The cost of healthy food

[ConsciousCuisine]

Okay. So, friends *always* ask me to make something to eat when there is a gathering, fundraiser or event. I do it for many reasons, mainly because:

1) I am a Vegan who loves to cook, share and eat

2) I am guaranteed to have at least *one* suitable food option

3) I see it as opportunity for a 'teachable moment' to expose others to high-quality, decadent, gourmet or just plain good grub that happens to be VEGAN

4) I am really good at creating delicious, healthy vegan food




All that being said, it is getting soooo EXPENSIVE!

I just bought/spent the following to make a 100% Organic (the only way I do it!) Pineapple-Cherry Upside-Down Cake for a gathering of 8:

2 cans pineapple @ $2.39 each -on sale!

2 cans coconut milk @ $1.99 each -on sale!

Frozen Cherries $3.39- on sale!

Then there are the staples that I have at home (flour, ground flax, brown rice and apple cider vinegar, baking soda and powder, oils, vanilla and lemon extracts, Earth Balance and so on).

When it's all said and done, this one cake cost me around $16.00!

It can become quite costly and awkward to put a limit on what one can make when a freind requests it or when going to a potluck, but I often end up spending $20.00 or more to bring my conscious creations to events! It's challenging at times, especially when others often bring GMO corn chips and a jar of salsa (about $3.00 cost and unhealthy to boot!).

There have been times when I have just brought a watermelon or some frozen juice pops or dried fruit and nuts (which is *still* expenseive!) but in general, people have come to expect really delicious treats from me, so the pressure to outdo myself is on


Anyone else relate or have especially expensive recipes or similar occurances?

[tasha]

It can get expensive--but even before I became vegan I always spent a bit of money on food for gatherings. I think it is a bit worse now as I am always trying to impress my omnivourous friends and family. I will splurge to buy the things that I know they will like. Stupid, really. Sometimes I feel like I am trying to "explain" myself.

Unfortunatly, organic food is way more expensive--but that is the price you pay to shop for a safer environment.

Have you ever noticed that to eat healthy, you have to pay double? No wonder there are so many unhealthy, overwieight people--they can't afford to eat properly. It is cheaper to buy a family pack of wings, a few frozen pizzas, and a bag of chips than it is to buy fresh produce!

[tipsy]

wow!

i recently started keeping my grocerie and food reciepts for all the food and snacks i purchased...

i spend almost 100$ a week on food!!!

isnt this outrageous!!??

i was wondering if anyone else knows how much they spend on food, and if it was anything close to that (or am i just a huge piggy??)??

(oink, oink!)

[Seaside]

I don't know. I'm not sure I want to! I shop for the dogs and cats at the grocery store too, rather than the pet store (they eat home made diets) and I go to Whole Foods a lot, which ain't the cheapest.

[tipsy]

yeah, i used to work a block away from the whole foods on telegraph in berkeley...

can you say broke all the time??!?!?!

[DianeVegan]

I spend $100 to $200 per week (depending on whether there will be 2, 3 or 4 of us) and I make most things from scratch. I think part of it is that almost everything I purchase is organic and/or local produce - very expensive in this part of Connecticut.

[whats-her-name]

erm, about 30 zlotych (1$=about 4 zlote) per 2 weeks on vegan food (soy milk, tofu, peanut butter etc.). I don't know about the rest of the food my mum buys

[FR]

Food is not something I put a spending limit on. On average, including body soap, shampoo, toothpaste, household cleaners like dishsoap, and laundry detergent (these things do not have to be bought as frequently as food), I spend $300.00 to $400.00 a month (includes occasionally eating out). I do buy almost entirely organic food, and all of the hygeine and household porducts I buy are vegan. So, that looks like about $125.00 per week and I am fine with that.

[Marie]

Hi Dianecerna I just notice you are from Connecticut. My grandmother lives there. How is it to be a vegan there? (Sorry not what this tread is about but I just got suprised ). Anyway living in one of the worlds most expensive country we do use alot on food here, $ 200 per week.

