"You are really kidding yourself. Obviously you haven't spoken to pensioners.
Single = $322.10/week Couple = $485.60/week
And you want to raise a whole FAMILY on less than a single pensioner income.
You clearly have no idea about the true cost of living. "
Actually mate it is you that have no idea of what you can really do with your money. The original post that started this was one that state that you need $10000 for food (food only not electricity etc) which is $192 per week. Now if you have to or want to you could do it on around $5000 p/a = approx $14 per day (or as you said earlier $4.50 per meal)
Now for breakfast you certainly don't need to spend $4.50 per day. Infact you could pretty much buy a whole box of cereal that will do you the whole week for that much.
Lunch can make your own sandwiches. Lets assume that costs $4.50 per day if you buy your bread. Although if you invest in a bread maker and spend 5 minutes a day putting in the ingredients you will save yourself a fair chunk of the money spent on lunch.
Tea you have many options: - Cook a quiche + veg - Make a stew - Make a tuna morney + veg - Sausages and veg + many more
You can buy vegies such as carrots and potatoes in bulk bags at significant savings to the retail. Buy no name brand food products (for the most part - although some are no good) You can buy cheaper cuts of meat when on special or sausages (especially if you buy in bulk when on special).
There are plenty of main meal healthy options that you can do for around an average of $4.50 per day.
Reality is it is not hard to do and it becomes second nature just like it is second nature to buy what you buy now. Not everyone wants to or will do it but it is possible if their circumstances warrant it. To say it is not possible or not healthy is untrue.
As for the rest in the original post of: "$3K petrol $5K utility bills $1K car insurance $500 rego"
Well in your example if you are a pensioner then get rid of the car and using the above example you would save $4.5k and your travel costs would be a fraction of it using discount bus fares.
As for the $5k utility bill well you are not trying hard enough if your utility bills currently add up to $5k.
So yes you can quite easily survive on $15k per annum and you don't have to count your pennies. You can also still enjoy the simple things in life and have a happy life.
As I have said in many cases it is more about how people spend their money to what that can achieve/do in life.
