Is vegetarian eating cheaper?

My older sister sent me this link and asked if I have saved on groceries since switching to vegetarian eating?

In this article the author has compared one day expenses of meat eaters against three forms of vegetarians: those vegetarian who include fish in their diet, those who don't eat any form of meat but include diary, and those (referred to as vegan) who eliminate any animal product in their diet. The author's conclusion is that vegan spend on the average about 27% less on groceries than their meat eater counterparts.

I am following the vegan diet. Actually, more accurately, I follow vegan diet when I am on my own; when I am at my parent's, sisters', or my best friends', and I don't have any other options, I do eat their meat dish. But lately, my mom especially, has tried to have a vegetarian option for me. Anyhow, the only difference between my typical day, and this article's typical vegan day, is that I have not tried any soy products yet.

My first impulse was to tell my sister, knowing approximately how much I had spend on groceries, during my first semester at school, in which I followed lowcarb way of eating, verses my second semester, in which I followed vegan diet, that my grocery expenses had more or less stayed the same.

In September, before school started, I went grocery shopping, got ingredients to make several dishes, and also 10 boxes of Atkins advantage bar from BJs. I divided the dishes I made, of 6 to 8 servings each, into approximately 35 servings, for 5 weeks worth of dinners. Atkins bar were for my breakfast, lunch, and snack, and I was hoping not to exceed 2 boxes (=30 bars) per week; thankfully, I went a bit less. Anyhow, I divided what I had spent on groceries that day by 5, and thought that was a reasonable weekly grocery budget.

The subsequent times that I went shopping, that semester, I tried to spend as much as I had spent the first time. I was successful and did not go too much over or under what I had planned.

Just before starting the second semester, I got inspired by one of my best friend's sister-in-law, who had lost a lot of weight after her pregnancy, and who was following a vegan diet, to become a vegetarian too, so I could continue to lose weight. I also felt that because of my limited kitchen, with no stove and small refrigerator, becoming vegan was ideal for me.

So I started going grocery shopping every week. On my way home from school, I would stop by the grocery and buy as much as I could comfortably carry home. If I couldn't do that in one trip, I would stop by the following night, to buy the rest of items I needed. I tried to stay within the limit of my weekly expenses that I had estimated the first semester.

The good thing is that I have been charging my groceries to the only one credit card I carry, to have a complete control over my expenses. Since my statements are convectively saved in a pdf format, I went to add up my grocery expenses between September 1 and December 15, to compare it with what I had spend between February 1 and May 15.

To my surprise there was over 23% difference between my two semesters grocery spending! I truly was amazed!

How come I did not noticed it?

I had estimated to spend about $60 +/- $5 per week on groceries.  On the average I had spend $62 during the first semester and $53 during the second semester. During the second semester, I remember, a few weeks when I spent over $60, which I tried to mend by spending less the following week.  I guess as long as I was staying somehow close to $60 mark I was OK. Actually, I think as long as I was spending less that was the best, lol! Anyhow, apparently during the second semester I mostly stayed lower while during the first semester I mostly stayed over, $60.

So yes, few dollar differences per week between the two semesters were not noticeable, but once adding them up, it is almost $170 difference, for the 3 and half month period. That is a great saving for an individual with no income.

Of course my comparison might not be completely accurate, since the number of nights I stayed at my parents during each semester is not taken into account. Also not taken into account is my careful observation of sales items during the second semester.  Since I was going grocery shopping more often during the second semester, I tried to buy fruits and vegetables that were on sale that week.

So yes, I did save money; another benefit of begin vegan, lol! I LOVE it when I get a positive side effect that I had not considered when making my decision, lol.