My Partner Has Celiac Disease: Here’s What it Costs Us

Living With Celiac Disease: Budget & Home Costs

My partner Marcus has been managing celiac disease for more than ten years. Essentially, this serious autoimmune condition is an overwhelming intolerance to the protein gluten. Contact with gluten can quickly trigger rashes, digestive distress, joint aches, exhaustion and other symptoms; over the long run it may contribute to chronic migraines, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and even certain cancers.

Once you’re diagnosed with celiac disease, switching to a gluten-free way of life becomes urgent. That shift will affect how you spend money. Here’s a look at how living gluten-free can impact your budget.

You’ll Pay More for Groceries

Many items you already buy are inherently gluten-free — produce, meat and cheese, for example. Still, plenty of pantry staples contain gluten, and their gluten-free counterparts can be shockingly pricey. Consider these typical items:

Bread

A basic loaf of bread at my local supermarket in Ohio runs $1 to $2. Gluten-free bread, which tends to be crumbly and bland, often comes in half loaves retailing for about $5 to $7. That effectively makes a full gluten-free loaf cost between $10 and $14, representing a 500% to 1,400% price hike.

Pizza

living with celiac disease
(Freschetta makes an affordable frozen gluten-free pizza. Carmen Mandato/ The Penny Hoarder)

Before I moved in with Marcus, my diet was fairly bachelor-oriented, meaning frozen pizzas several nights a week. Marcus now cooks nice meals — salmon, homemade soup, lasagna and more — but I still reach for frozen pizzas when I need a quick solo meal.

You can find a fairly decent regular frozen pizza for about $5 (I used to buy pies for under $3 in college). The cheapest gluten-free frozen pizza I’ve seen is Kroger’s $6 option, which is fine, but some premium gluten-free pies exceed $10, are often smaller, and have fewer toppings than comparable non-gluten-free options.

Pasta

A box of gluten-free pasta generally costs $2 to $3, versus the roughly $1 I spent on regular spaghetti or fettuccine.

Desserts

If you love baking cookies and cakes, expect to shell out more for mixes. Gluten-free cookie dough, for instance, can run nearly $6 and yields the same number of cookies as a $2 roll of standard dough.

Making sweets from scratch is an option, but gluten-free flours — unsurprisingly — cost more than regular flour.

Alcohol

If you used to buy inexpensive domestic beer but have shifted to hard cider to avoid gluten, anticipate paying craft-level prices even for large-brand ciders. A 12-pack of Angry Orchard is about $18 — roughly the cost of a 24-pack of Bud Light.

And Stay Vigilant

Living with celiac means scrutinizing ingredient lists constantly. Items as varied as soups, nuts, chips and pudding can contain gluten, or may carry trace wheat from shared production lines. Using gluten-free shopping apps can simplify the grocery run.

You’ll Cut Back on Entertainment Spending

Timothy Moore
(Tim, left, and Marcus in their kayaks. Timothy Moore for The Penny Hoarder)

Eating out at restaurants has become more accommodating for people with celiac, but this depends on how sensitive you are. Marcus used to be able to dine at places that offered gluten-free items and had dedicated prep areas, but over the past year his reactions from cross-contamination have increased, and we’ve essentially stopped eating out.

No matter how severe your celiac is, you will probably eat out less. Truly celiac-safe restaurants are rare. In my state of Ohio, there are only three entirely gluten-free restaurants, and only one is within reasonable driving distance. That means Marcus and I cook at home for nearly every meal, which has led to substantial savings.

Dining out isn’t the only entertainment expense we’ve eliminated. Because celiac is an autoimmune disorder that affects Marcus’s overall health, we prioritize physical wellness. Our date nights often involve hiking, biking, swimming and kayaking.

If you’re newly diagnosed, I encourage making these activities routine. They’re excellent for health and cost far less than bowling, movies or bar nights.

Your Medical Bills May Rise

Celiac is a medical issue, which can translate to more doctor visits. With Marcus’s compromised immune system, he’s needed emergency care for conditions I might have handled at a primary-care clinic. (One terrifying episode was when he fainted in an ER waiting room while being treated for strep.)

Fortunately, we have solid health coverage that helps with many of Marcus’s expenses. What isn’t covered, though, is lost time. If you have celiac disease, you will probably miss work more often than colleagues, which can mean lost income or being overlooked for raises and promotions. Marcus runs a small business and takes a steep financial hit when chronic migraines or contamination leave him bedridden.

If you’ve just been diagnosed and have a reasonable rapport with your manager, talk to them about what celiac means for your job. Informing your employer about your challenges can encourage empathy and scheduling flexibility.

You May Need New Kitchen Appliances

Celiac Disease Expenses
(Marcus’s gluten sensitivity is so pronounced that he and Tim replaced cookware and appliances when they moved in together. Photo courtesy of Timothy Moore)

Marcus’s sensitivity is extreme. For instance, he can become ill from using a fork that was washed after being used with gluten-containing food. While that’s an outlier, many people with celiac shouldn’t use shared toasters, microwaves or ovens that have previously handled gluten. That often means bringing your own meals to friends’ or family gatherings.

When Marcus and I combined households, I had to discard my cookware and appliances, and we bought new items together. We also replaced pantry staples like spices and baking basics that might have been contaminated. Even when we purchased a house last year, we replaced the previous owners’ refrigerator, oven, microwave and dishwasher to ensure a gluten-free environment.

These are purchases many homeowners make eventually, but having to cover them all at once can be overwhelming. Still, if you’re newly diagnosed, they’re often necessary to protect your health.

You’ll Become a Savvy Budgeter

Does Marcus enjoy living with celiac? Not really. At least a few times a week he tells me he dreams about ordering everything off the Taco Bell menu.

Are there any positives? Absolutely. We’re both more mindful about our physical health, whether that’s staying active or being deliberate about what we eat. We also have a great excuse to say no when friends suggest grabbing a bite out and we’d prefer a quiet night at home watching streaming shows.

Most importantly, Marcus’s celiac diagnosis has pushed us to be careful with money. We discuss expenses and savings goals and appreciate the value of sticking to a budget. While I’ve always tracked our spending carefully, recognizing the higher grocery bills and the need for an emergency medical fund has helped Marcus become a better planner, too.

Celiac doesn’t need to ruin your finances. With thoughtful budgeting and a commitment to health-first spending choices, you can manage both your money and your well-being.

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