Given the length of this section, feel free to skip ahead to the specific information that you may require.

Living Gluten-free on a budget
One Word About Context and Expectations
What You Are Not Going to Learn

Seven Suggestions

1. Plan Head: Investing time rather than money.
2. Write down what you are spending
3. Analyse the data and Create an Action Plan
4. Buy natural ingredients rather than processed foods
5. Don’t underestimate what you spend on (soft) drinks
6. Shop Locally and with the Seasons – and buy stuff on offer!
7. Always remember: even if you are on a budget, food has its price!

Saving at Home

The manifold benefits of being a Private Chef
Knowing how to cook is not just about the money, it’s about quality of life
Learn to bake
Learn Your Basic Nutrition Rules (Vegetarians require protein)
Nuts and seeds are great for gluten-free vegetarians
Buy in Bulk
Invest in Food Storage
Garden

Living Gluten-free on a budget

Do you often complain about how expensive it is to live gluten-free? Then this is for you! It’s possible to live on a grain-free diet without feeling like you’re overspending. All it takes is a bit of knowledge and strategic planning as well as an investment in the form of time. I’ll show you!

For your convenience, I’ve divided this section into two parts: the Seven Suggestions-section, which is all about examining your shopping behaviour and the Saving At Home-Section which depicts how to save money by strategizing within your home.

Back to the top

One Word About Context and Expectations

Grocery spending by the average family is factor-dependant and influenced by where you live. So, check your local figures to see where you’re at in comparison, for example by reading this article in The Economist showcasing various countries. If you’re in Europe, take a look at the breakdown here.

Also: food spending depends deeply on your personal context and what is available for living overall. See your goal in spending less in relation to what you are spending now. Don’t aim to spend nothing or nearly nothing. This section is helpful if you a) have flexible amount of funds available per month and b) are looking to reduce these numbers within a sensible expectation and c) expect to keep up a realistic spending amount that buys all components required for a healthy, wholesome diet.

simpleingredients

This section is based on my personal experience as a gluten-free vegetarian (if you are vegan, this section should be helpful, too), and it does not include any information on diets containing meat, fish or seafood.

Back to the top

What You Are Not Going to Learn

I’m not going to teach you how to live on a monotonous diet off the cheapest ingredients in the supermarket  (think bread and butter), but rather guide you to examine your own shopping habits and think of what you might want to change without having to feel that you are losing out on delicious food and nutrition.

Are you ready? Let’s get started!

Seven Suggestions

1. Plan Head: Investing time rather than money.

I know, you’re busy with work, chores, and a social life and it’s the last thing you want to hear. But hear me out: we all have 24 hours in the day and (hopefully) a bit of control as to how to spend them. Investing time rather than money is your mantra. Use it to plan ahead your grocery shopping and meal plan for the coming week.

The good news: once you carve out a chunk of time to plan ahead, e.g. to examine your shopping habits, to make a meal-plan, to examine the contents of your pantry (you can shop there, too!), spending less money on your gluten-free needs will be much easier. Think of it as an act of mindful living, as getting in touch with yourself and what you put into your body. It’s an investment in yourself – and you can’t put a price on that, no?! Plus, planning ahead is fun. Write down requests and even make time to push that one meal project you’ve wanted to do forever but never got around to doing it. Now is your chance!

Okay then: find time, even if you feel like you are overstretching yourself already. You can make it happen! Why not do it now?

There’s more good news: after a couple of weeks of planning meals and sitting through that awkward feeling of having done so, it will become like second nature. I’m down to peeking into the fridge prior to leaving for the supermarket, thinking about potential meals on my way to the store (and consider which ones I won’t be eating at home), consult with a short list on my phone if any basics from the pantry have run out and start shopping!

At the store itself I peruse the vegetables and fruit, make sure to examine what is on offer, walk toward the dairy aisle, purchase some canned goods (think tomato sauce) and frozen herbs (e.g. parsley), stop for soda water and am on my way back home. It doesn’t take a lot of time out of me anymore, I spend less money as a consequence and I am much better fed than I used to be. Plus, I waste a whole lot less food.

