[veganfitnessjunkie]

$25/ week could be done, but it would be difficult to get all micronutrients in (so a multivitamin would probably be useful).

Center you diet around starches (rice, beans, oats, potatoes). Canola oil would probably be a good fat source since it has Omega-3s in it, and is cheap.

Add in condiments, spices, cheaper fruits (leg. bananas and clementines) and vegetables (frozen has better deals) with what you have left.

 

[Windigo]

I've noticed that about E30 for just food ( I live in Europe) is possible; since I went vegan I am spending lots less on groceries. It cut my bill almost by half.

I go to Aldi's for cheap organic products; they sell crackers, rice wafers, agave syrup, soy milk, vegan lentil spread, potatoes, olive oil, vinegar and several organic veg and fruit.

I also go to middle Eastern markets and discount stores; they have cheap flatbreads and lots of bulk products like rice for low prices. They're also good for things like tahin; syrups and hummus.

I do go to a more expensive supermarket too; but that's because I can and usually for luxury goods like vegan faux meat and frozen potato croquettes and such.

 

[ficbot]

I know this is old but I would be very concerned about your partners health in the long term. This is almost a perfect mirror of a mainstream mostly junk diet. ..a vegetarian who doesn't eat vegetables is in trouble.

Yes, this IS a very old thread, and I only just saw this reply as I don't post often. Two clarifications:

1) He has some special health considerations and is quite closely monitored. I have come to accept that he is right when he says he is a bit of a special snowflake in this area. His dietary needs are...unique. He is on medication which reacts with certain foods. He has difficulties with high-protein foods. He really does do fine on his diet---better than many with his condition.

2) He IS much more adventurous when we go out to eat, and he will eat vegetables he would not eat at home. We have been working---slowly---on figuring out why that is and bringing some of that to the house. He eats salad now. He eats cereals and fortified rice milk. After a recent hospital visit, they put him on Greek yogurt and it has done wonders for him. He is making progress.

We still spend about $50 a week

 

[skinnieminnie]

I would say I spend about $25 a week on groceries so yes... $100 a month is doable, but hard. I focus on in-season veggies and fruits (which are cheaper and often tastier), pantry staples (spices, whole wheat bread and pasta, brown rice, beans, veggie broth or vegetable soups), and buy the occasional faux meat or dairy-free yogurt. When you buy things like brown rice or beans in bulk, you obviously don't need to buy more every trip, so that cuts costs. I also usually buy almond milk and a block of cheese when I go, and I freeze what I know I won't be able to eat before it goes bad, which helps save money too. Get a membership card at your supermarket, so when they scan your card the member discounts will apply to your grocery bill. I almost always save $10-20 doing this alone.

I realize this thread is old and the OP may or may not still be active here, but as others have suggested I would try to find other places to make cuts. Your health and nutritional needs are not something that you should skimp on. For us, we don't have cable, so we pay very little for a Netflix and Hulu subscription and that's good enough.

 

[tokyobags]

My family spends around 100 USD a week, that is around for 4 to 5 persons.

As an asian family, we tend to make many side dishes at the beginning of the year and keep them in cold storage for a couple of months.

We then take a little from each side dish poll per meal, in additional to the main dishes which we eat daily. We have around 3 to 4 side dishes, like potato salads, kimchis, tofu, pickles etc. They taste great along with big grain rice. Its something like the korean style of eating which the have many side dishes prepared.

In this way, we dont need much for our main dishes, while still getting a good variety of food daily.

 

[Blueshark]

Mine is about £100 per month, including 2/3 meals out. Just for me.

 

[Lil' Tofu]

I'm a college student and I typically only spend $40-70 a month on groceries. I live near a WinCo and they have pretty cheap prices. I also eat a lot of rice, pasta, bananas and potatoes which are fairly cheap.

 

[Symondezyn]

Cost of living where I am is extremely high. For just my husband and I, we spend approximately $80-$100 on average PER WEEK on groceries, and no, we don't buy a ton of processed foods. If we were really skimping and eating super bare-bones, we could probably get by on $60-$70/week.

