Grocery Budget for Vegetarians

amelia_atlantic

Hey y'all

I feel like the majority of my money goes to the grocery stores. I cook all my own meals and I always bring a lunch to work. Trader Joes, Whole Foods and Hannaford are all within a block of each other and circle my office. I'm spending about $100 on groceries a week and I'm just one single vegetarian lady!

I REFUSE to eat processed crap just because I'm broke but produce is very expensive. For example; I go through 2 bags of baby spinach, a bunch of bananas, 3 avocadoes (they're over $1 a piece here), tomatoes, 3 oranges and lemons and 2 sweet potatoes a work week...every week. This is about $25-$30 depending on the store before I even get staples like bread, eggs and yogurt.

I'm trying to cut corners with my finances to pay off credit card debt from travelling...so I can travel more.

My questions for fellow vegetarians:
Does this seem incredibly excessive to spend this much?
How much do you spend on groceries a week?
How do you spend less?
Any recipes that freeze well and can be used for a few days at a time?

Thanks!

sbrooks0387

well i'm not 100% vegitarian but pretty close haven't had meat in a week or two but i do eat chicken every now and then. but i have recently discovered dried beans (mostly chick peas) i add them to everything and they are pretty cheap. i just spent $35 stocking up on millet, buckwheat, sunflower seeds, almonds, granola, etc and most of it was organic (i just couldn't justify spending $5 a lb on organic sunflower seeds)...i have to travel about an hour to get to a store that carries it (and it's in bulk) and it'll last me about a month if not more.

so $100 a week for 1 person does sound expensive to me. i didn't even spend that much on a family of 5 (1 is a nursing infant though) this week. i'd change up your menu some don't be so set in 3 avacodas etc...every week go with whats on sale or in season.

i make a pan of chick peas every 3 days. and a pan of millet or what ever grain every few days as well. then for lunch i add what ever i fancy. today was millet with sunflower seeds, almonds, and chick peas no dressing or anything added. if i have veggies left over from dinner the night before they can get chopped up and added.

pdworkman

For a family of three, including two runners and a teenage boy, I spend around $150 per week, including other household items purchased at the grocery store as well. We are also all either gluten free or grain free, so that includes some gf bread and bagels for the boys' lunches. I am not in the US and find that our grocery prices are higher here.

When you say you cook your own meals, do you mean from scratch or from convenience foods? Things like legumes, rice, potatoes and other root veggies, and cabbage are pretty cheap.

DazzlnDiva

That's quite expensive in my opinion. There's only me at my house too, so I could never afford to go anywhere or do anything if I was spending that much on groceries. I do purchase either raw or frozen vegetables. Of course the veggies can be frozen if you purchase them raw and use them for stir fry or smoothies at a later date. You can also freeze any beens and such if you prepare your food ahead of time. I don't eat eggs and diary so I don't have the problem of stocking up on those items. I'm strictly plant based. I would suggest maybe planning your menus out and taking a day to prepare what you have for the week. You may be wasting some things buying too much at once. Or maybe you need to expand your menu so that you are eating things that don't necessarily have to be purchased weekly like beans, pasta, rice, etc. My two cents....

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

I'm vegan and I spend around the same amount.

amelia_atlantic

Realistically, I probably spend about $70-$75 on groceries a week. All I know is every time I go to grocery store, I don't get out of there for less than $35. The other $25 goes towards household stuff like cleaning stuff.

I buy my lentils, rice, beans and spices from the bulk sections. I make a lentil soup in my mini crock pot almost every week.

I make everything from scratch. I don't love leftovers so I make enough for me to have for dinner and lunch the next day.

I think I need to be less of a "foodie" and eat some blander meals... I'm going broke trying to eat tasty, healthy foods!

bethycupcakes

That sounds a bit over what i spend but i'm in the same single lady vegetarian boat. I tend to buy and freeze a lot of things... things like veggie lasagna, spinach burgers, and sweet potato quesadilla filling can be cooked and then frozen.

i buy when it's on sale, cook it and then pack it in single serve containers and freeze.

also try to buy things that are in season in your area, winter is hard because the fun stuff is out of season but things like clementimes, sweet potato, and other root veggies are.

come spring/ summer finding a farmers market is my go to, usually it's cheeper than the stores and you can talk to the farmers and see whats going into the products. the only down side is in my area you have to wake up super early.

last thing, if there is a ethnic market near you your fruits and veggies may cost less there. those types of stores are more "no frills" than places like trader joes and whole foods to it cost less to run the store and that is reflected in the cost of foods.

these things have worked for me... hope they help you out.

