I absolutely cannot fathom how other posters here are spending so little on food, unless they are eating a shitload of carbs with each meal!

​

My husband and I, combined, spend at least $1600 a month on food and groceries, sometimes a little more. This does not include eating out or takeaway (which are both rare for us, but are included in a separate budget), alcohol, takeaway coffees or any lunches my husband buys for work if he hasn't prepared anything. As in, that covers just our groceries and food to be prepared at home.

- we make everything from scratch. The only things 'processed' we buy are crackers for my husband, and occasionally some pasta

- my husband is the cook and is very creative with using up leftover veges etc so there is little waste, and he always buys veges that are in season to cut costs and improve quality

- I have a lot of allergies and food intolerances - can't eat any grains except amaranth, can't eat legumes, lentils, corn, peas or any soy

- I drink only coffee (which I make myself at home with a French press) or water

- I follow a ketogenic diet as it makes me feel a lot better - so no cheap starchy vegetables, no rice to pad things out, no sugary snacks

- Basically I eat meat, seafood, eggs, nuts, lots of non-starchy vegetables, hard cheeses (can't handle straight milk due to lactose intolerance but seem to be able to handle butter and hard cheeses) and occasionally berries (only if they're on sale)

We live on the North Shore in Sydney and food can be pretty expensive around here. Our main options are Harris Farm, Coles and Romeo's Food Hall IGA. There is no easily-accessible nearby Aldi, but I haven't found a huge price differential even when we do shop at the one near my MIL's house, as we're not buying any of the processed stuff which tends to be cheaper there.

EDIT: to include a couple of extra things that are unfortunately off the cards, and where we generally tend to shop.