Wife told to stop spending more than $120 on weekly groceries for family-of-five

A husband has come under fire for demanding his wife stop “overspending” on weekly groceries for their family-of-five.

Passionate debate has broken out after a woman revealed her husband’s bold demand that a maximum of $120 be spent on their weekly household groceries.

The measly budget needed to cover essential items for five people living in the home – the married couple, their two young children and newborn baby.

The strained mum took to Facebook on Thursday to seek advice on whether it was unreasonable of her husband to expect that she make the $120 stretch so far.

She highlighted how despite cutting back to buying the “bare minimum” she had still found it impossible to avoid “overspending”.

A wife has been told to stop 'overspending' on weekly groceries. Picture: Getty

“[I] got into an argument with my husband about how much we spend on groceries. Our budget is $120 per week with two adults, two kids and one baby,” her post read.

“I keep overspending but I’m cutting back to the bare minimum. Is he being unrealistic?”.

Hundreds of Australians responded offering the mum sympathy, with many acknowledging they too had been considerably affected by recent price rises across essential items.

Several agreed they would struggle massively if they were tasked with feeding five people for a week on just $120.

“I have two adults, two kids, a cat and dog, and spend $300-$350 a week. It’s ridiculous how much the prices have gone up,” one wrote in a comment. ‘

Another argued “you can hardly get the basics for $120”.

“Go online to whatever shop you go to. Select all the items and show him [your husband] that he has no clue,” they wrote.

“Yes, that’s unrealistic. He needs to go shopping with you. $200/week here. Two adults, one teen, one child,” one respondent shared.

Hundreds agreed the budget was “very unrealistic” and encouraged the mum to challenge her husband with shopping for the household for a week.

“I would send him to do it for a few weeks with $120 cash and he is in charge of all food for those weeks,” one wrote.

“That’s so not achievable if you want to have a nutrient rich diet for all of you, let alone for the kiddies, plus then cleaning and hygiene products,” another said.

A woman who lived on her own said she had the same budget as the family-of-five.

“I spend $120 a week and I live alone. Your husband has no idea. Get him to do the shopping on a Saturday and you do mowing the lawns,” she wrote.

Hundreds have argued $120 is not enough to feed a family-of-five. Picture: Getty

Another said $120 was only enough to feed her family for two days, while someone else said it would be a proud accomplishment if she managed to make $120 last a week.

In response to some concern the mum was in a financially abusive relationship, she said their marriage was typically healthy and they were simply working out how to budget better.

“Just to be clear he isn’t being abusive (I’ve been in a financially abusive relationship before) we need a budget to save for a house but disagree about the division of money,” she wrote in a comment.

In another, she said she didn’t agree food was the area they should be cutting back in, and had argued they should consider spending less on going out and buying gifts.

“He needs to be strict and I agree we need to be smart about how we use money but I don’t think food is the place to cut back,” she wrote.

Originally published as Wife told to stop spending more than $120 on weekly groceries for family-of-five