Back to the top

2. Write down what you are spending

The best way to find out whether you are in fact overspending on groceries (and perhaps eating out) is to re-cap what you are spending. Even if you think you have a good idea, I encourage you to let yourself in on the experiment. The results will surprise you! And who knows, maybe you are doing just fine?

Start with saving all receipts and typing the amount spent into an Excel-table. You can either do it daily (e.g. on a file on your phone after you exit the store), at the end of the week (e.g. on Sunday evening) or at the end of the month. I encourage you do write down numbers at least once a week, because this way you have much better control over how much you already spent and can be much more conscious of spending during the remainder of the month.

While this exercise will require you to invest a bit of time, don’t worry: it’s totally do-able!  You just need an overall number to begin with. When I collected data on my shopping habits intensively for about half of 2014, my table had four columns: date of purchase, store name and two “amount spent” columns: one for grocery stores and one for restaurants. I would write all my purchases into the table and make an estimate of what my husband was spending based on interviews I conducted with him (he wasn’t as thrilled about this exercise as me and didn’t save all his receipts).

Back to the top

3. Analyse the data and Create an Action Plan

At the end of each month, sit down and analyse the data. They will tell you something about your shopping habits that you did not know – I promise!

The lessons I learnt: I was visiting the supermarket too often. Entering the store with the intention of purchasing one item would lead to leaving with at least three additional products (all of which I was convinced that I needed very badly, of course!).

productshelves

My action plan: I cut down my visits to the supermarket to once per week (Saturday mornings) and allowed myself a visit to the organic supermarket under the week (for tofu, soy milk, pulses and other staples that I could not purchase at the regular supermarket). I also began changing brands for certain items, or at least testing out new products of the same kind with a lower price in an effort to cut down costs, which also helped greatly. And I began considering whether I really needed to eat out or not, another factor that helped cut costs.

I made myself stick to this routine for a good while. Eventually, I was spending less than half or even a third on groceries in comparison to earlier in the year. I also cut down on spontaneously eating out and opting to take food and drink with me from home whenever I could foresee the need of it coming in handy. While this was not entirely attributed to having collected and analysed my shopping habits in great detail, it certainly helped having done so because I had a rough idea of what I was spending and by how much I wanted to cut down costs.

The data also taught me that grocery costs move in cycles, e.g. when more expensive ingredients such as olive oil, balsamic vinegar run out of if pricier items, such as asparagus or strawberries, happened to be in season, which meant that I was much less panicky about having rung up a large bill, because I knew where the increased cost was coming from and that it was just part of the overall picture.

Back to the top

4. Buy natural ingredients rather than processed foods

You can save a huge load of money if you quit processed foods. And yes, this means staying off all those special gluten-free products that are so expensive. And staying off those special vegetarian treats, such as cold cuts, vegetable spreads, hummus and other convenience foods that promise to save you time.

peripheryofthesupermarket

If you’re not convinced, how about running a data analysis for the amount of money you spend on gluten-free cookies, cakes, bread, noodles and those vegetarian meat imitations and see how much that makes up in relation to the entire amount spent that month? I think I can hear you moaning just thinking about doing it, right?

Obviously, in order to quit processed foods even a little, you need to know how to cook and bake (see more on that below). I started shopping the periphery of the supermarket a few years ago and it really made a difference in the amount of money I was spending each week. I also changed my cooking behaviour and focused on making a few low-key meals a couple of times a week in order to save both energy and time. If you want shopping with me, I’d take you to the produce section, skim the dairy aisle, visit the section with grains, nuts and pulses, because I will be cooking lots of things from scratch every week. It’s not only cheaper, but it gives me a much higher level of control over ingredients and taste. This doesn’t mean I’ve quit purchasing processed foods all together (I still buy ice-cream, chocolate or chips), but I’ve greatly reduced the number of processed items in my grocery cart to what I consider absolutely necessary and irreplaceable in terms of being unable to recreate it myself (which means I probably shouldn’t be buying it in the first place as it’s that artificial, but such are the joys of life).

