Our family doesn’t make much money, I’m the only source of income for a family of 4. What products can I buy to maintain my vegan lifestyle, but at a low cost?
Brand recommendations would be appreciated.
How can I maintain my vegan lifestyle on a low budget?
February 25th, 2010 by tonca Leave a reply »
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Cooking from scratch is the best way. Cooking with beans, rice, tofu, and fresh fruits and vegetables will get it done. Pay attention to the grocery sales papers and center your menu around things that are on sale or seasonal. Using pre-made food is way more expensive and cooking is easy.
I would start by avoiding things that come with brand names; processed foods. Those get to be really expensive. Some fresh veggies are pricey, but others are extremely cheap. Cabbage, potatoes, onions, others depending on time of year and where you live. Usually fruits and veg that are in season are cheaper. A good thing for vegans is the bulk foods aisle at Whole Foods. I know they’re usually an expensive store, but in the bulk foods aisle you can find some decent deals. If you know of a cheaper store with a similar section, it’s a good idea to look there. There you can find different nuts, dried fruits, grains, and other things. Many grains can be quite cheap, especially if you buy in bulk. In the canned goods section, beans are your best friend. They’re cheap, and nutritious, and filling. You can buy them dried, but canned is easier and still very cheap. Some canned veggies are also good, like canned tomatoes. They’re great for cooking with, especially in the winter when fresh tomatoes are expensive and crappy. Depending on the veggie and what you’ll use it for, frozen can be perfectly fine. Frozen peas and corn are not a problem for me, but things like broccoli can be mushy. If you want to buy tofu or soy products, compare prices with a local Asian grocer if there is one available. Maybe you can find a better deal there, and very likely a greater variety.
The very fact that you are asking for brand recommendations makes me wonder if you really know what a good vegan eats? We don’t buy boxed processed foods.
Vegans do not eat any animal products, so hit the fruit markets and get your fresh produce for every meal. Then go to the health food stores and get your tofu, tempeh, and organic beans to complete the proteins that you need.
By the way, years ago my friend and I were into health although she was not vegetarian, she managed to feed her family for less than I did and they still had cookies and ice cream. The secret was in the preparation – she cooked from scratch! That is really the cheapest way to do meals.
There are a lot of things that most people eat that are also vegan. A lot of pastas are actually vegan so a box of spaghetti and sauce will cost you under five dollars and that can feed a family of four so that is a cheap meal. Also beans are cheap, soymilk isn’t anymore than regular milk. If you do the vegan lifestyle right, than it should cost you less than being a meat eater. Try growing your own vegetables when you can, and if you live somewhere where there is a winter than grow all the vegetables you can in the summer and freeze what you can during the winter. You just have to get creative.
fresh fruits and veggies can be expensive but they are good for you, instead you can try canned and frozen fruits and veggies too. I went to this japanese restaurant one time and they served steamed soybeans and they were good, also good source of protein. Peanut butter can be cheap and a good source of protein as well. Get whole grain pastas if your into pasta and some spaghetti sauce, that’s relatively inexpensive!
Stay away from convenience foods such as frozen meals or mock meats which are always pricey. Cooking your own food from inexpensive ingredients is always cheaper, and a whole lot better for you. Meat is pretty d ar ned expensive, so you’re already saving a bunch of money. Find some great recipes and stick with whole foods.. nuts seeds beans grains greens and fresh fruit in your recipes. Learn how to include organic tofu in some recipes. Tofu is usually sold over by the fruits and vegetables whenever I’ve shopped for it. It’s only a few bucks for a big block of it, and it adds some variety to your proteins. It tastes funky plain, so get some good recipes first, and learn how to prepare it. Find recipes that include beans and rice or other grains. Bean burritos, chili with rice, etc. Of course pasta is always very cheap, and easy to add a few simple ingredients to. Look for pasta recipes like baked ziti and vegetables, I love me some oatmeal for breakfast, with fresh fruit, raisins, nuts and cinnamon.
A lot of food that is not marketed as “vegan” is very much vegan, so it’s not difficult to find plenty of inexpensive foods in your regular grocery store. I’ve found that eating vegan is just about the cheapest way there is to eat, as long as you don’t fall into the trap of buying all the convenience foods.
I’m not a vegan, but there are many things you can do to save some money.
I know I shop at cub, and generally as you walk in, they have a coupon book that has some good deals on veggies and fruits, you can clip those.
Buy things in bulk, generally cooking from scratch will save you a A LOT of money. So, that is one way, avoid boxed foods.
I make really cheap stirfrys. use some frozen mix vegies (the chunky ones esp with potatoes are good) then add something like baby corn or baby carrots. some sort of yummy vegie you like.
then for protein you can add tofu or mushrooms and to make it more filling use rice or pasta with it.
Asian grocery stores usually have really cheap tofu. You can buy rice and pasta in bulk to make it cheaper and if you do your vegie shopping at a vegie store and consider your bargins it can work out cheaper than the supermarket.
Sometimes I just throw vegies and some fried tofu into two minutes noodles. I like vegie or curry flavor. not that good for you but nice occasionally.
I agree with the people saying avoid processed stuff. The way I see it, to be vegan you need one of two things: time or money. If you have time, you can make lots of good stuff from scratch and eat healthfully and tastefully. If you don’t have time but have money, you can buy lots of pre-made/processed things. But there really aren’t that many cheap, processed vegan things. That’s why I gave up veganism–I’m a poor college student without the time to cook, so I’m just vegetarian these days. But if you have the time, just cook with fresh stuff. It will be healthier and cheaper.
Brand? No. That’s the problem. Stay away from the brand-name stuff. The expensive vegan foods are the processed meat imitators. Instead, get things like soymilk, frozen veggies/fruits, beans, nuts, and grains. All of this is very inexpensive and usually on sale. I buy more frozen than fresh, but the fresh is also a big part of my diet…but I buy it all on sale.