Firefox7275

Hey y'all

I feel like the majority of my money goes to the grocery stores. I cook all my own meals and I always bring a lunch to work. Trader Joes, Whole Foods and Hannaford are all within a block of each other and circle my office. I'm spending about $100 on groceries a week and I'm just one single vegetarian lady!

I REFUSE to eat processed crap just because I'm broke but produce is very expensive. For example; I go through 2 bags of baby spinach, a bunch of bananas, 3 avocadoes (they're over $1 a piece here), tomatoes, 3 oranges and lemons and 2 sweet potatoes a work week...every week. This is about $25-$30 depending on the store before I even get staples like bread, eggs and yogurt.

I'm trying to cut corners with my finances to pay off credit card debt from travelling...so I can travel more.

My questions for fellow vegetarians:
Does this seem incredibly excessive to spend this much?
How much do you spend on groceries a week?
How do you spend less?
Any recipes that freeze well and can be used for a few days at a time?

Thanks!

Are there any cheaper stores like Aldi and are you eating a wide variety of foods or the same ones on repeat? Have you priced up different fruit and vegetables per 100g? Veg tends to be cheaper than fruit, frozen dried or canned tends to be cheaper than fresh, root and seasonal veggies cheaper that the soft juicy ones which are easily attacked by insects or fungus, easily bruised or otherwise have a short shelf life.

Here in the UK the cheapest produce includes dried mixed fruit (sultanas and raisins), frozen rhubarb, fresh pineapple, fresh red onion, whole red cabbage, fresh carrot, frozen sweetcorn, canned tomatoes, frozen broccoli, frozen green beans. I tend to have frozen spinach in smoothies or hot meals because that is less than a quarter of the price of bagged baby spinach, my winter salads might be based on mixed beans or chunky homemade coleslaw which is cheap to make and nutritious.

Wholegrain bread is getting expensive here too if you look at the price per 100g and consider that is the cooked weight; dried beans or lentils, barley or brown rice may be cheaper, these can be frozen once cooked. Another option is to purchase a breadmaker if you can get a cheap one and bake your own.

djshari

What other stores do you have in the area? I spend $40-$50 for just me and that sometimes includes meat (I get some frozen so don't need to purchase every week). Imo Trader Joe's and Whole Foods can be pretty expensive for staples and most people I know only go there to pick up special things they can't get at their regular grocer. I have a Woodman's near me that almost always has the best produce prices (and selection) but I also shop the sales at Pick n Save near my house if I see certain things on sale in the weekly ad. It kinda depends on what you have near you but also things like buying more of something (like frozen spinach maybe) when you see it on sale.

amelia_atlantic

That's quite expensive in my opinion. There's only me at my house too, so I could never afford to go anywhere or do anything if I was spending that much on groceries. I do purchase either raw or frozen vegetables. Of course the veggies can be frozen if you purchase them raw and use them for stir fry or smoothies at a later date. You can also freeze any beens and such if you prepare your food ahead of time. I don't eat eggs and diary so I don't have the problem of stocking up on those items. I'm strictly plant based. I would suggest maybe planning your menus out and taking a day to prepare what you have for the week. You may be wasting some things buying too much at once. Or maybe you need to expand your menu so that you are eating things that don't necessarily have to be purchased weekly like beans, pasta, rice, etc. My two cents....

Good points!

I didn't think to freeze raw vegetables. I always buy frozen fruit (so cheap!

Honestly, I don't waste that much. I make a serious effort not to.