Back to the top

5. Don’t underestimate what you spend on (soft) drinks

For health reasons, it makes sense to water down (pardon the pun) what you drink on a daily basis.

My go-to drink is water, plus I purchase a litre of fresh orange juice per week that my husband and I share for breakfast on Sunday and Monday. Other than that I don’t purchase soft-drinks, except for guests and always buy water when on the road and order it at restaurants. It took me a while to get into the habit, but I’m very grateful that I did.

I love cold sparkling water and make my own lemonade with freshly pressed lemon juice and lots of ice cubes.

homemadeglutenfreelemonade

It’s so much cheaper, has zero sugar (I don’t even need sweetener at this point). Hot and cold tea (or coffee) is also a great thing to be drinking, also much less expensive when you make something out of it at home.

Many people enjoy drinking tap water (depending on where you live this may be safe or not, be sure to check!). I’m not one of these people, but I will agree that it’s a great way to cut down on grocery costs. Tea (hot and cold) is a great alternative during all seasons of the year. You can even make it fun and plant your own peppermint!

Back to the top

6. Shop Locally and with the Seasons – and buy stuff on offer!

You’ve probably heart it before, but: shopping with the seasons (meaning purchasing fruits and vegetables that are in season over where you live) can save you a lot of money. For me it means eating lots of pumpkin, Brussel sprouts, beets, lamb’s lettuce and root vegetables during the fall and winter. In spring I get to enjoy asparagus (big deal in Germany), freshly harvested potatoes, carrots and local delicacies like Frankfurt Green Sauce. During summer I enjoy the abundancy of vegetables and fruits a-plenty, such as tomatoes and strawberries.

strawberries

Eating with the seasons is also great for the environment, and purchasing foods with long travelling times behind them also has its down-sides. Locally grown foods are often the most budget-friendly option, too.

And then there is shopping with the supermarket-determined seasons: whatever they have on offer. I’m not one to peruse lots of advertisement papers. But I do compare prices while at the supermarket, and if something is on offer, I will consider purchasing it instead of a different (pricier) vegetable. When I purchase something on the whim, I make sure to visualize the dish that I plan on making with it. This ensures that I will actually end up cooking what I bought and decreases the chance of it just sitting in my fridge, wasting away.

Back to the top

7. Always remember: even if you are on a budget, food has its price!

There are also some items that I will definitely always purchase in high quality, regardless of the price and how little money I have left. Key items in this list include organic milk, dairy products, free-range eggs and olive oil. For these, I’m not compromising on the source, and opting to buy less.

Anyway, with these tips, you should begin noticing some savings within a month from reading this section. Even if it’s just from making purchasing decisions much more consciously.

Back to the top

Saving at Home

Of course there is much more you can do to save money when living gluten-free. In this section I depict strategies for spending less money on groceries by actively investing time. You don’t only benefit in terms of savings, but can do something for your health at the same time. Win-win!

Back to the top

The manifold benefits of being a Private Chef

For me, going gluten-free was fairly easy. I learnt what gluten was and where it is found and got cooking. Of course, it wasn’t all that easy, but in essence that’s what happened over the course of the first year. As a result I wasn’t frustrated during this process, but rather felt gratified about expanding my culinary skills beyond what I previously considered sufficient. Going gluten-free gave me a reason to truly study food preparation techniques and to be successful in re-creating favourites such as stir-fries, spring rolls and bread. Not being able to recreate a food was simply not an option any more, because if I wasn’t successful that meant I wouldn’t get to eat it. This is why I suggest you invest time in learning how to be your very own private chef. No worries, you don’t need to be the fancy kind, it totally suffices getting some of the basics down.

Many people with celiac disease are frustrated about having it. They often do a bad job at staying compliant with the gluten-free diet and risk their long-term health in the process. My loosely conducted private research on the matter concluded that they almost always have one shared attribute: they don’t know how to cook or bake entirely from scratch or they just don’t care to do it.

