I’ve had so many questions regarding this post that I thought I’d answer a few of them here.
First I want to clarify – this is not to judge people who like to splurge on a pint of organic blueberries or container of chia seeds, this is to raise awareness about a very real problem in our country (and beyond our country). You do not have to participate, but I would encourage you to look at your grocery budget and ask yourself where you could save money if you had to and what meals could be made more affordable.
Questions:
Q: Oil: Your estimates of $3.00 per week seem really high, why is that?
A: If you have ever shopped on a very limited budget, you know that buying one big thing of anything is really hard. If I were to buy a bottle of oil that cost 6 dollars even if it was just for one week (and lasted a month), that would mean I would have 6 dollars less to spend on other groceries that week.
We do not need oil to cook or bake, so I see it as a luxury item. If someone was on a budget I would recommend cutting it out to save money (and their health for that matter).
If you are fortunate to live near a place in which you can buy bulk liquids, you could do that for the week, and only buy what you would use.
Q: Your estimates for spices seem high, why?
A. Same reason as above really, I want to closely simulate for people what it would be like to really be on a lower budget for groceries. If you bought one spice for 3 dollars in one week, that would probably mean you would be going with out bread or some other staple for you and your family.
Q: What about salt and pepper?
A. It’s really up to you if you want to include things like this. We used to get salt and pepper packs from salad bars. But again, I want you to think in terms of living on a very restricted budget. If you are buying rare pink sea salt, chances are it would not be something you could easily budget for on a restricted budget.
Q: I live in Europe/Malaysia/Australia/Canada/Mexico what would my budget be?
A:
Europe: 15.9055
Malaysia: 66.3495
Australia: 23.0439
Mexico: 264.6315
Q: My (insert kitchen appliance here) is really an investment, it saves me so much money! Why can’t I use it?
A. I agree that some kitchen appliances are investments. However, if you are living on a very restricted budget, chances are you don’t have the luxury of purchasing anything that is more than 15 dollars every so often. If you wanted to go all out you could look at thrift stores and on the free stuff on craigslist.
Q: What about kids? What is the budget for them?
A. I’m going to leave this up to you a bit – but most budgets would not allow for $21.00 extra for each child. In real life parents on a budget have to choose feeding their children over feeding themselves. When I was young, my parents would live on crackers in order to make sure we could eat. I don’t want people to starve themselves doing this, so just be aware of your budget and stick as close to it as possible.
Q: I can’t do this right now, but I would still like to help people out, what can I do?
A. If you can’t participate for some reason, but would like to help, you could do something like a post on low budget meal planning, or plan on tweeting about low budget meal plan.
Q: Is there a hash tag for twitter?
A. Yes! If you are tweeting use the hash tag: #21dollarvegan
Q: I can’t do this! It is impossible!
It’s ok if you can’t do this, I dont expect everyone will be able to, again, this is to raise awareness. Millions of people are living on very restricted budgets – in fact some would say that 21 dollars per week is high! My goal is to help people who are on limited budgets who want to go vegan.
Q: How do I sign up?
A: Just send me an e-mail: natala dot constantine at gmail dot com
Be sure to include your blog/twitter account so I can include you on the page!
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