What We Spend: Mother and son duo share their $1,463.50 week.

What We Spend is Mamamia's look into the weekly expenses of Australian families. From groceries and school fees, to clothes and everyday essentials: here's a peek into what different families of all sizes are spending their money on. This week, Sydneysider Nama shares what her spend looked like. She's a 45-year-old writer that works from home full-time, and mother to a 14-year-old son and a "very spoilt puppy", Churchill.               

Monday: $170

Today I took the car to a long-overdue service. I knew it would cost around the $400 mark, being that it was a bigger service needed with a few problem areas (and honestly, I have more exciting things I want to spend my money on!). But it needs to be done. I took my son, Winston and our puppy, Churchill, with me, because it was school holidays and everyone enjoys the drive.

My local car service place discovers something was wrong with the air con (less than ideal), so they kept the car and thankfully drove us home, which I’m very happy about because that saves me at least $30 on an Uber trip.

I needed to save that $30 because while we’ve been waiting, I’ve taken my puppy Churchill for a walk and discovered a new pet shop in our area… where I spent $170 on a new bed (it was just SO SOFT) and dog treats to keep his mind active.

To put it in context – Churchill is only seven months old and came to us from my sister who passed away – so he’s very special to us. 

And yes, he is very spoilt.

Churchill loves his new bed, so I'm considering that purchase #worthit. Image: Supplied. 

Tuesday: $445

The car service place fixed the air con under warranty – rejoice – and delivered the car back to me (this team are fantastic!), saving me another $30 Uber. And a 45-minute round trip, which is great, as I’ve had plenty of work to do at home.

I’m a lifestyle writer for a few different news organisations, and I had two 5pm deadlines today. 

I’d made a cheese, tomato and ham toasties for breakfast, but by 2pm, Winston and I were both hungry and I was right in the thick of a story, so we ordered food to treat ourselves on school holidays from Uber Eats: $45. 

I rationalise it by knowing we won’t need much for dinner, but it’s a convenience splurge.

Julio from the car place calls for payment for the service, and because of how brilliant the experience has been, I feel slightly less nauseous about the $400 they charged me for the big service and repairs.

Wednesday: $530

I put in a huge groceries delivery as our weekly shop to stop being tempted by Uber Eats, full of delicious and simple things my son can prepare for himself while I work. And food (and toys) for Churchill. That comes to $190, but delivery is free, which is a win.

I also pay this quarter's electricity bill, which is $340... much higher than our usual bills because the nights have been so cold, and we live in a house that was built in the 1800s! Heating. Is. Essential.

On that note, as a single mum, it’s really important to me to spend money where I feel like I want to really invest – like food for us, and a thorough car service. I'm always wanting to spend on quality, but saving and earning privileges where I can. 

For me, I'm often ticking that box by using my credit card that feels like it's essentially rewarding me to use it: the American Express® Platinum Edge Credit Card.

I love, love, love a points scheme, especially when I don't have to do anything different to what I'm usually doing to build them up for a reward of some sort. The card basically earns me points when using it on our everyday spending. This Amex card really delivers the benefits, so really works well for me to get more out of our household finances.

You just earn points for using the Amex card on regular everyday expenses (like my groceries, electricity and other bills, school shoes for Winston, petrol – that sort of thing). You get 3 points for every dollar spent at major supermarkets and petrol stations, otherwise you get 1 point for every dollar spent at most other places. 

So based on my $190 grocery shop, that's 570 points just in one hit.

As you know how I adore points schemes, I've already gotten a little obsessed at watching my points climb. At this rate, I could be getting somewhere in the range of 100,000 points in a year if I use the card for all of my expenses. I'm excited just thinking about it.

You can even use those points to book your next road trip, getaway or entertainment (Winston and I are big on the last one). It's honestly such a good card for families – as a family of two it works a treat, so I'd imagine for bigger families the points would build (and the rewards to be enjoyed) even quicker than ours. 

I definitely recommend it, as once you're a card member, you can access their Amex offers, where you can earn money back or bonus points when shopping with certain brands. Super handy.

Say I did rack up a beautiful 100,000 points in a year... that's up to $500 in Gift Cards. That's all my Christmas gifts for Winston sorted, our Christmas Day feast for two taken care of, and our pup Churchill can have any toy he takes a liking to basically! I'd also set some of that aside too to treat myself to a staycation at a nice hotel in our city, in the spirit of treating myself.