They are then stuck in a horrible situation in which they feel helpless. They can’t continue ordering out or purchasing ready-made meals. They have to watch others eat all sorts of delicacies without being able to indulge themselves. They hate their inability to eat gluten, because it’s simply found in everything. Some even start hating themselves. The most helpless ones can’t even eat something as simple as sauce Bolognese, because they just don’t know how it is made – and don’t have anyone in their surroundings who encourages them to research the matter or who will show them how it’s done. Others end up spending much more money on eating out than they previously did. As a result they feel that eating gluten-free requires a ridiculous amount of money when in fact they only need to make a few changes in order to spend less. Overall this situation is perceived as a massive drop in life quality, also because they lack control over issues such as contamination and are putting their health entirely in the hands of strangers.

I really feel for them.

The solution is fairly easy though: learn to cook.

Back to the top

Knowing how to cook is not just about the money, it’s about quality of life

There are huge benefits to learning how to cook and to expanding one’s cooking skills. You don’t need to strive to be a fancy cook that cooks colour-coded complicated meals using exotic and expensive ingredients and serves them on gold-rimmed, diamond-engraved plates.

It totally suffices to learn how to make the basics. In my opinion these are:

  • Salads including salad dressings
  • Soups and Stews
  • Omelettes and Frittatas
  • Pasta sauces
  • Simple sides from ingredients such as potatoes, rice and pseudo-grains
  • Vegetable casseroles
  • Roasting nuts

These are all meals or meal-components that require little effort and time on your part. They are also healthy and can be easily turned into a delicious treat with a few spices and herbs. Plus, they can be combined at will and work well during any season of the year. fruitfordessert

(You’ll notice I didn’t speak about desserts here, well: there is a separate section on learning how to bake. Until then: fruit is a great go-to option for dessert – eat it plain, frozen, in a fruit salad or as a smoothie!)

Back to the top

Learn to bake

Like with learning how to cook, there are manifold gains to obtain when you learn how to bake. This particularly applies to everyone who lives gluten-free. The calculation is easy: compare the price of what a package of gluten-free bread costs you (here in Germany it’s about 3 EUR for less than half a pound/240g) and compare it with what a package of gluten-free flour (3 to 4 EUR for a kilo depending on the flour – that’s four times the weight of the bread at the same price) plus yeast, salt, water, electricity and a few seeds will run you. You need to be putting a whole lot of stuff into your bread in order for it to be more expensive than what you get at the store. Plus, you get to bake whatever you want, which translates into indulging in breads that are usually not available at the store.

Picture of Mari baking. Picture by Julia Stüber.

You don’t need to know how to bake super fancy breads. Start with the recipe on the package. Purchase a Gluten-free Baking Mix. It will still be cheaper than buying the ready-to-eat version! For more information on how to successfully bake gluten-free, check out my Gluten-free Baking 101 Tutorial.

Back to the top

Learn Your Basic Nutrition Rules (Vegetarians require protein)

If you are living on a vegetarian diet, I urge you to consider learning how to prepare pulses from scratch since legumes are one of the cheapest and healthiest protein-sources for us aside from the regular dairy sources such as yoghurt and kefir. Pulses are also incredibly tasty and can be prepared in an infinite number of ways.

At the same time, familiarize yourself with the nutritional qualities of pulses and how much a recommended portion weighs as well as how often you should eat protein if you are a vegetarian. This will greatly help you determine your shopping needs, too.

Pulses can be prepared in an infinite number of ways. I regularly add them to soups and salads and eat them on their own. Since they contain complex carbohydrates, eating pulses is not only good for a balanced blood sugar level, it will also open an opportunity to eating less soy-based products such as tofu or texturized soy – or eggs. For better nutritional results, it is recommended to soak pulses at least 24 hours prior to preparing them. This cuts down the phytic acid, which reduces the nutritional quality of pulses greatly within the body, as it binds them.