[Mystic]

Today we went shopping and we spent $100 for the whole week for two of us. It was all vegan, besides my boyfriend's milk and tuna Here is what we bought:
- 3 loaves of bread
- strawberry jam
- 3 boxes of frozen strawberries
- 1 box of frozen raspberries
- instant oatmeal
- weetbix
- lettuce
- tomatoes
- cucumber
- potatoes
- carrots
- broccoli
- snowpeas
- green beans
- 2 avocados
- dried figs
- dried apricots
- almonds
- punnet of strawberries
- 1/2 pineapple
- apples
- bananas
- mandarins
- pears
Actually, looking at it all written down, doesn't look like that much Maybe it's coz this week we were ok for rice, beans etc...hmmm...I guess we did buy frozen fruit, which although was on sale, was not cheap.

[Yoggy]

I'd wager that I spend almost $100 per week on food too. Food on Vancouver Island is SO much more expensive than in Ontario, where I'm originally from. When I first moved here, I lived off mostly soup because I couldn't bear to spend my money on the overpriced items in the grocery stores. Kraft Dinner here (I ate it when I was omni) is $1.59 but it's only $0.49 in my hometown in Ontario! And the same goes for a lot of other food (Habitant soup here = $2.89, but back home, $1.09!). I'm trying to cut back on groceries lately though, since gas recently went up to 104.9 per litre. Outrageous! But then, it's a good excuse to ride my bike more.

[foxytina_69]

i didnt think food was too expensive here. (then again ive never lived anywhere else)

well considering were really broke because my sister has so many bills, i dont spend anything on groceries. either my dad spends 50$ at a farmers market for a ton of food for us, or steev gets me food cause we cant buy any. he spends about 50 dollars a week on groceries. (thats enough for his lunches everyday, dinners, and enough for my sister and i to eat also)

if i were to spend money on groceries id assume it would be very cheap because produce is so cheap. it would probably be like 30$ a week. (oh and tofu is damn cheap too. steev and i always stock up on that!)

[foxytina_69]

oh, and speaking about expensive grocery bills, my mom and i used to spend 500$ a week on groceries if only i had that kindof money now

[Roxy]

Yoggy - my sister-in-law was recently visiting B.C. for one month. She normally lives in Dundas, Ontario. She also made a comment, about how the cost of living in B.C. is so much higher than it is in Ontario. She commented that everything from food to housing is more expensive out here.

I went shopping yesterday and bought 90% organic foods. It cost me $120 and it should do us for about a week. Actually, I was suprised that it was only that much - I was expecting it to be up around $160. Oh well - I guess a bunch of stuff must've been on sale!

[tipsy]

Food is not something I put a spending limit on. On average, including body soap, shampoo, toothpaste, household cleaners like dishsoap, and laundry detergent (these things do not have to be bought as frequently as food), I spend $300.00 to $400.00 a month (includes occasionally eating out). I do buy almost entirely organic food, and all of the hygeine and household porducts I buy are vegan. So, that looks like about $125.00 per week and I am fine with that.

i would agree, FR i dont limit my food spending...

i started keeping track of my spending because i bought a new car (yay for the prius!) and doubled my monthly car payment!

i was just shocked at how much money i spend a week on food!!

i keep all the staples (rice, beans, lentils, oats, potatoes) in my house at all times, but i usually do fresh food shopping every day, or every other day at the health food store down the street, and on weekends i go to the various farmers markets around town.

i would guess i spend another 30-50 bucks a month on vegan hygene and household products....

im glad to see that im not alone in my outragious food spending

[speedylemons]

I completely agree with all of you who said you don't put a limit on how much you spend on food. For example, I COULD just keep very minimal amounts of food in my apartment and save money, but then I would end up doing poorly in school, start slacking at work, probably end up getting ill, and many other things could result. The food you consume is totally a reflection of how you perform in life. Eating poorly/not enough=doing poorly in school, work etc.

Now, I am an independent student with no help from parents [i moved out of my mother's home on the second day of my senior year of high school and I'm a freshman in Uni now], so money is extremely tight for me. In the summer I would go to the farmer's market and get loads of stuff for very little money, and once in a while i would splurge and spent like $50 on food in one trip.. but I've tried to budget my money better and I am currently keeping track of all that i spend because I'm curious to see how much of my income goes to food. Right now I am trying to follow these little guidelines for myself.. hopefully it works. I live alone without a boyfriend [ ] so it's just me I'm ever buying for:

I go grocery shopping every sunday.. so that's four sundays a month.
Each trip I try to limit my spending to about $25-$30.
This ends up being about $100-$120 per month for food for one person.
I generally try to buy ingredients to MAKE my own food, rather than convenience foods or premade items, which are generally much more expensive.
I rarely buy organic because the price difference is incredibly steep here in Wisconsin.
This doesn't include personal hygeine items however. I am looking into natural homemade remedies for many of the things i use daily so hopefully i will end up saving some money there too.

