Welcome back Veggie Lovers,

For this week’s blog post I will be discussing the many ways being vegan could be affordable without cutting back on any flavor.

However with this being said it could also be expensive if you do not know what to shop for and are constantly buying overpriced prepackaged vegan food.

Later on I will be posting a new post discussing the myths on veganism and how this correlates into it. For now I will be listing some easy steps on how you could go vegan on a budget.  

Eat What You Normally Eat But Make It Vegan

The first step that really helped me save money especially as a college student living away from home is to eat exactly the same, but swap out the non-vegan parts of your meal.

I feel as though this is one of the most important tips for people that are just transitioning to a vegan lifestyle. Instead of buying a long list of brand new foods you’ve never eaten before, and as a result, probably won’t eat, finish or even like, start small.

Start by swapping your chicken for tofu for example, or even beans. Swap out regular dairy milk for non dairy milk, find different ways to include protein in your diet. By using the same base ingredients in your pantry along with a few new vegan ingredients, you’ll save yourself a lot.

 Go Easy on the Convenience Foods.

I know this is one of the main reasons people always assume that eating vegan is so much more expensive than buying a piece of steak for dinner.

The cause is because many new vegans rely heavily on processed vegan foods which can be very expensive if it is the only thing you are eating.

One should find a balance and stick to mainly fresh foods and maybe only buy a few of these “convenience foods” a month.

Shop Smart

When deciding to shop for certain items it is important to shop in bulk so you can save money every time you go grocery shopping.

For example, a key food in the vegan diet are nuts. You use nuts in almost everything vegan such as almond milk, cashew cheese, nut milks, etc.

Considering you are probably going to use a lot of them it would be smarter to buy these in bulk and save yourself more than buying them every time you go down to your local grocery store.

Despite the higher cost at the register, buying bulk products can help you save money when what you purchase is less expensive per unit than at regular retail stores.

These steps really helped me save a lot of money as a new plant based eater. Hopefully it can help new people wanting to start their plant based journey save money as well.