If you are living on a vegetarian diet, it’s probably also a good idea to ensure you get sufficient omega-3 fatty acids, sufficient Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D. If and when in doubt: check with your physician.

Back to the top

Nuts and seeds are great for gluten-free vegetarians

Luckily most people don’t have a problem with nut allergies. Nuts make a great asset to the vegetarian and vegan diet and deserve to be explored. I mostly eat nuts plain as an afternoon snack or roast them to spruce up a salad, pasta sauce or stir-fries. nutsOn the go I often eat almonds and cashews, walnuts and pecans, for salads I love sunflower seeds, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds and pecans. I also love mixing nuts depending on what I happen to have available in my pantry and them to my morning yoghurt.

Back to the top

Buy in Bulk

Buying in bulk can be your friend, when you are trying to save money on groceries. This applies in particular when you are dealing with ingredients that will keep over a long time, such as pulses, canned goods, rice or pasta. I also buy yeast in bulk, opting for a product called Fermipan. It is a pound of yeast and so much less expensive than buying the tiny 9-g packages. Yes, it is not so common to see gluten-free pasta on offer, but it does happen and when it does, you should be ready to jump, wallet in hand. I’ve managed to pay just a third of the regular price for pasta, I just seized the opportunity when it came – and stocked up!

As far as buying fresh vegetables in bulk, I suggest doing this only in summer. I’m not one to can my own goods, but I hear people do it all the time with amazing results.

Back to the top

Invest in Food Storage

When you cook or bake a lot at home, or when you buy in bulk, you are eventually going to need more storage. I make most of what I can with what I have, and opt to store any flour and pasta that I don’t need immediately in our basement. I find that storing any other items down there doesn’t really work for me, because I tend to forget about them. I will always require flour and pasta though, without having to be reminded that they are available, so it makes sense to keep them out of sight.

We also invested in a larger fridge this year. But I should add that the old one (that I inherited from my grandmother when she passed) was short of giving up its services. Plus I really needed more space to freeze my bread supply.

I also suggest grouping ingredients with each other in a way that makes sense to you in the way that you use the ingredients. The advantage of grouping is that you always have a good idea of how much you have left of which ingredient.

For example, I have the following compartmentalization in my kitchen:

Baking

a. Gluten-free Flour shelf
b. Baking Ingredients shelf (xanthan and guar gums, food colouring, decorative chocolate, baking cocoa, seasonal ingredients, lye solution)
c. Tin with small baking ingredients (e.g. packages of baking powder, baking soda and vanilla)

Cooking & Baking

d.  Pulses
e. Grains (e.g. quinoa, amaranth, millet)
f. Gluten-free Pasta (includes summer rolls, glass noodles)
g. Nut and Seed Drawer
h. Spices Shelf
i. Rice and Cooking Flour Drawer (different rice types, P.A.N. flour, coconut flour, popcorn kernels)
j. Oil & Vinegar Shelf

Drinks

k. Coffee Drawer
l. Tea Drawer
m. Milk

For flours, grains, seeds and nuts I also like to keep them in either a jar or in a zip-lock back. The reason is that regardless of how careful you are, there is always the risk of pantry moths. This way, the risk of having to throw everything out in case of infection is minimized. I also invested in plastic containers from IKEA. They keep all the bits and bobs in my cupboards much tidier and help me maintain the above mentioned system.

Back to the top

Garden

If you have a piece of land available, and don’t need to make much of an investment other than seeds, it may really pay off if you think about gardening. Plants that grow easily and plentiful are: tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and cucumbers. For me, gardening isn’t necessarily a money-saver (as I had to purchase pots, soil and seeds, which can really add up). It’s an investment in nature and tasteful vegetarian treats.tomatoesgardening

Back to the top

I hope you have found this section on living gluten-free on a budget helpful and inspiring. Let me know in the comments or through the contact form if you have any suggestions that you would like to see added! I’d love to hear from you in case you implemented any tips and how they worked out for you! 🙂