Hi Lucy,
Vegan on Female First
I'm struggling to stay vegan because I find vegan food to be expensive and I don't have enough money in my budget accommodate this lifestyle. Can you help?
Hi Daniella,
If you're relying on branded, vegan convenience food then it will cost you more- just as any convenience food does- you are paying for the ease and the lack of time spent on preparing it.
Instead, I would suggest you look in your cupboards for all of the existing vegan staples in there like canned beans, canned and fresh vegetables, potatoes, pasta and noodles (egg free), rice, bread, dried herbs, fresh fruit. They are not the most flavoursome of foods by themselves but if you learn a few recipes with these as a base- you can make tasty dishes for very little such as chillies, curries, stir-fries, wraps and big batches of pasta. Here are a few more of my tips too:
Go own brand
Big brands that specialise in vegan food will be pricier than supermarket own, but the good news is a lot of supermarkets offer their own version of a big branded item. This applies to frozen veggie foods too- check that they don't have egg or milk in them but you can pick up a bargain in the frozen aisle.
Check your value products too
It's easy to assume that the cheapest products will not be suitable for vegans but there are some hidden gems in there that are vegan friendly and made with vegetable oil instead of butter for instance. If you go to the website of your favourite supermarket and type in 'vegan', you might be pleasantly surprised. Or even look for an article on 'foods you never knew were vegan'- there are lots of these online.
Reduced food
One of the best places you can start is the reduced section- and some items are good to freeze like bread so nip in late on and see what things you can get for next to nothing to stock up with.
Bulk cook
If you enjoy curry, or chilli or spaghetti bolognaise made with soya mince- make up a large amount and then separate it into containers. You can take it in for your lunch or have it over a few nights for your evening meal. It works well for saving money and watching your portion sizes! And far cheaper than frozen ready meals.
Go frozen over fresh
Perhaps you feel you're wasting your money because you're throwing fruits and veggies away due to not eating them fast enough. So it might be a good idea to spend more time in the frozen aisle. With frozen veggies and fruits, you can take out what you need and if you don't fancy it again for a couple of weeks it won't go bad. Or buy reduced products, take them home and freeze them yourself. Even cheaper!
Local markets
Your local green grocer will likely sell fruit and veggies cheaper than your local supermarket; so it may be worth a trip to compares price. Plus it generally tastes better too!
Plan your meals and make a list
If you impulse buy this can often increase the cost of your final bill- so why not plan out what you're going to be making for the whole week then buy accordingly? Better to have to pop in the shop for one item that you've forgotten than be left with a whole lot of food gone bad. On a similar note- don't go shopping when you're hungry as this will only make you buy more than you need.
Tagged in Vegan