I don't think that's really that bad for one person. The things that add up quickly are generally the most healthful too- i.e nuts, exotic fruit/veggies and unusual items found in the health food section. I always look for sales and compare prices between grocery stores. For example if i need raisins, i will see if the store has raisins on sale, or if just buying grapes is cheaper.. and then if buying grapes is cheaper i'll buy them and dehydrate my own raisins.

Hmm. I am also going to start sprouting soon and I am learning how to make my own bread.. which will be cheaper too!

Saving money is fun. I always enjoy discovering a deal.

[Mr Flibble]

When i was living with another vegan, we spent on average about £340 a month (£85 a week) on food and household products. Since living on my own this figure has been around £200 (£50 a week).

I record on a spreadsheet every food purchase I make, categorising each item within one of 30 categories for food and drink. If anyone's majorly voyeristic they're welcome to see it. I use it partly for budgetting and ensuring i'm spending my money wisely, partly for tracking how healthily i'm eating and partly to see where i can save money. For instance, the thing I currently spend the second most money on a month is fresh soya products such as tofu. Having seen how much i spend and calculated how much I could save, i'm considering investing equipment to start making it myself. I eat a fair amount of organic food, very little GM and mainly fresh (fresh fruit and veg makes up over a third of my purchases).

[speedylemons]

When i was living with another vegan, we spent on average about £340 a month (£85 a week) on food and household products. Since living on my own this figure has been around £200 (£50 a week).

I record on a spreadsheet every food purchase I make, categorising each item within one of 30 categories for food and drink. If anyone's majorly voyeristic they're welcome to see it. I use it partly for budgetting and ensuring i'm spending my money wisely, partly for tracking how healthily i'm eating and partly to see where i can save money. For instance, the thing I currently spend the second most money on a month is fresh soya products such as tofu. Having seen how much i spend and calculated how much I could save, i'm considering investing equipment to start making it myself. I eat a fair amount of organic food, very little GM and mainly fresh (fresh fruit and veg makes up over a third of my purchases).

I'm attempting to do a similar thing, if you are comfortable sharing it I'd really love to see it! It sounds pretty organized and easy to track everything. It'd be very helpful for me to be able to see what foods i actually spend the most money on

[foxytina_69]

well things have changed again. lol. i personally spend 50 dollars a month on groceries for myself.

i dont know how i get by on that little but i do.

[Mr Flibble]

I'm attempting to do a similar thing, if you are comfortable sharing it I'd really love to see it! It sounds pretty organized and easy to track everything. It'd be very helpful for me to be able to see what foods i actually spend the most money on

check your PMs

[abrennan]

There are two of us and we spend at least $200 on food every week

I buy as much organic as I can and I buy as few packaged or tinned as possible

antony

[treehugga]

I buy 1 large box of organic fruit and veg which we get delivered to our workplace for convienience. costs $55 weekly

I buy about $30 of organic teas, flours, tofu, tempe etc form health food shop.

The rest from the dreaded supermarket: soy icecream, organic whole oats, juice, sugar, soy sausages, legumes etc etc $60.

I feed a family of four on this every week approx $150 pw.

[Neovegan]

I think I spend about $50 per week on food. But it really is worth it buying organic food over non-organic. Where I am, organic food is a little more expensive, but it is worth it to support the organic producers and the store selling them over the supermarket that sells primarily milk-and-meat-based convienience food that wreaks havoc on your health and your town. If I bought non-organic food from the supermarket, I'd only save maybe $5-$10. Those dollars are trivial to me, but they aren't to stores who are in business.

[Mystic]

I spend anywhere between $80 - $200 Australian a week on groceries between Odi, my boyfriend and I. There are a few non-vegan things for Odi and my boyfriend, but the bulk of our shopping is fruit, vegetables, beans, rice, pasta, breakfast cereals, nuts, dried fruit, soy milk and toiletaries. We also buy peanut butter, tahini, hummus, rice cakes, oils (olive, sesame etc...), herbs, soy ice cream, soy yoghurt, soy chocolate, baked beans, ketchup, soy sauce, soy mayonnaise etc

[xwitchymagicx]

Too much according to my mum.

