Vegans how much is your food bill?

Anonymous1502

Forum Novice
Joined
Mar 8, 2019
Reaction score
23
Age
23
Location
UK
Lifestyle
  1. Vegan newbie
Being vegan doesn't need to be expensive since there are plenty of naturally vegan foods out there but if you want to have the same comforts in your life e.g. Cake, ice cream, crossaints etc you will need to pay more. I find myself spending a lot of money at the grocery shop I don't know how much, I would rather not know I am too scared to find out. I can easily spend £40 per person per week.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: shyvas
Back when I used to eat out - I spent about $40 a week on groceries.
Now I don't eat out at all.

Now it's between $60 and $80 per week.
I don't buy much-prepared food. And I don't buy any alcohol.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Emma JC
Prices for everything seemed to have gone up, so my bill is now between $50 and $70 a week (that's an average, as I've only been hitting the stores about once a month). I don't buy a ton of processed/pre-made food, but I do get things like Earth Balance butter, vegan cheese and some pre-made meatless balls and chik'n tenders, the last two from Aldi, so I try to save a few bucks. I love Gardein products, too, but they are a treat these days.
 
I spend far more on plant based food compared to when I was a flexitarian. I eat a lot of fruit, vegetables,nuts, protein and organic pasta plus good quality evo.
It just the basics ; soya milk, yogurt, spread, peanut butter, wheat gluten and tofu which are very expensive over here.

I never buy cake, croissants or ice cream (the shops don't stock pb ice cream anymore) or ready made meals. I do buy alternative meat substitutions from time to time. However, they are very expensive and most of them don't taste that great over here. However, plant based faux meats in the UK taste great and aren't that expensive. Shroomdog (Sainsbury's) bangers are the best ever.

I do all of my own baking, meal preps including soup, pies,stews, sauces, salad dressing, etc. I also do not eat out unless I'm on holiday and then I only go to either Purezza or Idyea which are not expensive restaurants.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Emma JC and PTree15
BTW the budget here has been around 1,5 Euro/day or slightly below, but it's all whole unprocessed grains, legumes and veggies (including fruits that can be confused with veggies) with nuts and seeds as a delicacy and fruits like russet apples (when they are around 1 Euro/kg) as an occasional treat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Emma JC
When Söpö was still alive I used to budget and was fairly strict with my food bill. Back then it was from 15 to 25 euros per week.
Now-a-days I don't know what my food bill is, but everything included (hygiene items and food), my weekly trip to the store can be from 26 to 40 euros.
I eat potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, spaghetti, macaroni, blackbean patties, tofu, hummus, bread, raisins, walnuts, blueberry powder, roasted ground flaxseed, roasted onion, oatmeal, TVP, beans, chickpeas, cucumber, soymilk and some bananas when I can find some that aren't moldy. And then I use a little bit of ketchup, senap, cookies, chocolate, peanutbutter, canola oil, salt and vegan margarine. And then some condiments, typically unsalted grillmix, onion and garlic powder, cinnamon, basil and oregano. And when I feel ill I drink mint tea or chai latte.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
our grocery bill pre-pandemic was about $100 per week and now it is higher because I am constantly buying extra and prices have gone up - I will go 10 days, between shopping trips and often the bill is $200 or more - we do not eat out or get take out

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com
 
our grocery bill pre-pandemic was about $100 per week and now it is higher because I am constantly buying extra and prices have gone up - I will go 10 days, between shopping trips and often the bill is $200 or more - we do not eat out or get take out

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com
For 2 or more people.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Emma JC
Usually 100-150 a week for 2. Can be up to 200. We get a lot of soda which is 20 a week by itself. If I could quit it would save a lot, but I like drinking my sodas, especially for an energy boost, since I dislike coffee. I was never good at eating cheaply, if I were a non vegan the food bill would still be quite high. But on the plus side, I don’t smoke or drink. There are times where I’ll choose to eat cheaper, more ramen, beans, but I usually do eat at least one vegan alternative to meat a day.
 
Last edited:
My wife and her sister like to do the shopping, so I haven't shopped in about 10 years.

