Our grocery bill? Yes, it seems to settle on QAR400 per week with minimal variation. For all of you Kiwi's reading, this will mean little to you so in perspective it is around NZD150 per week. Now, again, to give a reality check, in NZ prior to our departure we were probably spending the same amount on food including cleaning products etc, which was on the "budget" side of life. In casual conversation, I pick that we are spending between half and two-thirds of what other families in similar circumstances are spending here in Qatar. So am I cheap? Obviously yes! Do I try to be cheap? I don't think I try super hard. So what does it mean?
It means that I have been through all of our financial targets since we have been married and tried to recheck our forward looking ones. What I have found is that our "realistic" targets have all been met and exceeded. I think this is possibly because when we were first married we did not have enough money to really get by on. Coffee, and instant at that, was not affordable, Christmas was set at $20 each for a gift (for Ross and me), and driving the car anywhere would nearly break the bank.....heck I wanted us to get out of that rut. I had a fabulous job and Ross delivered pizzas and over the next five years we clawed our way upwards considerably. We upgraded our diet and instant coffee was purchased, a bread-maker graced our benches and we even took a budget holiday to Fiji between job upgrades but that was about all we upgraded; our costs overall did not upgrade significantly.
Of course, we spent time on an Asian international assignment with my company. That was fortuitous. Infertility reared its head and began to suck tens of thousands of dollars out of the pay packet (not that I am counting, but specifically, NZD56,500 as of 2005) and Ross worked on investing. The sharemarket and that time was turmultuous but excellent for someone who had the time and intelligence to make some well analyzed choices. We left Asia, still childless and entered the Auckland housing market at the early stages of the boom.
From then on, we continued to rejig and revise our financial targets. As interest rates rose to over 9% on the mortgage, we behaved like we were avoiding the poorhouse. With the addition of our exceptionally expensive human creation and the new costs that came once she graced us with her noisy presence we searched for cost efficiencies. The vegetable garden treated us well and the local discount food stores and coupons were my friend, major revisions of insurance and motorised travel helped us avoid the ever increasing costs. Meanwhile, I would be tripping away business class for work accumulating miles that I never spent and enjoying mid-range hotels hating every moment of being away from home. Needless to say, somehow the mortgage continued to plummet and the other investments grew.
Then the ultimate date hit with the ultimate target; Kirsty capable of retiring at 40 years old. My method involved a high (well extreme) level of downsizing: home and city. Ross's target was a tad more extreme and that was a Middle Eastern assignment possibly a good choice but I still would have liked my method but methinks Ross would not have a bar-of-it!Now we have rechecked the targets again and I can barely believe that we are looking down the barrel of a free-hold, Auckland home and potential financial independence in advance of retirement age. So what does this have to do with school lunches? Absolutely everything (1) as it all means that Ross should not tease me for being a stinge (2) and when we drive around in a cheap car we are NOT keeping up with the Joneses, (3) when the kid breaks your bank to create she will continue to break your bank to survive and (4) have limited taste and be happy with it!
P.S You do need to develop a affinity with instant coffee
P.P.S Jamie Oliver's meals are expensive (generally) and in the cases of my choices, extremely fatty....just enjoy them and plan for a cardboard coffin.
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