Ge0rgiana

Check out bountifulbaskets.org. You get a pretty good chunk of produce for cheap. Also, they offer organic baskets in some areas as well as bread, extra veggie packs, nuts, etc.

peckish_pomegranate

I spend $30-50 a week for two people.

jhoyett

I don't know if you're near a farmer's market but it drastically reduced my grocery bill when I started shopping there. Fresh produce is significantly cheaper there.

amelia_atlantic

That sounds a bit over what i spend but i'm in the same single lady vegetarian boat. I tend to buy and freeze a lot of things... things like veggie lasagna, spinach burgers, and sweet potato quesadilla filling can be cooked and then frozen.

i buy when it's on sale, cook it and then pack it in single serve containers and freeze.

also try to buy things that are in season in your area, winter is hard because the fun stuff is out of season but things like clementimes, sweet potato, and other root veggies are.

come spring/ summer finding a farmers market is my go to, usually it's cheeper than the stores and you can talk to the farmers and see whats going into the products. the only down side is in my area you have to wake up super early.

last thing, if there is a ethnic market near you your fruits and veggies may cost less there. those types of stores are more "no frills" than places like trader joes and whole foods to it cost less to run the store and that is reflected in the cost of foods.

these things have worked for me... hope they help you out.

Oooh, do you have recipes for these? Veggie lasagna, spinach burgers

I can't wait for the farmer's markets to start again! I bought a CSA last year but it was a waste of money....long story.

Ethnic markets are a great idea! Thanks!

jrbb03092

I spend max $150.00 a week for 3 - 2 adults and 1 teenager. I buy my grains, etc, at the bulk barn, check flyers for what fruits and vegetables are on sale, use a fair bit of tofu and shop our Korean markets (we have two within walking distance and they often prove cheaper than my usual supermarket). I freeze leftovers and they show up the next week and the week after and every so often when I've spent over a little (buying "special" ingredients) I have a week of cooking dinners ONLY from what's in the cupboard. I meal plan each week, draw up a grocery list online (there's an online site that spits out a list along with the full cost) and tend to keep to the list. Lots of crockpot cooking. Love coming in the house to smell dinner and if there's just one of you, one dish will give you anywhere from 3-7 more meals on average.

crystalflame

I'm spending $50 a week for two - and this is a recent development; until recently I was spending $75-$100 for two. I do the foodie thing and I won't buy crap, but it's easy to save a lot if you comparison shop and plan your meals around what's on sale. The biggest change I made was to start actually reading those grocery store ads that show up in the mail every week; when I can get broccoli for $1 a head, broccoli will be present in at least four of my ten planned meals. I buy whatever fruit is on sale for breakfast. I also have started shopping in two places: generally, Sprouts for produce, cheese, and bulk items and Central Market for shelf goods like beans and salsa. I get the most bang for my buck that way. Coupons are good too!

cjsacto

I spend about $150 per week for two people, and I'd like to reduce that.

Stay away from Whole Foods except for things you can't find anywhere else. It's soooo expensive.

Do you have a farmer's market in your area this time of year? I spend about $20 at the farmer's market when I go and fill a big bag with lots of fruits and veggies.

Black beans are super cheap, and can be frozen once cooked. One bag of dry beans will get you about 10 (?) servings of a bean dish. I'd eat that way more if my bf were on board with it.

I try to make muffins, pancakes, any desserts, and (when I'm feeling ambitious) bread from scratch. Whole wheat flour is cheap.

JESSJESJ

Our groceries for two averages out to about $75 -100 a week for two some weeks more some less depending on what staples we are out of. Food has gotten so expensive! I dont buy alot of processed food - mainly meat and veggies, but not too much of it is organic as I can't justify $6 for one organic pepper. we have a ton of grocery stores nearby so I try and see whats on sale where and go there, if its convenient on my way home from work etc. I find the trader joes frozen fruits and veggies to be cheaper than at the grocery store, but I think their other produce is pricier. Dollar stores if convenient can be good places - dollar general in my area just had muir glen organic tomatos for $1 a can. the expiration date was next month so you cant buy too many, but good deal otherwise

amelia_atlantic

I spend max $150.00 a week for 3 - 2 adults and 1 teenager. I buy my grains, etc, at the bulk barn, check flyers for what fruits and vegetables are on sale, use a fair bit of tofu and shop our Korean markets (we have two within walking distance and they often prove cheaper than my usual supermarket). I freeze leftovers and they show up the next week and the week after and every so often when I've spent over a little (buying "special" ingredients) I have a week of cooking dinners ONLY from what's in the cupboard. I meal plan each week, draw up a grocery list online (there's an online site that spits out a list along with the full cost) and tend to keep to the list. Lots of crockpot cooking. Love coming in the house to smell dinner and if there's just one of you, one dish will give you anywhere from 3-7 more meals on average.