[terra]

I just bought/spent the following to make a 100% Organic (the only way I do it!) Pineapple-Cherry Upside-Down Cake for a gathering of 8:

CC - Would you be willing to share this recipe?

It sounds SO good.

If not, I understand!

[Artichoke47]

I was spending about $800/month on food, but now, with little appetite, it's gone down significantly, plus I have reserves of veggies in my freezer, frozen and ready to be cooked!

[ConsciousCuisine]

Terr, I'll try to remember the exact steps to the cake and get back to you...

Arti, why do you have little appetite? What's going on...love issues?

[Artichoke47]

No, CC, I'm actually very happy and energetic and I'm very excited about the person I'm seeing. I wish my appetite would come back!

[terra]

CEECEE!

That would be AWESOME!

Thank you so much!

If you tell me the ingredients and approximate measurements, I'm usually good with figuring it out...

Thanks again!

[treehugga]

Banana
This is going off the thread a bit, but how do you go feeding Odi is he really fussy? Maybe I should start a how do you feed you little one thread ot maybe one already exists. To lazy to look

[Mystic]

Check this thread out

[speedylemons]

CEECEE!

That would be AWESOME!

Thank you so much!

If you tell me the ingredients and approximate measurements, I'm usually good with figuring it out...

Thanks again!

Ditto on the recipe demand!! I read about it and drooled allll over myself. Hehe

[thecatspajamas1]

I am still a college student and I have a mealplan but next year I will be living off campus instead- and doing grocery shopping and I will have to be careful with how much money I spend.

It always seems that healthy food- natural/organic/whole wheat/not-junk food can be kind of expensive. So, those of you that eat very healthy- how much do you spend on groceries each week on average? Do you find yourself coupon-cutting or buying things in bulk often? Or is it not as expensive as I think it is?

[tipsy]

that really depends on what you eat...

i buy allot of lentils, pasta, beans, rice, tvp, & other things in bulk...
this is real cheap!

however, i also eat allot of veggies, and i only buy organic produce...so it can get a bit pricey.

i buy my juicing fruits & veggies bulk, and save about 15-20%... so if you eat allot of something raw, ask the healthfood store if you can buy veggies in bulk! (a big box or a half at a time).

i buy cartons of soymilk (12 @ a time) and save almost 1.50$ on each one, because of the bulk disc.

ive figured out that i spend about 75-120$ a week on food. seems like allot, but i eat allot....

[Tigerlily]

I can't afford organic. It's expensive here. Differences between conventional and organic produce is usually more than a dollar...the more exotic, the pricier too.

[qwaychou]

I can't afford organic yet, either.
Cat's PJ's, I recommend beans and rice...a lot. Dried beans are cheap, and a cinch to make IF you remember to put some up to soak over night.
Get different spices, have your rice asian one day, and southern the next. Same with the beans. India has some great bean recipes, and canned tomatoes and italian seasoning makes for another change.
During the war, a lot of government bulletins went out to consumers, and tried to teach them to vary the way they cook the same things. So even if you have to eat beans and rice several times a week, it'll take you longer to get tired of it.
Get as much variety as you can afford, and buy according to the vegan food pyramid, that'll help you figure out your budget, and be very healthy, too. Best of luck!

[Jane M]

I joined a co-op and that helps some. Most of my staples I get from the bulk bins so they cost a lot less than packaged. In the summer I buy all my organic fresh fruits and veggies at the farmers market. However, winter really tugs at my purse strings especially if I am craving something like fresh strawberries. I find eating 'in season' (only buying fresh produce produced that season locally and not imported) is a bit cheaper. Also, if I do my own baking and cooking rather than purchasing 'convenience foods' I can save quite a lot too.

[Tigerlily]

In season eating sounds good but not everywhere there's local produce all year round.

[Skajen]

i find being vegan really expensive, it seems like i'm being punished for caring about the environment and animals?!

i feel such a hypocrite but i just can't afford organic food at all, apart from pure spread i don't eat organic. which makes me feel bad.

also i went to health food shop y'day for a few items, 2 tins, toothpaste, s/w paste, sausages, and maybe 1 or 2 other things and it came to £18- i'm a university student and its hard 2 live with food costing that much!

