Vegan on a budget?!
For example, it seems that a lot of college kids around here are going vegan. The non-vegan kids I know grocery shop for cheap food - frozen food, ramen noodles, stuff that costs a buck or two. They can buy any $2 peanut butter, any $2 jelly, and whatever kind of bread they want, and it'll last them days if they want it to.
A vegan who wants to shop for the same ingredients has to shop for a jar of special peanut butter that *can* cost, alone, as much as all the 'normal' ingredients do, combined.
What sorts of foods do vegans look to buy if they're on a tight budget? Even Soy Milk seems to cost quite a bit more!
Answers: I'm not vegan, nor am I considering it, but I do wonder - for all the complications being vegan causes in a person's life, can it be done on a very low budget?
For example, it seems that a lot of college kids around here are going vegan. The non-vegan kids I know grocery shop for cheap food - frozen food, ramen noodles, stuff that costs a buck or two. They can buy any $2 peanut butter, any $2 jelly, and whatever kind of bread they want, and it'll last them days if they want it to.
A vegan who wants to shop for the same ingredients has to shop for a jar of special peanut butter that *can* cost, alone, as much as all the 'normal' ingredients do, combined.
What sorts of foods do vegans look to buy if they're on a tight budget? Even Soy Milk seems to cost quite a bit more!
I am vegan and the truth is it's a VERY expensive lifestyle. Even millionaire, Erykah Badu, once breathed in frustration: "everything's soooo expensive!" So, that should give you some idea of how costly it is to be conscientious. BUT you absolutely can be a thrifty vegan...There are a few tricks: 1. Accidentally vegan foods abound: Oreos, English muffins, breads, Italian dressings, Onion dip mixes, chili mixes, flavored chips, flavored candies.
2. Go generic: these sorts of foods are often vegan.
3. Be flexible: you don't have to be expensive soy milks, you can simply buy an $.88 pack of shredded coconut, blend with a bit of water, squeeze through a hand towel and make your own coconut milk. It's absolutely delicious and not at all overpowering in coffee or foods.
Vegans can eat regular peanut better and jelly. There's no animal products in them. Legumes and lentils, which are an excellent source of protein are not expensive at all. There are all kinds of resources on the web that are available for people to research what they can eat. It depends on what type of vegetarian they are. I don't know the types. Some drink milk, eat eggs, some have fish... some do none of those things.
Peanut butter is vegan, so I can't understand that. Most bread is vegan, too. Soy milk costs about the same as regular milk, if you buy the aseptic boxes of it.
If you're a vegan, you don't eat meat, so that's quite a bit cheaper. You eat beans and legumes for protein, and tofu - which costs somewhere around 1.50 to 2.00/lb, which isn't particularly pricey. Noodles also make up a lot of the diet; so do vegetables and fruits, which I actually find the most expensive (I buy a lot of tropical fruit and bell peppers), but if you live off cheaper fruit & veg - apples, oranges, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, frozen green veggies - it's quite cheap.
When I was vegan I ate far more cheaply than as a lacto-ovo vegetarian, or as a meater. As long as you're not buying pricey meat replacers, I think it's pretty standard to eat cheaper as a vegan.
Edit: Those convenience foods don't really save you any time - a can of tomato soup, or spaghetti with jarred sauce takes just the same time as, say, Kraft Dinner. Convenience is not for the poor, whether you are a vegan or a meater - nearly every food is cheaper if you're willing to prepare it yourself, from scratch.
there are plenty of things like peanut butter and jelly that are vegan that may not be organic. paying attention to getting enough inexpensive protein takes some research and their are a lot of great sites out there. (Just Google) grains and beans form complete proteins. Think pita with hummus or falafel or burrittos. A baked potato with broccoli also forms complete proteins. The vegan alternatives for some of the things we commonly use to spice things up such as cheese and sour cream are pricer. You might consider adding vegetarian options to your diet and experimenting with vegan recipes till you have a good collection of recipes that you enjoy and find easy to work into your daily routine.
For all the complications being vegan causes in a person's life??????......................
What sort of complications? I don’t have any complications at all.
Doing Vegan on a budget depends what sort of diet you have. Some people (especially teenagers) follow unhealthy vegetarian and vegans diets.
I personally don’t eat any processed foods, so I buy lots of fruit and vegetables at the market. A lot cheaper than my meat-eating day I can assure you.
Other ways to save money would be to make your own and grow your own. When I was a student and unemployed but still a meat eater, I saved money by growing my own fruit and vegetables.
Most people can’t be bothered to make their own bread and grow their own veggies - preferring instead to reply on more expensive processed foods and take-away
.
beans are cheap there are peanut butters that only contain peanuts and peanut oil and you could but it on bananas
you can but brown rice in bulk and mix it with beans and veggies tofo can be cheap to
Grains, beans, seasonal vegetables, seasonal fruits, are all vegan and cheap. And healthy.
Sure those other college kids that are eating cheap food, may save money, but what about their health?
First step vegans just learn to read labels so they don't get any animal products in their food. They can eat anything that does not contain animal products in it.
After a while, some people may graduate to wanting to be organic, so they shop where things might be a bit more pricey because they are organic. One way to keep costs down is to plan out a week of food, and use all your leftovers.
Some vegans move on to become raw vegans... this can be expensive if you do not eat your leftovers. I learned the hard way... An average nice big zucchini might cost me $2.00 at the organic market. If I make zucchini pasta of it, then I have to eat all that zucchini pasta, otherwise, one meal would end up including a $2.00 zucchini, whereas I might be able to get 3 or even 4 meals out of it, if I am willing to eat zucchini pasta 4 days in a row.
since I am very lazy about leftovers, I have learned to use my dehydrator to take care of my leftovers (pizza sauce becomes either dehydrated sauce, or, if it has nuts in it, it becomes burgers; things go into crackers; and things get into green drinks or soups)
It's true that eating healthy and vegan at the same time can be really expensive, but there are a LOT of inexpensive "junk" vegan foods out there. Top Ramen's "Oriental flavor" noodles is a good example at about 12 cents a bag. With the exception of a few vegan necessities that are a bit more expensive (i.e. soy milk), there are plenty of college-ready cheap food suitable for vegans.