I bought a small crockpot for $3. It's basically 1.5 servings. I should upgrade and freeze....

amelia_atlantic

Great tips everyone! Thank you!

Keep 'em coming!

like_milk

Wow, I spend less than that and I'm feeding two. I actually became vegetarian because I went through a period where I was too poor to afford meat and then eventually went off it. Still, I have a look at the cost of meat and I'm shocked at how much it is. However, I am in the UK so it might be different here.

I can only give advice based on UK supermarkets, so it might be completely useless.

Check out the prices of fresh/frozen/canned per kg/lb to know you're getting the best deal.
Buy off-brand when applicable.
When buying fresh double check the price of loose or packaged fruit and veg per kg/lb as it's normally, but not always, cheaper to buy loose.
Just learn to get an eye for bargins, be less picky.
When doing a recipe with a few expensive ingredients, ask yourself if you cannot substitute it for something else or leave it out completely... especially fresh herbs.
Look for recipes that contain only a few ingredients and are freezable.
Oh, and buy in season!

Now, this is really geeky, but I made a spreadsheet of my most cooked meals and got the prices of the ingredients, totaled it up, divided it by the number of portions, and then you have the total cost per portion. It has actually been really helpful in putting things into perspective so I can cook the cheaper meals more often and have the others as a treat. My meal costs ranged from 40p to £3 per portion.

amelia_atlantic

I buy generic whenever possible.

Has anyone noticed that it's always cheaper to go generic even WITH a coupon?!

meagalayne

Best advice - EAT IN SEASON!

Everything taste best in season, anyway :bigsmile: I eat tons of root vegetables, winter squash, cabbage, sweet potatoes and lots of healthy legumes and complex carbs all cooked from dry.

Ethnic markets are an awesome source of inexpensive produce as well, and often carry a variety of dried goods. Experiment with millet, quinoa, bulgur wheat, and whole wheat couscous. Vegan/vegetarian dishes with lentils, split peas, and beans/legumes from dry are super cheap, mega filling and very healthy.

Loads of recipes out there. Crock pot, stove top or oven. It's all good! :bigsmile:

meagalayne

Also, sites like this are great for ideas: http://budgetbytes.blogspot.ca/

Not always the healthiest but you can make adjustments if you know what's generally good for ya

Rynatat

Just spent $450 at Whole Foods for me & my Husband this weekend. Granted, some of the stuff are things that will last a while (GF flour, nutritional yeast, etc.), but most is fruits & veggies that will last about 2 weeks.

I look at it this way: I can either spend a little money on whatever is on sale or cheap & then have money to travel or get things we want but I would truly rather be healthy & happy & spend quality healthy time with my Husband.

I also buy mostly organic liver, chicken & veggies to make our 4 cats their food each week (to go along with their GF biscuits!): they are healthier than even & 3 are almost 12 years old!! (one is diabetic and had bad joints, didn't even used to move except to go to the litter box, eat his food & drink water, now he chases the 4-year old Kitty around the house & cuddles with me! Yea, any further proof is in the quality of the food!)

Kaymegan90

I probably spend about $50 a week, maybe more, on groceries each week. I've been vegetarian since January. I did used to spend more, but once I started meal planning, that pretty much locked me into a cheaper monthly amount. If you can plan your meals for the week around the same general ingredients, you won't need to spend as much on different assortments of food.

For example, I love lentils. And I love that I can make the whole bag and use it over the course of my work week. This past week, my meals were set up like this:

MONDAY
Lentils with poached eggs

TUESDAY
Lentil spaghetti with mushrooms

WEDNESDAY
Burrito - Black beans, mushroom, avocado (half)

THURSDAY
Lentil spaghetti with mushrooms

FRIDAY
Scrambled eggs with lentils and tomatoes

I'm also pretty in love with oatmeal, so I generally eat oatmeal every morning for breakfast. Sometimes I shake it up with huevos avocado or avocado toast (yum) but it depends on the week and how many avocados I'm going to need!

I'd highly recommend meal planning and organizing around a staple ingredient or two. That should help you plan your budget and keep costs down.

initshaw

This is a great post, thank you!

iechick

Hey y'all

I feel like the majority of my money goes to the grocery stores. I cook all my own meals and I always bring a lunch to work. Trader Joes, Whole Foods and Hannaford are all within a block of each other and circle my office. I'm spending about $100 on groceries a week and I'm just one single vegetarian lady!

