-
You become creative! Who needs fresh onions when you have dehydrated onions in the cupboard! (Oops… forgot to budget in onions)
-
Your husband puts snacks back at Target because… well.. uhhh… NOT IN THE BUDGET! AWKWARD!!!
-
You find yourself eating leftover crockpot oatmeal with water because you can’t spare the kids’ almond milk. Did I mention that I don’t really like crockpot oatmeal?…(DON’T WANT TO WASTE FOOD…).
-
Your husband realizes that you were serious about this budget thing and begins to regret being supportive. (Really… you can’t use your own money to buy snacks!)

I must admit that the challenge of spending only $15 per person on vegan food for the week has been a lot of fun! Right now, it’s become a bit of a game. How can I incorporate the food that we already have with the food that I purchase at the grocery store to feed my family healthfully and deliciously for only $60? I’ve mentioned this challenge to a couple of parents at Laney’s school, and they have no idea how to do this. I think that’s why this challenge is so important. Families need to know how to save money on groceries. So, I will show you how this worked for me and our vegan budget. I took more time than normal planning. So, that’s key to this exercise, plan ahead. I made a spreadsheet of an estimated cost of all of the items that I purchased, and while I was at my first store, I wrote down the actual price. I tried to over-estimate prices when planning my shopping trip to give myself a little wiggle room. This actually worked out pretty well. By the time I ready to make my shopping trip to my second store, we needed some new things that were not on the original list. Before leaving for Kroger, I checked for coupons for the items on the list, and I found a couple! SCORE!
Here are my new spreadsheets which show my estimated prices versus the prices that I actually paid. In the end, I was really amazed by how much I was able to get with my $60.
Item
|
Quantity
|
Estimated Price
|
Actual Price Before Coupons
|
Coupons
|
Actual Price After Coupons
|
|
Almond Milk
|
1
|
$3.00
|
$2.99
|
|
$2.99
|
|
Canned Pumpkin
|
2
|
$4.00
|
$2.00
|
|
$2.00
|
|
Crushed Tomatoes
|
1
|
$3.00
|
$1.99
|
|
$1.99
|
|
Wheel Noodles
|
1
|
$3.00
|
$1.99
|
|
$1.99
|
|
Rice
|
1
|
$2.00
|
$1.59
|
|
$1.59
|
|
Split Peas
|
1
|
$1.75
|
$1.49
|
|
$1.49
|
|
Canola Oil
|
1
|
$3.00
|
$2.89
|
|
$2.89
|
|
Corn Meal
|
1
|
$2.50
|
$1.79
|
|
$1.79
|
|
All-Purpose Flour
|
1
|
$2.00
|
$1.69
|
$0.40
|
$1.29
|
|
Pretzels
|
2
|
$4.00
|
$4.17
|
$1.10
|
$3.07
|
|
|
|
$28.25
|
$22.59
|
|
$21.09
|
|
Item
|
Quantity
|
Price
|
Estimated Price
|
Actual Price
|
Cost Difference
|
Notes
|
Bananas
|
8
|
$0.20
|
$1.60
|
$1.52
|
$0.08
|
|
Lettuce
|
1
|
$3.00
|
$3.00
|
$2.99
|
$0.01
|
|
Cashews
|
1
|
$7.00
|
$7.00
|
$6.99
|
$0.01
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
*Did not need
|
Tempeh
|
1
|
$2.00
|
$2.00
|
$1.99
|
$0.01
|
|
Bagels
|
1
|
$2.50
|
$2.50
|
$2.49
|
$0.01
|
|
Flour Tortillas
|
1
|
$2.50
|
$2.50
|
$2.29
|
$0.21
|
|
|
|
|
$19.60
|
$18.27
|
|
|
Item
|
Actual Price
|
Veggie Nuggets
|
$2.99
|
Tofurkey
|
$2.49
|
Organic Apples
|
$2.49
|
Tofu
|
$1.99
|
Oatmeal
|
$2.49
|
Juice Boxes
|
$3.49
|
|
|
|
$15.94
|
Leave a Reply