[Mr Flibble]

really? When i was at uni i had no problems eating a good quality/healthy diet and spent way less than non vegetarians I knew who ate crap. I budgetted everything and had no problems spending approx £25-30 a week on food, which as the average person I knew would blow £8-10 in one takeaway meal made it pretty cheap!

I now spend approx £40-50 a week (£5.70 - £7.15 a day) and eat a lot of organic / fairtrade. I still budget (even more ruthlessly than I used to) and can analyse where I'm spending the most money and see how I can cut down without compromising on quality. I'm happy to now say that my total percentage spent on pre-prepared items in the past 3 months (soup, vegeburgers, sausage etc which arn't nessecarily a full meal in themselves but have been through extensive factory processing and i could cook myself if i wasn't so lazy!) is 12% for fresh, 2% for tinned and 2% for frozen. Frozen chips/fries accounted for less than 0.25%. I think I can lower this too. My main areas of spending that I've realised and plan to tackle is tofu (8%) and soya milk (6%), by buying a soya milk/tofu maker when finances permit (i calculate that it will pay for itself in under a year if i use it 75% of the time). I used to spend a lot on bread (and it still counts for 6%), but I'm making more fresh bread myself which comes out a lot cheaper (at least half). I was pleased to see that although I used to feel that I spent a lot on quality oils like extra virgin olive and vinegar like matured balsamic, it still only accounted for 2% and that by using it in things I'd otherwise buy ready made i was still making a massive saving. Thus I started only buying organic oil. I'm not tracking how much of what I eat is organic yet, but am tempted to start

If anyone does have problems budgetting food I'm happy to share with them my spreadsheet that I use for logging and basic analysis. It's dead simple to use and if you save all your receipts takes approx 30 mins a month to maintain. The main screen looks like this:

[harpy]

I'm sure I've said this before, but people in the UK who would like to buy more organic food could look into the fruit and veg delivery schemes, because they usually work out a lot cheaper than buying organic stuff from a supermarket or health food shop (and the stuff is often more local as well).

[assilembob]

I spent $50 yesterday on produce, two amy's frozen meals, and some canned soup.
It irritates me that three bags of groceries cost me that much when the omni in front of me spent $30 on a cart full of frozen, processed budget meals, canned veggies and soups and dairy. If produce were that cheap i would do so much better.
~Mel

[ConsciousCuisine]

I am currently evaluating my spending and know that even though I am a good shopper, I have to cut spending from somewhere and food is the only thing I can cut! I am working on buying only a few packaged goods (soymilk, tofu, tempeh) and making them the smallest part of my family's diet! They pretty much are already but I do buy other treats and I am at the point where I MUST stop. It's hard though, because I am working on my cookbook and it's not a "Cheap Eats" type of recipe book Maybe that will be the next project- Veganism on a Budget

[StmpyElephant]

I still live at home and I don't know how much my parents spend but I do assume it is A LOT. Personally I'm very strict with my diet, I have IBS which is one reason (and also why I still live at home) and I am also very concerned and interested about health.

We consume a HUGE amount of veg and fruit in this house (I do most of the consuming) however my father almost has a vegan diet down while my mother and my sister are carnivores but are adopting healthier lifestyle habits. As long as we don't get lazy we hit the market which sells conventional fruit and veg much more cheaply. Fruit and veg is not cheap in Aus...even conventionally. However, recently I was interstate and the craptastic produce they had there was almost expensive as some organic items.

While I'm always on the arguing end about eating more organic food (which my parents would love to do but remind me it is too expensive) I have become very concerned and fanatical about pesticides. Last year I ate conventional strawberries (the most toxic of fruit) EVERY DAY. Now I try to eat seasonally and compromise- buy the most toxic fruit and veg organic and half organic/half conventional for fruit and veg in the middle range. I figure since I eat pretty purely and much more fruit and veg than other family members this is important.

Yet I also understand that it is not cheap to feed someone and how lucky I have it. I often feel guily about the luxury of food I get considering I don't put any money toward it (I don't work and I'm slowly adjusting to finsihing my schooling after suffering and coming to terms with my IBS).

However, I don't ever eat out unless it is with the family, I prepared all my own meals when I'm in school. I don't eat any junk or vegan luxury items.