When I first became vegan in the 1990s, my food bill was $5 to $15 per week. I wasn't making much money then, and all I bought were lentils, tofu, dried split peas, brown rice, onions, potatoes, carrots, spaghetti, and mustard greens. Also cheap sauces like soy sauce, vinegar, mustard, and tinned tomato sauce. I remember that my local Alpha Beta supermarket (remember Alpha Beta?) sold mustard greens $1 for 3 bunches.
 
Usually 100-150 a week for 2. Can be up to 200. We get a lot of soda which is 20 a week by itself. If I could quit it would save a lot, but I like drinking my sodas, especially for an energy boost, since I dislike coffee. I was never good at eating cheaply, if I were a non vegan the food bill would still be quite high. But on the plus side, I don’t smoke or drink. There are times where I’ll choose to eat cheaper, more ramen, beans, but I usually do eat at least one vegan alternative to meat a day.
I never drank much soda till this year. I stopped drinking beer and I've been subbing root beers and ginger beers. sort of as a psychological crutch. I buy one six-pack a week and only allow myself one a day. but i also have started buying seltzer and adding fruit to them. I read a good review on this thing called a soda streamer (or something like that). but on Amazon, there are also a lot of bad reviews. If it's as good as that first review, then it would save you lots of money. I'm going to look into it more.

 
My wife and her sister like to do the shopping, so I haven't shopped in about 10 years.

When I first became vegan in the 1990s, my food bill was $5 to $15 per week. I wasn't making much money then, and all I bought were lentils, tofu, dried split peas, brown rice, onions, potatoes, carrots, spaghetti, and mustard greens. Also cheap sauces like soy sauce, vinegar, mustard, and tinned tomato sauce. I remember that my local Alpha Beta supermarket (remember Alpha Beta?) sold mustard greens $1 for 3 bunches.
$5 is pretty amazing. I'm sorry that you were so poor, but I'm also very interested of living with bare minimum. I have never gone significantly below 10 euros, so maybe I still have a lot to learn.

Also, I forgot to mention that when I visit Oggy, which is rare, I splurge and buy tofu sausages, because he often eats french fries and sausages, so I want vegan version of that for myself and then we eat almost the same food together. He also has a toaster, so then I buy toast and baked beans in tomato sauce or bean salsa. So when I'm visiting Oggy, I get too much salt. But that's rare, so I tell myself that it's okay. And I don't really know or care how much all of my groceries cost there. I suppose I'm not that frugal anymore all the time, but I try my best.
 
This will be a little project for me to figure out as I shop for the three of us and husband and son are omni. I’m definitely spending less than pre covid thanks to curbside pickup and availability of items being limited. By not going into the stores I’m doing way less impulse buying. Learning to basically do without certain things.
 
This will be a little project for me to figure out as I shop for the three of us and husband and son are omni. I’m definitely spending less than pre covid thanks to curbside pickup and availability of items being limited. By not going into the stores I’m doing way less impulse buying. Learning to basically do without certain things.

Funny, as I'm spending far more since Covid.
Our local hypermarket doesn't have as many products available for Click & Collect. Moreover, I tend not to go to Lidl's as often as before because of all of the irresponsible customers who don't respect social distancing. :oops:
 
  • Friendly
Reactions: Emma JC and KLS52
Funny, as I'm spending far more since Covid.
Our local hypermarket doesn't have as many products available for Click & Collect. Moreover, I tend not to go to Lidl's as often as before because of all of the irresponsible customers who don't respect social distancing. :oops:
My grocery bill is higher but I think I'm spending less cause I never eat out at restaurants anymore.
 
I never drank much soda till this year. I stopped drinking beer and I've been subbing root beers and ginger beers. sort of as a psychological crutch. I buy one six-pack a week and only allow myself one a day. but i also have started buying seltzer and adding fruit to them. I read a good review on this thing called a soda streamer (or something like that). but on Amazon, there are also a lot of bad reviews. If it's as good as that first review, then it would save you lots of money. I'm going to look into it more.


This is what we do, buy soda water, low sodium, some plain and some with a touch of lemon. No sugar added.

We did used to have a soda stream, years ago. The challenge was getting the tank refilled. We did use it for a long time and if we had a larger home then I would consider getting it again.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com
 
  • Like
Reactions: KLS52 and Lou
I couldn't imagine switching to that, I doubt any of them taste much like Dr Pepper or Coke. I don't really like the organic sodas you can find at Whole Foods.
 
  • Friendly
Reactions: Emma JC