I REFUSE to eat processed crap just because I'm broke but produce is very expensive. For example; I go through 2 bags of baby spinach, a bunch of bananas, 3 avocadoes (they're over $1 a piece here), tomatoes, 3 oranges and lemons and 2 sweet potatoes a work week...every week. This is about $25-$30 depending on the store before I even get staples like bread, eggs and yogurt.

I'm trying to cut corners with my finances to pay off credit card debt from travelling...so I can travel more.

My questions for fellow vegetarians:
Does this seem incredibly excessive to spend this much?
How much do you spend on groceries a week?
How do you spend less?
Any recipes that freeze well and can be used for a few days at a time?

Thanks!

I spend $90 a week for five people, 4 who eat a standard American diet and then me who eats a mostly whole foods, plant based with a bit of non-whole foods in moderation. So yeah, what you're spending is a bit mind boggling to me

You can take a peek at my profile for a link to my food diary but I eat a green smoothie every day and that usually has fresh spinach, kale, chia seeds, a banana, frozen blueberries that I picked at a U Pick farm this summer ($1.25lb!), and then another fruit. I recently discovered that Dollar Tree has added frozen foods and I can get bags of frozen fruit, with nothing added, for $1 each and one bag breaks down into two smoothies. So far I've gotten strawberries, mango, mixed berries and peaches.

For off season growing months (like now) I get the spinach and kale at Meijer, which is a midwest chain. A huge bunch of organic kale is $2 or $1.50 for non-organic. Spinach is $1.50 for a large bunch. I usually buy two bunches of each week (go back to the store halfway through the week to get the second bunches). The chia seeds I get at a local health store and a container costs around $8 and lasts me a couple months (at a tbsp a day, per smoothie).

Then everyday I usually have a large, dinner plate sized salad-veggies and then either warmed up organic refried beans on top with hot sauce, black olives and ground flax seed for a 'taco' type salad, or one with veggies, croutons and regular ranch dressing (I like mild pepper rings on this one). I get veggies are that on sale and also hit up the reduced produce rack-I get most of my bananas from there, for .19lb. During growing season I get produce really cheap or even free through the farmers market, hobby farmers, u pick farms and relative's gardens. The beans I get are canned and cost $1.09 and it has 2-3 salads worth in each can.

I've been pairing up the salads with large sweet potatoes lately since those are in season yet here-I top them with a cinnamon sugar mixture (nothing else).

And then a grain-usually brown rice with veggies and mushrooms mixed in or oatmeal with lots of different add ins (the possibilities are endless-this week I tried a pumpkin banana almond combo and it was amazing!).

I don't eat eggs and dairy is limited to when we go out to eat usually, then I'll have a bit of cheese. I don't usually eat bread type things, except for an occasional whole wheat English muffin that I get for $1.09 a package at the bread outlet, and then I do a lot of baking and will have homemade muffins that I make with wheat that I grind myself and usually has fresh fruit or things like grated carrots in.

For me alone, I spend around $30 a week on groceries.

imakeyoukneel

I have the farmers market when things are in season and the bill goes up a bit during the winter I eat a lot of frozen veggies and fruit they can be cheaper not sure if that helps

ldrosophila

Maybe shop around a bit more in your community. I loved living in Vegas because the Hispanic markets were always dirt cheap! My mouth drops open at the mark up Whole Foods does...too expensive for my blood.

LoseYouself

I spend approximately $40-50 per week for my husband AND myself.. and up until this week, that was for a whole foods. vegan diet. This week we started eating some local pasture raised/free range eggs from someone's pet chickens. So I guess that takes away the vegan label I've had for 1.5 years. Still, it's vegetarian and it's fairly easy to get a lot of produce, legumes, brown rice, tofu, etc if you shop around and try to buy local. Strangely enough, the local pasture raised eggs from "happy chickens" were WAY cheaper than even the commercially farmed eggs in the grocery stores (that I will not buy for ethical reasons). Prices of food depends on where you shop. I shop around, look at flyers, get produce at the local farmers market, and look for any sales and buy based on what is on sale that week.

What you spend isn't too terrible, but is it just for you only? I understand some people in cities don't have access to local farm pasture-raised eggs (which are cheaper and healthier), or local cheaper produce. So if you live in a city, I would assume the costs would be a bit higher.