Accepting inflation, can you be frugal and eat healthy?

Two years ago, when we first launched the blog, we wrote a post called “Frugality through food: Eating healthy on the cheap!” Being that food is a big part of our monthly budget, we wanted to share how going plant-based saved us money. Just removing meat we saved $20 a week or $1040 over the year. However, with the current inflation is really hitting food prices, is eating plant-based still such a good deal?

Find your way around:

Cost Per Pound

Let’s take a look at what it costs for some of the pantry staples to fill up your plate on the cheap! Rice and beans are classic and are actually health promoting foods. Beans are common among all the Blue Zones, the longest lived populations, they are a great source of fiber and help feed our microbiome. Rice is a complex carbohydrate that provides you with a slow and steady release of energy. We recommend long grain brown rice because it is less processed and has a lower glycemic index than white rice. Brown rice a great choice for diabetics because it doesn’t spike your blood sugar.

Lentils are a great way to thicken up a bean chili or serve as a base for an Indian curry. They are high in protein and iron, and contain polyphenols that are anti-inflammatory and protect us from oxidative damage.

Since we are plant-based, tofu or tempeh (fermented soybeans) is a weekly staple. They are both great sources of plant-based proteins and high in anti-estrogenic compounds that can help reduce risk of breast and prostate cancer.

2020 to 2022 Prices

In comparison to May 2020, the prices for brown rice, beans, lentils and tofu have stayed consistent. Actually, depending on where you buy them, you might be able to save a bit on those 2020 prices. The graphic below shows that you can get 5 lbs of brown rice, 1 lb pinto beans, 1 lb lentils, and 1 block of tofu for only $7.43! Less than $1.00 per pound. While the tofu is only 4 servings, you’d be hard pressed to eat 5 lbs of rice in a week.

Not into cooking dried beans? Or want all organic? The second row shows the price for all organic. 2lb brown rice, canned beans, canned lentils, and already drained organic tofu. All for $9.27 and $1.90 per pound. So for under $10 you can get a grain, 3 servings of beans, 3 servings of lentils, and 4 servings of tofu. Add some mixed veggies and you’ve got yourself a quick and easy grain bowl!

Plant-based vs Traditional meats

We have all heard how meat prices sky rocketed with the pandemic, but did this impact the plant-based market? Actually, sales of plant-based meats rose to $7.4 billion in the US for 2021. This growth was actually met with a decrease in prices, since the major plant-based companies have been able to scale. The two year change for Beyond Meat and Gardein is saving us money, while Tofurky has increased their prices.

The average based on the products above is $7.68 per pound for plant based vs $5.56 per pound of meat/chicken. While the price per pound isn’t as great for plant-based meats, it should encourage you to incorporate more whole foods. We like to keep these as a special treat, like having a barbecue with friends or celebrating a holiday/special occasion.

Fruits and Vegetable prices

Below shows the two year change on the fruits and vegetables that we looked at in 2020. Unfortunately the price of avocados has gone up dramatically! $0.35 per avocado if your buying fresh, but this healthy source of fat is a must in our household. Broccoli, a cancer fighting powerhouse, has also gone up in price by $0.24 per pound. For both of these, we have made the shift to buying in bulk.

Fortunately, if you are an eggplant fan, the prices have not changed in two years. Maybe now is the time to try out that Eggplant Parmesan recipe. Also, one of my favorite treats, blood oranges have gone down in price by $1.28 per pound with increasing availability.

One way that we have found to combat rising prices is to buy in bulk. The second row shows some of our recent Costco purchases. We became members back in February when we realized there was room for improvement in our own diet and that we needed more access to healthy foods. While Costco has a large selection of processed foods, be sure to check out the fresh produce, you may be surprised what deals you find!

Our Food Budget

Since 2020, our food budget has changed dramatically. After facing some health challenges, we realized that we valued eating healthy and have since doubled our weekly food budget. Most of this increase was a shift towards organic produce and additional produce to make daily cold pressed juices.

Costco: Bulk Buys

Joining Costco has allowed us to save money on large volumes of produce, and even afford organic. Yes, you still pay more for organic, although you feel the hit a little bit less because of the buying power.

Here is an example of our typical Costco run. Some of the items last more than a week so we don’t need to buy them every time (coffee, hemp hearts, etc). However, we have gotten into the habit of eating more whole food plant-based, so fresh vegetables make up the bulk of our food for the week.

Adding up all the items here, the average price is $2.38 per pound of mostly organic produce. We were impressed to see the shear volume that you can get for such a good price. Although, Costco doesn’t always have the same things in stock every week. Some weeks there are grapes instead of strawberries, and corn instead of celery. In this case we either go for the substitution, or stop by our regular grocery store to pick up what we missed. One week they even had sprouted organic oatmeal on sale for $7.99 for 5 pounds so we stocked up for the month!

On average, our Costco weekly spend is between $120-$140. However, there are some items we don’t need 10 pounds of at a time, and for those we go to our local co-op and grocery store.

