all have different ideas as to what constitutes a good food budget. It, of course is dependent on the type and amount of food we buy.

While browsing the net for nutrition guidelines, I came cross the Australian Government’s ” Eat for Health” website.  The site has the (current) official dietary guidelines. It lists some sample menu plans for Men, Women and Children, as well as a really good guide to what makes a “serve” of various foods.

As an exercise, I decided to take the sample meal plan for women and price it up to see what the Government suggest we spend on a healthy diet.    Here is what I came up with…  ( to download a pdf of this table click here )

This sample meal plan is for women aged 19-50 years of average height, healthy weight and light activity.
Meal / Food Weight / portion size Food group and number of serves Costing Explanation of costs
Breakfast
Wholegrain breakfast cereal, with reduced fat milk 60g cereal 2 grain serves $0.09 Home Brand Oats (900g pkt @$1.39)
1 cup (250ml) reduced fat milk 1 milk/yoghurt/cheese serve $0.25 $1 per litre milk
Reduced fat yoghurt 100g yoghurt ½ milk/yoghurt/cheese serve $0.36 Coles Brand Yoghurt (1 kg@ $3.60)
Morning break
Coffee with milk 200ml (small coffee) ¼ milk/yoghurt/cheese serve $0.10 Home Brand powdered coffee + milk
Lunch
Sandwich with salad and chicken 2 slices bread 2 grain serves $0.15 Home Brand Whoelmeal Bread @ $1.50
40g chicken ½ meat and/or alternatives serve $0.40 Chicken fillet meat @$10.00/kg
1 teaspoon margarine 5g unsaturated spread (½ serve) $0.01 Home Brand Spread @$1.60/kg
1 cup salad vegetables 1 vegetable serve $0.30 Based on an iceberg lettuce @ 2.00 each
Apple 1 medium 1 fruit serve $0.30 Banana @36c or 1/2 Orange @ 53c
Afternoon break
Unsalted nuts 30g 1 meat and/or alternatives serve $0.80 scoop’n’pack Almonds @$23.75/kg
Coffee with milk 200ml (small coffee) ¼ milk/yoghurt/cheese serve $0.10 as above
Evening meal
Pasta with beef mince and red kidney beans, tomato and green salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing 1 cup of cooked pasta 2 grain serves $0.15 Home Brand Pasta (1kg pkt @$0.72)
65g cooked mince 1 meat and/or alternative serve $0.60 Mince @ $8.00/kg
¼ cup kidney beans ½ vegetable serve $0.19 1/4 can Coles Kidney Beans @ 75c
1½ medium tomato 1½ vegetable serve $0.50 Tomatos @ 35c each
½ onion ½ vegetable serve $0.25 Onions @ 50c each
2 cups green leafy salad 2 vegetable serves $0.60 as above
2 teaspoon unsaturated oil 14g unsaturated oil (2 serves) $0.03 Home Brand Vegetable Oil 2L @$4.80
Evening snack
Plums and reduced fat yoghurt 1 cup stewed plums 1 fruit serve $0.80 Plums @ 38c each
100g yoghurt ½ milk/yogurt/cheese serve $0.36 as above
TOTAL $$ $6.34
x7 days
WEEKLY TOTAL $44.38

 

 

 

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Comments

  1. Jen says

    February 20, 2016 at 11:43 am

    What in interesting take on the food budget. makes me wonder how I spend so much at the grocery store.

    Reply

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