I stopped buying canned beans because they are on average about $4 per can, and soups can go up to $6, which is RIDICULOUS. You can get them a little cheaper if you don't buy organic, and if you shop in places like Walmart, but it's further for us to go, and the meagre savings for things like that aren't worth the extra time and travel to get there. I make most things from scratch, and buy as much as I can in season, and in bulk, but groceries are very costly here in general.

 

[jessandreia]

Cost of living where I am is extremely high. For just my husband and I, we spend approximately $80-$100 on average PER WEEK on groceries, and no, we don't buy a ton of processed foods. If we were really skimping and eating super bare-bones, we could probably get by on $60-$70/week.

I stopped buying canned beans because they are on average about $4 per can, and soups can go up to $6, which is RIDICULOUS. You can get them a little cheaper if you don't buy organic, and if you shop in places like Walmart, but it's further for us to go, and the meagre savings for things like that aren't worth the extra time and travel to get there. I make most things from scratch, and buy as much as I can in season, and in bulk, but groceries are very costly here in general.

Where I live, a 500 ml can of beans costs between 2.50 and 3 dollars (non-organic), and I believe that's already higher than a lot of places. 4 dollars per can is crazy, or is that organic?

I always wonder how families that make just minimum wage get by in Vancouver, considered your minimum wage is significantly lower than Ontario and the cost of living similar to Toronto.

 

[endless nameless]

I don't have dollar amounts at hand, but I can attest to both the possibility of low-budget veganism and the hardships of low-budget living. It's a paradox, to be sure, but a lot in life is. I second the answers referencing prioritizing. The household we most recently came from received social services, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds. We had no internette, no landline, no cable or dish or anything in the way of 'fancy' t.v.. When telebroadcast went digital, we did without for a long while until a friend had an old convertor and antenna to spare. (Even then I didn't watch much, if at all.) We had basic cellphones on and off, on the cheapest plans, and then did without until the government subsidized program finally recognized our address (there were complications rendering our address basically imaginary). We found ways to prepare our own household cleaners from inexpensive ingredients. I've been fortunate enough to fit into the same clothes for years, and to have had a few acquaintances who were themselves, or had family who were, a reasonably fitting size (thus bestowing kind gifts on a few occasions when they were through). Etc.. The point is it's doable, but it's a challenge. It depends on where you live, your personal preferences, any dietary restrictions or commitments, and any number of other variables. If someone is legitimately under the set line for poverty (or a certain percentage over), there is the option of SNAP in the U.S.. Food pantries often have vegan-friendly fare, such as dried legumes; if you don't mind canned goods, ones I've been to have had plenty of those (check expiration dates). Some will have donations of fresh produce; from my experience, the focus of these donations (and much of the 'good' food) was the city proper, with the quality waning the further away the pantry may be. They often had rice and breads. If you don't mind white, processed grains, and don't care about the organic status of food, any old food pantry might do; for organic and healthier fare, it might take some looking. Many have residency requirements, however, and even if you only receive from one pantry (the standard rule in many areas), one is required to reside within the same zip code or area of certain zip codes as the pantry they attend. Dried legumes in stores I've been to have tended to be very inexpensive. If you can do with very simple meals, you might try a simple beans and greens. Basically: you cook beans; serve them on greens (cooked or raw); dress with salt and oil. If you have herbs and spices, they can be added, but they aren't strictly speaking necessary. Lemon juice (not the skunky bottled kind -- either fresh or the little yellow bottle) is also an inexpensive condiment, dressing, and water flavorer. I hope you make do as healthfully as can, and continue to honour your commitment to compassionate living (I believe the original post mentioned being vegan? If not, then I highly advise). Oh -- small cold storage space. It's maddening. I've found it's far more expensive to deal without adequate space in a coldmachine. One solution, though I loathe to recommend using something so unrenewable: use plastic baggies instead of storage containers. There is a certain amount of malleability with the storage bags that one just doesn't get with solid containers. ~peace~

 

[Symondezyn]

Where I live, a 500 ml can of beans costs between 2.50 and 3 dollars (non-organic), and I believe that's already higher than a lot of places. 4 dollars per can is crazy, or is that organic?

