What We Spend: A Melbourne family of 5 share their $1,209.90 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, and the one major points-earning hack they recommend to reap the benefits – an Amex Platinum Edge Credit Card. This week, Joanna shares what her spend looked like. She's a mum of 3 girls (6, 3 and 11 months), and lives with her husband in bayside Melbourne.      

Life is busy with three children, and not surprisingly: expensive. 

And like anything, things can ramp up and slow down in waves, particularly our spending. Specifically, around things like entertainment, going to the movies, event tickets, cocktails with my girlfriends, or date nights with my husband at nice restaurants (becoming few and far in between with each little one added to the family!). 

Funnily, a noteworthy category of spending I never quite realised before I had my own: children’s birthday parties. I feel like we go through periods of spending a fortune supporting our 6-year-old’s social life, which is incidentally better than mine.

It got me thinking, what does a week of expenses of ours actually look like? Of course it fluctuates week to week, month to month, but having an American Express® Platinum Edge Credit Card, I can easily keep track of what we, as a family of five, are spending. 

So, here's a breakdown of our last 7 days.

Monday: $262

I always write a menu for our weekly dinners every Sunday, which eliminates the panic I feel when it’s late afternoon and the children start sniffing around the kitchen. 

I’m not a natural chef, and cooking is something that always stresses me out. By writing my shopping list as I draw up the menu, I feel at least 80% more organised in life. 

The grocery order got delivered on Monday morning. Getting deliveries has been something I started doing during Melbourne’s multitude of lockdowns, and it’s been a good way to stick to my list and not buy too many extras. 

Despite my best efforts... it’s not my only grocery shop for the week. 

At some stage later in the week, I inevitably forget things, or admit defeat and grab a cooked chicken and bread rolls when I can’t face cooking. 

This big shop of groceries and essentials like nappies is always around the $250 mark. This time around, it’s $262, which means I earned myself a beautiful 786 points (3 points for each dollar spent at major supermarkets when I use my American Express® Platinum Edge Credit Card). 

Off to a flying (expensive) start. 

Tuesday: $16

Our 6-year-old was feeling restless, so we went for a walk to burn some energy in the afternoon.

I grabbed a coffee at our local café, along with babycinos and some croissants for the girls, spending $16 all up.  

Image: Supplied.

Of course, we love supporting small (especially in 2021, more than ever), and there are some cheeky perks to being an Amex Card Member. I get access to Shop Small deals (an offer I saved to my card straight away). This is where shopper can get an extra 3 points per $1 spent when shopping at specific small businesses that are participating. 

So this gives me the potential to unlock up to 40,000 points until 31 March 2022, which is an incredible incentive in a time where we're all supporting the local family businesses in our area, including butchers, florists, cafés and everything in between. 

Wednesday: $155.90

In the afternoon, I grabbed two bottles of wine, adding up to $43.90 – I like to have the essentials close at hand mid-week! (Our local bottle shop is also part of Shop Small, which I found out through the Amex app). 

I also got an order from Chemist Warehouse: a total of $112 on skincare, vitamins, baby paracetamol and self-tan. I must look tanned when I’m drinking my wine in the evening, where only my husband and kids can see me, obviously.

It's just a pipedream for now, but when we can, I've been thinking of future planning for an overseas trip (in the distant future) with the family. Potentially to France.

The uncapped earning potential on the Amex Platinum Edge Credit Card means that I can stash lots of points away for when I choose to use them. I love that I can exchange them for Gift Cards of my choosing too, offsetting my transactions in the Amex app, or transfer my earned points to a variety of different airline or hotel partners. 

So basically, I'm justifying any spending this year – to see our Amex points soar – as a future gift to myself (oh, and the family) in the form of a holiday.

It's worth knowing too that the Amex Platinum Edge Credit Card comes with $200 to spend on travel each year with Amex Travel and complimentary travel insurance on both domestic and international trips, if we book the return trip on the Card. This is incredible value, and when the time comes, it's one less thing we'll have to worry about organising (and paying for) with our busy family.

Thursday: $100

Today I escaped to the petrol station alone, which feels like a vacay for any parent when there aren't kids with you requesting another round of snacks.

Refuelling the car cost $100 on the nose (that never happens), and as you earn 3 points to each $1 spent at major petrol stations, I'm saying hello to 300 new points stashed away for a rainy day.

You'll be glad to know that right now, American Express have an offer for new Card Members: a $200 David Jones credit*. But what kicks it up a notch is that new cardholders will also be getting 50,000 Bonus Points* (equivalent to up to $250 in Gift Cards). Christmas just came early!

If you're keen to grab this offer yourself, you just need to apply for the Amex Platinum Edge Credit Card by 1 February 2022, and after you're approved, spend a minimum of $1,500 on purchases within the first 3 months. That's quite achievable in many ways when you factor in paying for Christmas presents, nappies, bills, petrol and insurance.

Friday: $548

I did some online shopping today, partly because our girls could do with some new wardrobe staples for summer, but mostly because I’m bored (let's be honest), and a lot of places are having sales now. 

I spent $220 at David Jones, which will help keep the girls looking nice and comfy for the season. It also earned me a $200 credit on my Card* because of the new Amex offer. I love a good deal.

I also paid the water bill, which is the embarrassing sum of $328. I paired this with the mental note to shorten my lockdown showers. I’ll find somewhere else to sing Adele and rehash arguments from 2014.

Saturday: $83

We were running out of milk and nappies again, so I dropped by the supermarket. I also picked up some cheeseboard additions for a date night that my husband and I were planning to have Saturday night. 

Image: Supplied.

I know I buy more when I go into the actual supermarket as opposed to shopping online, but I’m still shocked that this reasonably small shop came to $83. 

I rationalise to myself that I’ve earned 249 points to stash away, and plan to use those to treat myself to that new Diptyque candle I’ve had my eye on. So it's all about balance here.

I’m not over the moon this afternoon, as one of our daughters dropped my phone and caused a crack across the screen. Not. Ideal. Especially when mine and my husband's phone are our lifelines to each other in the working week, and the outside world, with our loved ones living away from us.

I was comforted knowing that an Amex Platinum Edge Credit Card perk comes with Smartphone Screen Insurance, which provides cover for screen repairs up to $500 (as my monthly phone bill goes on the Credit Card). I couldn't have realised this perk at a more convenient time, really. The hugest of silver linings!

As a parent of three small people, I’ve realised how underrated a Credit Card benefit like this is, when multiple children are squabbling over who can hold mum's phone while they crowd around it to watch Bluey.

Sunday: $45

I'd forgotten to take the meat out of the freezer for dinner, so the girls had a slapped together pasta dish tonight. Hubby and I treated ourselves by ordering Uber Eats once they were all in bed ($45), and also split the bottle of red wine that I bought earlier in the week. 

I tallied up what we spent: it came to a grand total of $1,209.90

Our week was definitely more expensive than I anticipated! Because we haven't gotten out and done as much as we usually would do this year, I've definitely been more inclined to treat myself and the family. 

We're lucky and privileged to have the means to do this when we can – and thankful to know that we're enjoying the smaller things in life (and able to collect points on our Credit Card along the way).

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.

Read more from the What We Spend series:

• What We Spend: Mother and son duo share their $1,463.50 week.
• What We Spend: A Brisbane couple with 2 kids under 6 share their $2,006.61 week.

Feature: Supplied.