"A vegan diet is too expensive. Too
expensive for you.
You won't be able to maintain it
– don't even
bother!"
Is that what keeps repeating in your
head whenever you think about going vegan? Not surprising:
most people consider veganism to be a diet for the rich. But it's
time to deconstruct that belief.
I'm the type of person who likes to
save money and make good deals, even when it comes to food.
As a
student, I'm living on a limited budget anyway and simply can't –
and don't want to - spend it all on food. I went vegan when I was
still living with my family, and money was always a big topic. But I
proved them wrong:
Here are some general rules and tips you can
stick to in order to eat vegan on a budget!
These might be helpful
too if you're not even interested in veganism and just need to learn
the basics of attaining (cheap) food.
1. Cheap staple foods
Many of the vegan staple foods are simultaneously the cheapest foods in the world.
Rice, oats, pasta, potatoes... – all of
them have two things in common:
- a): they're not or very little processed, thus very versatile, and
- b): they provide you many calories for little money.
That is one of my major factors when
choosing foods: how many calories do I get for my coins? Many
calories for little money = gooood. ☺
But since one can't live off of carbs
only, I add regional and seasonal vegetables and fruits to my diet.
Regional produce is cheaper (and more environmentally-friendly) than
exotic variants, due to shorter ways of transportation. The list of
regional foods and veggies in Germany includes carrots, peas, broccoli, red beet, spinach, pumpkins, apples, strawberries, cherries
and more. Just look up „regional-“ or „seasonal foods in xx“
and you'll get an overview for your specific country!
2. Convenience foods for special occasions
A vegan diet is expensive indeed – IF
you're only sticking to convenience-foods. Honestly, who wants to
spend 5-6 € on an organic, gluten-free, fair-trade pizza? If that's
your priority, go for it! But...not for me.
I focus on just a few
convenience foods or buy them for special occasions. You know, when it's that time of the
month (when I'm barely holding on to life), I just need vegan chocolate-ice cream. And family gatherings can be much nicer if you're
bringing a really tasty vegan cheese or mock-meat with you. I don't avoid those foods completely, but I limit them to the minimum of what I need at the moment.
With the idea of veganism working its
way into the mainstream further and further, there are more
convenience-products coming onto the market and the lower companies
have to set their prices to be able to compete. I'm excited to see
what's coming and hope that more people will have access to cheap
vegan food in the future.
- Tip for Germany: discounters like Aldi, Lidl, Netto and Penny sometimes even have a cheap range of vegetarian & vegan products! Since brands discovered the vegan market and noticed how much money you can make on it, vegan-labeled products are often really expensive here, so search for "accidentally-vegan" products by just looking at the ingredients.
3. Food-sharing
"Food-sharing" is about either giving
away your leftovers, or taking the food over people give away, for
free. Last year I discovered that people in my city formed
food-sharing groups on Facebook where they post their leftovers and
offer them to strangers. This is a great opportunity to get
completely free food and fight against needless wastefulness, without
the (legal) dangers of dumpster-diving.
The only downside: if you're living in
a small city, you might always miss the few good offers; or maybe there
might not even be a food-sharing-network at all. You could take
initiative and start one, even if it's just among friends!
But if that's not your thing right now,
maybe these next tips can help:
4. Do-it-yourself
Preparing food yourself is going to be
a lot cheaper than ordering it or eating-out. You'll have a much
better overview over how much money you spend and about what you put into your food. This is
the most effective tip when it comes to saving money, at least for
me!
The downside is that you might need
some skill, and time, too. What a bummer. But don't worry – it
might seem overwhelming at first, but the more you get used to
preparing your food yourself, the less you'll need to think about it
in the long run.
- Plan in specific time slots to prepare food for the next few days. If I have a busy week @ uni ahead, I like to prepare some food on Sunday Evening.
- „Meal Planning“: This concept has become quiet popular lately. Planning your meals ahead for an entire week takes away the stress of thinking about what to eat; and it makes it easier to plan your grocery-shopping. >> Here's a really helpful video about it by Youtuber Kiera Rose!
5. Compare prices & buy in bulk
Kinda obvious, but important: comparing
prices in supermarkets, as well as the ones of branded- and
non-branded products, can save you a lot of money. You might pay much
less for a pound of rice in an Asian supermarket, compared to a
regular supermarket.
In general, it's important to always have an
overview over prices and sales, while also staying in touch with family and friends, in
case they know about good deals.
Buying my staple-foods in bulk spares
my bank account from sobbing, too.
I often choose big offers of potatoes
and apples over the „single“-portions (what a nice term, huh).
But: when living by yourself, having to go through big amounts of a
certain food in a short period of time before it goes bad, can be
quiet frustrating.
If you don't want to plan your meals
ahead, buying frozen food or simply freezing your leftovers is the
most amazing thing! I love to freeze my leftover soups, bread or some
fruits as ingredients for smoothies. If my freezer was bigger, i
would literally freeze anything. I said the word freeze too often.
Freeze. By doing this, you can save your food from going to waste,
thus getting your money's worth.
___________________________________
Let's summarize. How can you easily save money on a vegan diet?
Stick to cheap staple
foods, avoid only living off of vegan convenience products, look for
food-sharing opportunities, prepare your food yourself if you can,
and keep an eye out for the best prices.
To some of you, these points might seem
pretty obvious or general, some of you might be overwhelmed; and others might
think now that a vegan diet is sparse and boring - but that is not
true.
There are endless possibilities to have a colorful vegan diet
on a budget. There are so many different vegans with so many different backgrounds (locations, incomes, family situations, illnesses), who find ways to make it work. Finding your way and getting used to it is the most important.
And I
hope that, after reading this, you're a little more confident in trying!
As always,
you can contact me on Instagram if you have any more specific
questions on this topic. Share your money-saving tips too, please! ☺
Bonus: two vegan youtubers who focus on affordable vegan recipes are Cheap Lazy Vegan & Anarchist Kitchen ~
Thanks a lot for visiting, sincerely,
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