I always wonder how families that make just minimum wage get by in Vancouver, considered your minimum wage is significantly lower than Ontario and the cost of living similar to Toronto.

On average, an organic can of beans 340 mL is anywhere from $4-$5. A same-size can of non-organic beans is maybe only a dollar or $1.50 cheaper. The cheapest I've seen the smallest can of Amy's soup here is $4, and I've seen it go to almost $6, which made me rage, considering I could make a whole pot of soup for that much LOL.

Too true; I've lived on minimum wage, and it's rough, to say the least. You pretty much HAVE to have a roommate or five, and you can't have many luxuries. I have often wondered how on earth anyone here affords a one-income family, especially if they have kids; it's pretty crazy.

 

[Soulwatcher]

We spend about $45 a week on two adults---but he has the palate of a five-year-old and would happily eat peanut butter sandwiches for every meal On a typical shopping trip, we buy bread for lunches, grapes (his only lunch fruit) and a few other on-sale fruits for me, sandwich fixings as needed, soy milk, tomato sauce, canned beans or other dinner items and that's it. We go to a bulk food store once a month and buy rice, pasta, crackers, raisins, oats, nuts and seeds and so on. That's usually about $50 but it lasts a whole month. We also each have one big-ticket item once a month, his is fancy peanut butter at the health food store, mine is pumpernickel bagels from the local bakery. That's $10 a month each and can be covered within the $45 a week limit.

Our typical meals:

Breakfast (me) is a bagel with something on it, or oatmeal with something mixed in (applesauce, raisins, seeds etc.) or sometimes a smoothie. I have no idea what he eats for breakfast. He usually eats at work and says that people always are bringing treats in and he just gets whatever is there.

Lunch (me) is either jarred soup or a sandwich, a veggie (usually baby carrots or snap peas) and grapes or berries. I pack an apple or banana and sometimes some crackers for snack in the afternoon. For him, it's a peanut butter sandwich, grapes and a cookie or treat.

Dinner is usually a fend-for-yourself (in which case, he eats soy cheese sandwiches) or something we eat together. This is often a pita pizza, bowl of pasta (mine with veggies, his without), rice bowl or something simple. I am trying to broaden his palate some, but it's slow going and neither of us particularly enjoy cooking...

I am about the same my wifes and I budget for food is $50 a week and we do a lot of making meals that we can have leftovers for 3 days and it makes the budget work. And we would starve to death if my wife was not such a good shopper and cook. I give my wife lots of praise every day for everything she does for me.

 

[AspiringBuddha]

I spend about 20-25 dollars a week at Aldi, plus about every three months I spend around $100-$150 on things I can't get at Aldi or that are cheaper somewhere else, like natural peanut butter, tofu, cans of vegetarian chili, 100% whole wheat pasta, gardein mandarin chicken, and bags of frozen stir fry vegetables. So it works out to around $35 per week for one. I live in a pretty inexpensive part of the country, I cook beans from dried and store them in the freezer, I base my meals around sale ads, and I often bake my own bread.

For example, this week mushrooms were on sale for .79 for 8 ounces, so I bought 4 and am making mushroom fajitas and mushroom stew (I did splurge on a 1.99 tiny bottle of red wine for the stew...but my Aldi trip was only 22 dollars, so I'm still on track.)

In addition, I eat out about one meal a week, usually a bean burrito at Taco Bell for around $2, or a small curly fry at Jack In the Box for about the same, or Chipotle for about $6.

Honestly, even with eating a fairly high protein diet (I shoot for 90g of protein a day) being vegan is so much cheaper than eating omni, and I still get lots of fruits and vegetables in.

 

[telvinscay]

Actually this is unpredictable. May vary accordingly.