Vegan on the Cheap

[rawj]

http://hungryhungryveganos.wordpress...-on-the-cheap/



"One of the things we never really understand is when people tell us they'd be Vegan if only they could afford it. This lament is one we hear quite often from people on the cusp of leaving the land of animal suffering behind. It's true that if your diet is made up of pre-made frozen dinners, junk food and mock meats (which, don't get us wrong, we do love!) that it could cost you a pretty penny from week to week but it doesn't have to be that way.

People often gasp when we say we don't spend more than $80 a week on groceries and that includes breakfast, lunch, dinner AND desserts for the week. One of the big tricks to this is to actually plan our meals out for the week so we can head to the grocery store with a list. Yes, this does take some time up front (but really only about 20 minutes or so) and we aren't left wandering around the aisles of the store asking "What do you want for dinner?" only to get the response "I don't know, whatever you want."

For instance, this week we are having shepherd's pie, white sketti, portabello burgers, chickpea cutlets, falafel , potato soup, and a rice dish called Mexicali. Throw in a couple fruits a day and cereal every morning and you've got yourself a basic week with the Hungry Hungry Veganos. How much did all the ingredients for all these dishes come to at the grocery store, anyway?


http://hungryhungryveganos.wordpress...07/receipt.jpg
Your eyes do not deceive you, the total for a week's worth of groceries did indeed only cost us $47.40. So, with the extra money, we may splurge on some Coconut Bliss (Vegan ice cream at its best!) throughout the week or save it up for a night of Vegan sushi. We did make sure to get these from a local co-op on our way home just because who on Earth could pass up yummy cupcakes when you have over $30 left over in your grocery budget?
http://hungryhungryveganos.wordpress...pcupcakes2.jpg


So we, quite frankly, call bullshit on whomever says it's too expensive to go Vegan. We do it on the cheap and don't for one minute feel deprived on anything. No sir, not for one moment. We think it's time for some homemade cookies now. NOM."

[karlinda]

Thanks for this - it's good info! I don't always plan everything ahead though, since another way to keep things cheap is to buy the marked down fruit & veg from the store or at the end of the day at the market (you know, the stuff that's actually ripe! ), & cook with that.

[Lazurii]

My family is me, who is 20 weeks pregnant, my hubby, and my nearly-2-yr-old son. We spend $100-$120 A MONTH on food. We do have a small garden in our backyard, but most of it is I'm a SAHM and I do a lot of from-scratch cooking.