On Weekly Grocery Expenses

Our monthly grocery budget is Php8,000 or Php2,000/wk, and that disturbs me. Php8,000 is the average monthly salary of a rank and file employee, yet my husband and I treat the same amount as merely a grocery budget for our two-person household. What's even more disturbing is that we even sometimes go beyond our allocated monthly budget, but we still eat out a lot during the week!

Here's a breakdown of our last grocery bill:

Place: Shopwise, Sucat
Date: May 27, 2012

Foodstuff: Php1,617
Chocolates: Php1,276
Toiletries: Php352

Total: Php3,245

The chocolates are actually gifts for some of G's friends, so if we remove those, this week's grocery bill amounts to Php1,969, which is well within our Php2,000 weekly budget. Yay us!

 Our weekly grocery haul is usually composed of these foodstuff:

• Del Monte tomato sauce
• Purefoods corned beef
• Century tuna
• various brands of sardines
• bottled pesto
• Del Monte pineapple juice
• Gardenia regular and raisin bread
• Fruits: apples, bananas
• Vegetables: potatoes (is this a vegetable?), carrots, bell peppers, chives, petchay, tomatoes, garlic and onions.
• Chicken thighs in packs
• eggs

I don't think we can buy canned goods at a cheaper price (or can we?), but I'm interested to see how much chicken, fruits and vegetables go for in the wet market. If there really is a price difference. Or did I just highlight my ignorance by saying that?

Anyhoo, I'll try to persuade the hubby to make a trip to the wet market soon, so I can compare prices and see how much we'll be saving every week, if at all. Field trip!

On Weekly Grocery Expenses

Our monthly grocery budget is Php8,000 or Php2,000/wk, and that disturbs me. Php8,000 is the average monthly salary of a rank and file employee, yet my husband and I treat the same amount as merely a grocery budget for our two-person household. What's even more disturbing is that we even sometimes go beyond our allocated monthly budget, but we still eat out a lot during the week!

Here's a breakdown of our last grocery bill:

Budget Talks

Our monthly budget is something that I really should improve on. Just a cursory glance at the numbers shows me that there are a lot of savings to be still made here and there.

Here's a rundown of our monthly household expenses:

Fixed expenses:

Php1,300 - PLDT (internet)

Php1,000 - condo dues

Php4,000 - parking

Php10,000 - reimbursement of equity payment to my mom (1/20 paid)

Php3,500 - memorial lot investment (3/11 paid)

Php10,600 - PAG-IBIG mortgage (actually just Php5,600 but I have conditioned myself to pay more to wipe out the balance faster)

Php800 - Globe cellphone

Php500 - cable

-----------

Total= Php31,700

Non-fixed expenses (approximate)

Php8,000 - groceries

Php4,000 - gas

Php8,000 - eating out / entertainment

Php1,000 - laundry

Php500 - drinking water

Php200 - water

Php1,500 - work lunch

Php4,500 - electricity

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Total= Php27,700

MONTHLY TOTAL: Php59,400

Recurring expenses

Quarterly - Php15,000 - life insurance/ mutual funds

    -Php10,000 - vacation

Yearly - Php16,000 - car insurance

    Php3,000 - property tax

    Php5,000 - car registration   

And then I try to squirrel away whatever amount I can to our emergency fund and invest in stocks too.

Looking at our monthly expenses in black and white, all I can say is thank goodness for the random bonuses from the Court, my husband's windfalls (which don't come with regularity, but when they do, they're usually more than enough to provide a buffer to our budget) and rackets.

For my next post, I'll try to analyze what aspects of our budget need overhauling (Hint: Eating out, grocery and electricity!!).

Budget Talks

Our monthly budget is something that I really should improve on. Just a cursory glance at the numbers shows me that there are a lot of savings to be still made here and there.

Here's a rundown of our monthly household expenses:

Much Ado About Moolah

I think about money a lot.

When we got married two years ago, my hubby and I found ourselves mired in wedding related debt. I mistakenly assumed that we could recoup our wedding expenses through our wedding gifts ("We prefer cash") and so we started planning and charging a majority of expenses for our wedding, because we were not able to save up for it.

Needless to day, the first few days of our married life were chock-full of lessons and realizations. This was further compounded by the fact that I began working for the government a month after we got married, and would only start receiving my paycheck about a month and a half after I begun working.

Oh, and my husband was also diagnosed with diabetes so that was another blow.

Much Ado About Moolah

I think about money a lot.

When we got married two years ago, my hubby and I found ourselves mired in wedding related debt. I mistakenly assumed that we could recoup our wedding expenses through our wedding gifts ("We prefer cash") and so we started planning and charging a majority of expenses for our wedding, because we were not able to save up for it.

Needless to day, the first few days of our married life were chock-full of lessons and realizations. This was further compounded by the fact that I began working for the government a month after we got married, and would only start receiving my paycheck about a month and a half after I begun working.

Oh, and my husband was also diagnosed with diabetes so that was another blow.