I do love a treat (which is all the more sweeter when it doesn't cost a thing!), so I feel like I'm earn things for myself while I'm just paying for daily family things.

At the moment, there is pretty excellent offer for new Amex card members. You skip the Card fee for the first year (saving $195), and my favourite bit: you'll receive 50,000 bonus points* (so basically equivalent to $250 in gift cards). 

To grab this offer with both hands, you do need to make sure you apply by 19 October 2021 and be approved, and spend $1,500 on your card in the first 3 months. But truth be told, if you use it to pay your bills and basically all of your expense like groceries and petrol (and any fancy dog beds you're also eyeing off), it's pretty quickly achieved.

I was happily relieved to see that one of the Platinum Edge Credit Card benefits we get when we pay our monthly bill is smartphone screen insurance – as every parent knows, a must for every device (Winston, I'm looking at you). 

Anyway, Thursday was going to be my birthday so I actually didn't intend to spend any of my own money! I talked to my son and Churchill about what I expect from them come tomorrow: a sleep-in and lots of cuddles were my only requests.

Churchill looked confused about the possibility of a day not being about him.

Thursday: $0

It was my birthday! I took Churchill for two long walks in the sun, and didn’t do any work this day. Plus now we’re plunged into lockdown (again), it meant no socialising with any loved ones besides my son. Winston let me have my sleep-in and took Churchill out first thing in the morning, which was a win. 

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A post shared by Nama Winston (@namawinston)

While I was having my coffee, Winston made a speech about what an incredible mum I am, so I felt like the richest woman in the world that day.

I knew there was a special meal coming at dinner, so after scrambled eggs for lunch, I snuggled with our pup for a much-needed nap.

Even though it’s different to other birthdays because of lockdown, it was still a really lovely day. I even got a delivery from a beautiful seafood restaurant – thanks to one of my sisters in Melbourne.

Happy birthday to me! Image: Supplied. 

I'm hoping we can head down and see her soon in person, which we have been waiting to do since the beginning of 2020. When we're able to move around again, I'm planning on using the $200 travel credit we receive from the Platinum Edge Credit Card towards our domestic flights to Melbourne, as that's an annual card benefit I've been excited to enjoy!

Friday: $318.50

I woke up to the school emailing me about Winston's sport next term. Even though it seems so far away, I signed the consent form and payed the $250. And then I wrote another story and did my invoicing for the week, so I would be expecting money coming in instead of out!

That night, Winston asked if he can buy some songs and a $15 in-game thingy on his device (I don’t know what it is, I wasn’t really listening). I went with it, so he could participate in the game with his mates. So said bye to $19 that went to Apple. A small price to pay for his entertainment in lockdown really. 

Even though it's not a huge amount: I thought, "at least it got me 19 Amex points". Ha.

Me, on the other hand, checked to see what’s streaming that night and found that two movies I’ve been dying to watch are out – but of course, they’re not available for rent. Only to buy.

But… I’ve worked hard, and it’s lockdown, and… well, you know how it goes. I bit the bullet, and bought both movies for myself, and that’s $49.90 gone. All on the American Express® Platinum Edge Credit Card at least, so I'm earning 49 points which I reassured myself! I'm reframing it as investing in my future viewing pleasure (and knowing that I'm rewarding future me with those points I've become obsessed with tracking) so that’s how I'm looking at it. 

Saturday & Sunday: $25.20

The weekend doesn’t feel much different in lockdown and school holidays. I did a bit of online window-shopping, but know that next Wednesday, direct debits come out for my phone bill and electricity, so I didn't buy anything in the meantime.

(I did press ‘add to cart’ a lot, and then I wait for everything to go on sale!)

Winston then begged me for a jacket from The Iconic, and knowing he’s missing his mates and social life, the mother guilt in me kicks in and it’s the only thing I buy. 

It’s $31.50 with a further 20 per cent off at checkout, which was so exciting to me and gave me a major retail adrenaline hit! A much cheaper spend than if I'd bought the things for myself I was eyeing off. I'm counting this as a win, too.

To check out more about the American Express® Platinum Edge Credit Card, and explore the Terms & Conditions to see if it's a great fit for you, keep reading here.

Feature Image: Supplied.

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