When it comes to sticking to a monthly food budget, we have learned a thing or two over the past 2.5 years we have been vegan. In this post, we are going to teach you everything we know about sticking to a budget on a plant-based diet 🌱
Our monthly food budget allows us to spend a maximum of $450 every month. This is for two people and our two cats 🐈 (for their food and treats) and also includes all the ingredients we need to make recipes for our food blog, so here's how we do it!
Here are 9 things we do that help us stick to your food budget!
1. Make Your Coffee at Home ☕️
You might not think that your morning coffee run amounts to much, but a cup of coffee every other day really adds up in the long run. If you spend $2 for a cup of coffee every day you could spend well over $700 a year on coffee! 😱
I am a coffee fanatic and I love trying out different recipes and tastes so I would always order something different whenever I went to a coffee shop. But now, rather than spending $80 a month on these delicious takeaway coffees, I have invested in a great coffee machine that gives me barista-style coffee right in the comfort of my own kitchen! 🙌 I can now create anything I want almost immediately 😆
BONUS TIP: But what about coffee on-the-go, you ask? I say, get yourself a nice flask and fill it up at home instead of stopping for coffee on the way to work. This way you'll be helping the environment by not using single-use coffee cups and your wallet benefits enormously too! 😂
2. Keep Dining Out to a Minimum 🍽
Dining out can get pretty expensive (depending on how hungry you are 😆) and so should be kept to a minimum. Find out what works for you. We still like to go out for lunch or dinner every now and again, but we try to only do it every other week instead of making it a weekly occurrence.
And, when we do go out, we try to keep the costs down as best we can by not ordering the most expensive things on the menu and rather order water to drink (see tip #7) 🌱
3. Stick to Whole Foods (Don't Buy Processed Foods) 🥕
Besides being unhealthy for you, processed foods are also much more expensive than whole foods. For example, instead of buying expensive pre-made vegan burger patties, make your own at home! There are plenty of recipes online, like our 👉 15-Minute Vegan Falafel Burgers!
4. Make a Grocery List Before Going Shopping ✍️
Make a shopping list before you go grocery shopping and actually stick to it! This tip has probably saved us the most money out of all of these 😆
When we go shopping without a list, we tend to buy things that we may not end up using that can spoil in the fridge! Instead, plan which meals you are going to make and make a shopping list for the ingredients that you need.
BONUS TIP: Only go grocery shopping when you aren't hungry as this makes sticking to your list much easier 😂
5. Meal Prep For The Week Ahead 🥗
At any given time we have about a week's worth of meals already made in the freezer! This saves us so much time and money during the week.
Some of the things we meal-prep are curries, soups, stews, pizza bases, burger patties, sausages, marinated tofu and more!
If you have no idea where to start with meal prepping, here is an awesome video by Avant Garde Vegan that will give you some guidance.
6. Drink Water Instead of Unhealthy, Sugary Drinks 💧
Not only is it almost free, drinking more water will greatly benefit your health and well-being overall.
7. Have Your Groceries Delivered 🚚
Having your groceries delivered if possible where you live can also save you a lot of time. Time is money so the less time you spend grocery shopping the more time you have to hustle and get that money.
9. Buy on Markdown Where Possible ⭐️
Buying some ingredients on markdown will save you money right on the spot. Especially if they're non-perishables. Buying on markdown is like getting an immediate return on investment where instead of paying full price you get 50% back or something like that.
8. Buy Your Non-Perishables in Bulk 🍵
Buying some items in bulk can save you some serious money over the long run. A few of the things we buy in bulk are:
- rice
- beans
- lentils
- pasta and
- soy sauce
It also helps to have a lot of staple foods in the kitchen, so you do not have to go shopping as often and putting together a quick dinner becomes very easy.
9. Buy on Markdown Where Possible ⭐️
Buying some ingredients on markdown will save you money right on the spot. Especially if they're non-perishables. Buying on markdown is like getting an immediate return on investment where instead of paying full price you get 50% back or something like that.
What do you do to stick to your food budget? There is still a lot that we have to learn, so if you have any other tips and tricks, please share it with us the comment section. We'd love to hear your feedback! 🌱
Check out our blog Delicious Plants for easy and delicious recipes and to download our free guide to making vegan pizza! 🍕
Check us out on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest!
See you next time! 👋
All the images used in this post are from Unsplash