So I’m not really a budget person…I do the math in my head, which is probably one of the reasons we struggle…hahaha…but now we’re going to get serious and make a budget and I’m curious…what does a normal household (a family of four or five) use a month on groceries here in Norway??
Right now, according to the math in my head (you’ve been warned about that one) I’d say we’re using about 12,000 Norwegian kroner a month? With this said, we don’t eat like Kings, this isn’t beef every night and I buy some of the cheap store brand products, not everything is brand name.
I think if there is one area we could cut back in our budget it’s the grocery shopping but I need to know how much should we be cutting back and how do families eat on a budget? What’s a weekly meal look like? What about weekends- what extras do you get on the weekend?
Then there is gas…gas is expensive, right now a liter of gas is running almost 14 kroner per liter. Diesel is about 13 kroner a liter. How much gas does a family use a month approximately?
Finally, clothing…I have three kids in their teens (two for sure and one almost) and they are growing like bad weeds…so they are needing new shoes, new pants, shirts, etc, all the time right now…and they don’t want the cheap stuff anymore…although my kids are really good to find great deals, you still want them to get nice stuff…so how much does the average family use on clothing a month?
My American readers are welcome to answer these questions also as I’m sure someone in America is probably wondering the same thing I am, but for my purposes, answers from folks living in Norway would be wonderful. I know the majority of my readers come from North America and Norway- how do I know this? Well, I just found a statistic page on my blogger overview where it shows how many views my pages have had, where my readers are coming from etc, pretty nifty, never knew where to look for that information before. My pages have had a little over 9500 hits…so when I hit the golden 10,000 I’m going to have a giveaway! It will definitely be something great and anyone is allowed to enter- whether you’re in America, China, Norway, or Africa…but I’m going to make some rules, I want to encourage new visit and keep them coming back, so I’ll have to come up with something good in order to participate…I’ll let you know when it’s time for the giveaway in the meantime, hope you all have a pleasant Sunday evening…
Ps- Haven’t had much response to my new look- what do you think??? Y’all can’t keep poppin in and not leaving messages…do you know what that does too me??!!! Hahaha!
Until next time my friends….
12 comments:
Well... I love your moose header! I think it is a lovely shot.
love the new look and the elusive moose.
gas is going crazy here - highest it has been in a while.
i typically spend about $300 every two weeks which is a bit excessive but i make enough so we can have leftovers and lunches
I love the moose! My children always love to look at your pictures too!
I started making more things homemade in order to cut my food budget. We have food allergies so my cost may be more than most families. I would say we spend about $1500 a month on groceries for a family of 4. I am sure that groceries in Norway are more expensive than here in the states. I hope you get lots of input.
Blessings,
Betsy
Great moose shot, I like the new look!
Regarding budget, we're only a family of two adults living in central Oslo, so I'm not sure how much my input will help, but...
We probably spend around 2,000 kroner a week on mostly dinner stuff. Beef only rarely, mostly fish and chicken and veggies. Nothing on gas as we don't have a car.
Ah Norway.
Had lived there for a year and come running back home ;) MY heart broke every time I spent 200 kr for a pizza.
New look?! Elgen er aldeles fantastisk! =)
Vedr budsjettering, kjenner du til SIFO (Statens institutt for forbruksforskning)? De utarbeider standardtall en kan bruke for budsjettering (http://www.sifo.no/files/standardbudsjett2010.pdf). Tallene må selvfølgelig justeres til den enkelte familie, men gir en pekepinn.
Eks for mat:
Kvinne 18-60år: 2020 kr mnd
Gutter 10-13år (vet ikke hvor gammel din yngste er?): 2020 kr mnd
Menn 18-60år: 2510 kr mnd
Tar jeg ikke helt feil har dere 3stk "kvinner 18-60 år"? 3x2020 + 2020 + 2510 = 10590 kr mnd totalt på mat.
For meg og Tomas anslår SIFO's budsjett for mye. Jeg ser for meg at det kan være tilfelle hos dere også - det er jo "billigere" å lage mat til flere enn å skulle lage mat til bare seg selv (kan kjøpe store kvantum, slipper å kaste osv).
Og vedr bil; ville ha sett på om din bil bruker mye drivstoff/mil i forhold til andre biler, ikke nødvendigvis bare sammenligne drivstoffutgifter (det kjem jo veldig ann på hvor mye døkk kjører).
Ellers er budsjetter og økonomi fantastisk artig i min verden, bare ta kontakt hvis det er noe jeg kan hjelpe med! Og lykke til ! =)
I didn't see your new look on the last post... but it shows up good here. I love it! Very clean... I'd like your header to be even bigger! Like in Texas!
Clothes in Sweden are expensive - and I imagine they cost a lot in Norway too.
We are four people and we usually spend around 1,200 Swedish kronor on food per week. And then maybe two tanks of petrol - that's another 1.400 kronor.
Like I said earlier~I LOVE the new look :) Very professional!
I would like to know how prices compare in the US to Norway. Interesting to me :)
Ah, yes. The stats versus the actual comment thing! I get frustrated with this too! I had over 400 page views (in one day) a few days ago-but, only 18 comments! Lot's of lurkers out there, huh!
I cannot wait until your giveaway! Yep, you gotta be follower to play!
xo, misha
Me and budgets, haha. If I ever make one you can be sure I never follow through. I think we use about 4000 a month on food, but we are only 2.
Oh and I love the new header.
hugs from marilyn
You finally got your moose! Or is that an older pic in the header? Its nice either way and I like the new look.
I don't have much insight on how much to spend on groceries a month (and Wal Mart messes me up because its not just groceries they sell). That being said, I do know that I spend a lot less by doing the following: pre-plan all your meals for the week and make a list based on this planning. I shop at least once a week (because of mild and eggs), so I make a list and stick to it. Before I started doing this, I realized I was over spending by wandering the aisles and just grabbing what I thought I needed - waste of money and food. If you're also constantly trying to watch what you eat (like me!), if you don't put an item like cookies or ice cream on your list, you aren't allowed to buy it. I go so far as to avoid walking down an aisle entirely if there is nothing there that is on my list.
For me, gasoline is easy to budget for. I know how many miles I average per month and how many miles my husband (who commutes) averages per month and I figure the amount of gas needed and adjust my budget by the ever increasing price of gas (over $3 for regular here in Texas).
As for clothes, I'm no help! My boys are young enough yet to not care if their clothes come from Wal Mart and if I need anything for one of them I include it on my grocery list. I"m not looking forward to fashion concious teenagers!
Hope I helped!
I don't mean to stop in and not comment, I know, irritating :)
I like your new look and I am impressed that you snagged that picture!
I am not sure any of Lars and I's spending is going to be useful information for you haha...vi er jo bare to vet du. :)But I would bet that just keeping better track of what you spend will help you save. Like how I know that if I kept a food diary I would either lose a lot of weight or develop a complex! Haha!
I agree with Fi...can you make the header bigger? THat pic is too awesome to leave it small. :-)
We spend about 4000DKK a month on groceries (but that does not count all the money I spend in the US stocking up ...lol)
and even though gas has been going down in the US, it keeps going up here...11.72kr per liter, so over $10/gallon...
With you guys living on the island, I am sure there is not much you can do to cut down on gas....
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