There is alot of irony that in order to be healthy you have to pay more. It seems unjust to not be given the benefits of what one would hope was a fundamental right, but then again....I know how lucky I am just to be able to purchase conventional produce when so many in the world don't eat at all.

[kriz]

I think we spend about $150 a week on organic groceries for two people+dog. If we ate organic meat and fish, the bill would be much higher. You can easily spend $15-20 on a couple of pieces of salmon. Beans or tofu are a lot cheaper.

[Jane M]

Mr. Flibble you never fail to impress or inspire. I love that spread sheet. I only have Soft though but maybe I can build my own like it???? Would love suggestions on how.

I suppose I am a bit spoiled here. The co-op I shop is mostly organic and vegetarian/vegan. Many if not all the organic farmers here grow 4 season using cold frames and greenhouses. So I can get organic year round by adjusting my recipes to what is available. Right now I can still get local organic chard and kale and some lettuces cheaper than at the supermarket. There are still bushels of apples from the fall rather cheap. Also some rather large parsnips (looking for a good recipe for those---anyone??) and beets. If I want to splurge I usually do it on bread...can't stand a flimsy loaf of tasteless bread. At least a loaf will last me for almost the whole week. So I figure a good loaf of $5 bread is better than a cheap loaf I'll hate anyway.

Out of curiosity I took a look at meat prices. Tofu is a lot cheaper and beans even more cheaper. So I figure I am doing better with food costs than others who eat meat at every meal. I really should track it and figure out how much...but I usually only spend about $30-$40 a week. Most of that is for fresh veggies and fruit..I'd say about 1/2. About a 1/4 is for stocking up on my basics...pasta, rice, beans, silken tofu, nutritional yeast, and stuff I like to keep on hand (I don't need to restock these every week but maybe once a month or so..so I split it up to get some items one week and others the next and so on). The last 1/4 is for soymilk, margarine, fresh tofu (organic and in bulk). Oh I do stock up on jarred sauces when they go on sale and canned tomatoes stuff like that. I really don't deprive myself. I believe in trying a new food or recipe once a week to keep things interesting. Also, somewhere in that budget I figure in a bar of good chocolate. It's good for the soul.

[DianeVegan]

We definitely spend less than we did when we were omni (but we've been organic for years so we literally just replaced meat, eggs, diary with vegan options). If I was on a strict budget I would probably eat more TVP and less "convenient" foods. I would make more use of my freezer by making my own veggie burgers, muffins, breads, soups, etc. I would make casseroles, lasagna and pasta dishes then freeze the rest.

There are so many things you can make yourself that are cheaper versions of premade - granola or meusli, breakfast muffins or breads, vegan "meatballs", pizza, etc. I think that it takes a lot of organization and determination to truly eat healthy and cheap. You need to take time on weekends (or whenever you have free time) to plan out your week and make foods in bulk. You need to give up the idea of some more exotic fruits and vegetables. And you need to avoid processed foods (most are definitely not healthy, even if they are organic).

Another idea is sprouting. What a great, inexpensive way to get the freshest vegetables in the winter - and super healthy. If you drink a lot of soymilk and you can get ahold of a soymilk maker you'll save lots. If you eat tofu and are willing to use the okara - really cheap and healthy.

The title of this thread speaks about the cost of healthy food but I think the only way it can really be inexpensive is if you put time into preparing most of it yourself.

[foxytina_69]

two healthy things i bought today were kale and green lentils. they cost me 3 dollars! i used like an 1/8th of the bag of lentils and it made about 2 cups of cooked lentils. holy cow. and the bunch of kale would last probably 3 or 4 times of eating it. soooo cheap. the funny thing is, i was buying romaine lettuce all the time, which was half a dollar more expensive than kale, and its not even good for you like kale is.

[foxytina_69]

janem, i dont have excel on this computer either, so inspired by mr flibbles, i made my own budget chart. its like this:

From January 23rd to February 23rd:


Lentils:

$1.68

Canned goods:

Beans: $2.18

Grains:

Brown rice pasta: $3.89
Rice bread mix: $10.99

Condiments/sauces/spreads:

Ketchup: $5.00
Pasta sauce: $5.00

Fruit:

Vegetables:

Kale: $1.29
Potatoes: $3.99

Work food:

Whole wheat bread: $3.00
6 bananas: $1.69
Egg replacer: $7.99

Non-necessities:

Sea salt: $2.99

Total cost:

$49.60