This blog is part of a series that follows my journey of eating vegan on a budget for the month of October. My goal is to only spend $15 per person for a family of four. This leaves me with a grocery budget of $60 per week. I am allowed to use any items already in my refrigerator or my pantry to accomplish this goal.
This sure is a learning experience! New revelations on my second week of grocery shopping on a budget:
- You have to make some tough choices. It’s too hard to get everything that I want if I purchase all of my produce organic. We can either get organic potatoes or we can get twice as many conventional potatoes AND chocolate chips. I say… choose the option that comes with chocolate 🙂
- You can get some extras for free. If I buy Cinnamon Raisin Bagels instead of Plain Bagels… I get ~$.50 worth of raisins! Ha ha! Take that grocery store!… I jut screwed you out of some raisins!!!
- You should have been doing this all along (according to your mother). Never talk about having a grocery budget with my mother, because it will turn into a lecture about not wasting food. Once my mother gave me a frozen pizza that had expired five years before. (My husband looked at a contest on the box and said, “Hey, this is from the first time the Ravens won the Super Bowl!”) {Ahem… someone needs to clean out their own fridge}
Sunday
Pizza
Salad
Monday
Spaghetti and Lentil Balls (recipe from “Peas and Thank You“)
Zucchini lasagna (garden zucchinis)
Tuesday
Rice, Tofu, and Broccoli
Wednesday
Green Chili-Adzuki Bean Burgers
Oven Roasted Fries
Thursday
French Bread Pizza (with leftover lentil balls)
Salad
Friday
Porcini Mushroom Risotto
Roasted Onions and Zucchini
Steamed Broccoli (for the girls)
Saturday
Chili
Vegan Mac and Cheese
We ended up mixing around some of the days from our menu last week because my parents took my husband and kids out to dinner while I was at work on Tuesday (did I mention that I’ve been working at a vegan café for a few months?)
A lot of the food this week is coming from our pantry. These items include lentils, rice, aduzki beans, canned green chilies, dried porcini mushrooms, risotto, and beans for the chili. It’s nice to use some of this stuff up, and it’s amazing just how much food I already had! I think my husband had been planning on a zombie apocalypse because we also have a (just-in-case) pantry filled with canned goods in the basement that I completely forgot about! Good grief!
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Item
|
Category
|
Quantity
|
Price
|
Estimated Price
|
Comments
|
Actual Price
|
|
Onions
|
Produce
|
1
|
$3.00
|
$3.00
|
$1.89
|
|
|
Banana Peppers
|
Pantry
|
1
|
$2.50
|
$2.50
|
$1.99
|
|
|
Almond Milk
|
Refrigerator
|
2
|
$3.25
|
$6.50
|
$5.98
|
|
|
Potatoes
|
Produce
|
1
|
$3.00
|
$3.00
|
$2.29
|
|
|
Pumpkin
|
Canned
|
2
|
$1.00
|
$2.00
|
oops.. Forgot to buy this
|
|
|
Pretzels
|
Snacks
|
1
|
$2.00
|
$2.00
|
I may not buy this.
|
|
|
Garlic
|
Produce
|
2
|
$0.50
|
$1.00
|
$1.00
|
|
|
$20.00
|
13.15
|
|||||
|
Item
|
Category
|
Quantity
|
Price
|
Estimated Price
|
Comments Actual Price
|
|
|
|
Carrots
|
Produce
|
1
|
$1.00
|
$1.00
|
$0.89
|
|
|
|
Apples
|
Produce
|
1
|
$3.00
|
$3.00
|
$2.99
|
|
|
|
Bananas
|
Produce
|
8
|
$0.19
|
$1.52
|
$1.52
|
|
|
|
Lettuce
|
Produce
|
2
|
$2.99
|
$5.98
|
I forgot to buy two
|
$2.99
|
|
|
Broccoli
|
Produce
|
1
|
$3.29
|
$0.00
|
No broccoli available
|
$0.00
|
|
|
Red Wine Vinegar
|
Pantry
|
1
|
$2.00
|
$2.00
|
$1.99
|
|
|
|
Apple Sauce
|
Pantry
|
1
|
$3.50
|
$3.50
|
$2.49
|
|
|
|
Tofu
|
Refrigerated
|
2
|
$1.99
|
$3.98
|
$3.98
|
|
|
|
Peanuts
|
Nuts
|
1
|
$2.50
|
$2.50
|
$2.69
|
|
|
|
Bagels
|
Bakery
|
1
|
$2.00
|
$2.00
|
$2.49
|
|
|
|
Buns
|
Bakery
|
1
|
$2.50
|
$2.50
|
$2.29
|
|
|
|
$27.98
|
24.32
|
|
|||||
|
Item
|
Category
|
Price
|
Brand/Comments
|
|
Chocolate chips
|
Pantry
|
$1.99
|
|
|
Cauliflower
|
Produce
|
$2.29
|
substituted for broccoli
|
|
lemons
|
Produce
|
$1.49
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$5.77
|
|
With the shopping that I have done so far I have only spent $43.24. This means I still have $16.76 left!… WOWZA. However, I am budgeting in a HUGE tub of Earth Balance vegan butter and some vegan Worcestershire sauce. The Earth Balance tub that I like to buy is nearly $10 (it’s cheaper per ounce this way), while the Worcestershire sauce is around $3. I may not make it to the store for these products until next week, so next week when I purchase my tub of vegan butter, Worcestershire sauce, and my $60 dollars worth of groceries I’m going to feel on top of the world! Yahoooooooo!!!!
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