The Vegan Diaries — Part III: Mo Money, Less Beef
The following video is a recap of my second week on the vegan diet.
The blog post below it focuses on the cost of being a vegan and why I need “mo money.”
Money — everyone’s least favorite thing to talk about and favorite thing to worry about. This week, we’re going to discuss my grocery bill as a vegan and, as I suspected, it is significantly more expensive for me to follow a plant-based diet.
As stated in my introductory Vegan Diaries blog post, I usually spend $35 a week on groceries. Normally, I would buy a carton of eggs, a meat or two, three vegetables options, and a snack of sorts. I cook my meals at the beginning of the week and eat them as leftovers throughout the week. I’ve found this method is budget friendly and works well when you’re cooking for one.
The day before I began my vegan experiment, I went grocery shopping and spent $141. Granted, some of the items I purchased were those no-fun necessities such as laundry detergent and shampoo, but after subtracting these costs, I came up with $98 worth of groceries.
I don’t know that I’ve ever spent that much money on groceries. And, as much as it pained me to pay for that shopping cart full of plant-based products, I reluctantly pulled out my debit card and paid the cashier.
To be fair, some of the items I purchased (such as oats and chia seeds) did last longer than my first two weeks as a vegan. Once we factor out my “only have to purchase every once in a while” groceries, the bill came out to be $80 exactly.
My second week as a vegan, I opted for the admirable WalMart grocery pick-up and spent $39.95. Sadly, WalMart didn’t have everything I was looking for and I had to go to another grocery store the next day where I spent $25.71 on groceries giving me a grand total of $65.67 for week two groceries.
If my calculations are correct, these two numbers give me an average of $81.84 per week.
$81.84… on groceries… for one person… a person who eats out about three times a week… $81.84.
Excuse me while I drop my wallet off at its therapy appointment.
So, if I usually spend $35 a week on groceries, that means I have added and extra $46.84 to my weekly grocery budget. To put that number into perspective, here is a comprehensive list of things I could spend $46.84 on:
My electric bill. In summer 2019, my electric bill was between $45-60 each month. Because my apartment is heated on a boiler system, my electric bill has gone down in the winter months. So far in 2020, my electric bill has averaged $26.92.
A tank of gas. If my tank is completely empty, I can fill my car up for around $45 and drive 350 miles until it’s empty.
A pair of glasses. Last year, I needed new glasses and got a pair from Zenni Optical (shout out to Zenni for affordable eyewear) for less than $50 — and they were cute.
A one-way ticket to Denver. If you’re reading this and you live near Billings, Montana take note: you can fly to Denver via Frontier Airlines for usually less than $75 round trip. Once I even got a one-way ticket to Denver for $18 through Frontier. I just checked and as of today, March 10, I could get a one-way ticket to Denver for $36, hop in an uber, and visit the Coors Brewery for a free tour (with free samples at the end of said tour) for right around $46.84.
To speak to a different aspect of food costs as a vegan, I have found that it’s not any more expensive to go out to eat than it would with my normal diet. I would go out on a limb to say that for me, personally, it’s been cheaper because not everywhere has true vegan options, so I wind up just getting a side order or two. However, when I did go to Blaze Pizza two weeks ago there was an upcharge for vegan cheese and a slight upcharge for coconut milk at a local coffee shop in town.
Back to how I’m broke and should probably just buy Ramen next week (permitting that it’s actually vegan) … imagine if I was feeding a family of four and we were all following plant-based diets. For one person it’s $81.84, for four people that’s $1,309.44 a month — that’s more than the national monthly mortgage payment.
Bottom line: It costs more to eat plant based. No shade if you think it’s worth it, but personally, the cost alone scares me away from a vegan lifestyle.
Week 2 update:
The bloating has gone down, but I am still bloated when I wake up every morning and when I go to bed every night.
My skin breakout is fading, slowly but surely.
Eating out was more miss than hit this week. As I stated in my video update last week (which was recorded after the paper went to press) I accidently ate something containing eggs.
I have lost five pounds in the two weeks I’ve been on a plant-based diet. However, Barbara Quinn, MS, RDN, CDE, LMNT, Quinn-Essential Nutrition told me I was not eating enough calories and not near enough protein — so I’ve tried to improve that this past week. I get full very quickly which leads to me eating less and ultimately not getting very many calories. However, I get hungry quicker.
I am keeping track of my food intake and my daily average is as follows: 924 calories, 101.7 carbs, 26.5 grams of protein, and 22.5 grams of fiber.
I checked with the Environmental Protection Agency (aka the un-biased government funded agency which focuses on combatting climate change) Carbon Footprint Calculator, guess what? My carbon emissions have yet to change.
Footnote:
I know many of you are more than likely skeptical of this journey and have questions about the process. I would love to visit with any of you about this experiment and can be contacted via email at mpurviance97@gmail.com or via phone at (406) 259-4589.
To follow this journey in depth, subscribe to my YouTube channel, like the Activists vs. Agriculture Facebook page, and follow me on Instagram @mayzie_purviance.