The Co-op: Organics and specialty foods

Because I am making about 32 ounces of fresh cold-pressed juice a day, the Co-op is where I get the rest of my organic ingredients. My juices typically contain: bok choy, wheat grass, broccoli and kale sprouts, beets, carrots, celery, turmeric, ginger, lemon, and a granny smith apple. While we grow our own microgreens (wheat grass, broccoli, and kale), we do still have to purchase the rest.

At the Co-op we buy: Bok choy ($4.99 a pound), Beets ($3.49 a bunch), Turmeric root ($2.50 for 3 pieces), Ginger ($1.25 for 1/4 pound). I usually buy the beets and bok choy twice a week (since we don’t have the fridge space). This plus the Costco celery, lemon, and carrots, brings me to close to $40 a week for fresh juices. However, if you were interested in starting to juice, 16 oz a day would be a great place to start, bringing the total to around $20 a week.

Other items that we buy at the co-op include: flax-seeds ($2.49 per pound), organic long grain brown rice ($2.99 a pound), and tempeh ($3.50). These items we are sometimes able to find cheaper at other stores, but we like to support our a local store since it is employee owned and sometimes we don’t want to make another trip out. Our typical co-op weekly spend is $40-60.

Regular Grocery Store: Non-perishable and small volume

For all of our canned goods and plant-based milks, we typically go to our normal grocery store. The prices are decent and we are able to get just what we need. Since we live in an apartment, we don’t have the luxury of an additional freezer or extra storage for canned goods. So instead of buying a 10 pack of canned beans at Costco or 3 lbs of garlic, we pick up just what we need for the week at our regular grocery store.

Some other things that we buy here are: cashew butter ($6.29), steel cut oats ($3.49), canned beans ($1.25 each), cashew milk ($3.49), soy milk ($3.29), Ezekiel bread ($5.99), tofu ($3 per block), sweet potatoes ($1.49 per pound), onions ($1.49 per pound), and garlic ($0.69 per bulb).

Sales come and go, but the overall, our regular grocery store weekly spend is $20-60 depending on what we couldn’t find at the other two stores. Some weeks we have been able to skip this store entirely because we had left overs from the week before.

Getting the best bang for your buck

If your thinking to yourself, wow that’s a lot to spend on groceries, we are right there with you! Our weekly spend went from $100/week to $125 with inflation, to $200+/week with the additional fruits and vegetables. However, we have shifted our mindset from food as a requirement of life, to choosing foods that promote health and support healing. So instead of getting the lowest price per pound, we focus on the nutrient density of the foods we purchase.

Minimally processed foods means that you get more out of every bite. You should feel energized after a meal, and if you don’t, maybe your putting the wrong foods in your body. One of the easiest changes you can make is adding a daily smoothie. 1-2 cups of green leafy vegetables (spinach, kale, arugula), 2 tbsp of flax seed, a banana, 1 cup mango or other fruit, and tap water or plant-based milk. It can be as simple as that. Swap this out for your normal breakfast and you can start your day off with a health promoting meal.

Meal plans

Forming a routine around foods can be a life-saver. While we all like variety occasionally, have you ever tried simplifying what you eat? We used to try to make 3-4 different dishes a week. It got exhausting, and expensive to buy all the different ingredients we needed. We got burnt out and lately have been trying something different: eating the same thing for 2 out of the 3 meals a day.

What I mean is that we pick our breakfast: smoothies, and stick with that for the entire week. Then we plan to have one meal a day of raw vegetables and guacamole. This leaves us with only one meal a day that is something different, whether it be lunch or dinner. Now we only need to cook two meals a week (for a family of two) at 6-8 servings to fill in the gaps. Sometimes our second meal is even as simple as rice and beans. It doesn’t need to be complicated.

An example meal plan could be:

Breakfast – smoothie
Mid morning snack – overnight oats
Lunch – raw vegetables and guacamole
Afternoon snack – fresh fruit or Ezekiel bread and hummus
Dinner – simple rice and beans burrito or pasta with marinara sauce
Evening snack – dates and nut butter (Peanut, almond, cashew)

Ready to get shopping

Check what you already have. Before you go out to the store, check your fridge and pantry and take inventory of what you already have. Some weeks you may be able to save $10-20 just by doing this.
Make a list and stick to it. Be intentional about your shopping, if you pause to think ahead to the next week and meal plan you will be less tempted to get things off the list.
Have a target budget in mind. If you struggle to shop with a budget, try the cash diet. Each week, pull out cash for the amount you intend to spend on groceries. Use a calculator to add up the costs as you go through the store and when you hit your limit, put back any unnecessary items.
Think health promoting over cheap. We all love a good sale, but if our health is paying the price then maybe we need to up our budget. Surgery and medications cost a lot more than whole foods.
Check the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15. Contrary to popular belief, not all fruits and vegetables need to be organic. If you are looking at it from a strict health perspective and money is tight, use this list to decide which items to buy conventional and which to buy organic.