How Much Does It Cost to Go Vegan: Green for Greens
Some folks come up with super creative ways to save money. Once you have exhausted the personal expense tracker method and the budget tools and the budget trimming, you turn to more essential things. Amending the grocery list and your diet tops the list.
You can cut out the expensive things you eat and save money. Those with what my dad referred to as “highfalutin” taste purchase expensive steaks, fish, shrimp, and lobster. This creates an expensive grocery bill.
As the worldwide economic crisis continues, the food budget might need to undergo a reduction. Since meats cost more than most vegetables, you could conceivably cut those out of your diet to save money. You could go vegetarian or vegan temporarily to save money.
No snarking or laughing. Many people face tough times right now, so feel blessed if you do not belong to that category. Take your last stock up grocery receipt out and review it. If you spend like most people, the meat probably accounts for at least one-quarter of your bill. The cost to go vegan equals zero extra expense.
Or you maybe want to become a vegan forever (hopefully!) and you want to know how this will influence your budget, what are the costs and how you can maybe save some money on this journey of yours. Whichever category you belong to, this is the article for you! So let’s dive into the costs you can expect!
OK, so let’s tackle the question you asked that brought you here. How much does it really cost to go vegan? And the answer is:
well…it depends.
Of course, although I can’t give you an exact number, we’re going to talk about some cost estimations here, but the cost of your vegan diet heavily depends on the following factors:
the quality of the food you’re buying
if you insist on buying product with a ‘vegan’ label
how often you eat out
where you buy your food
So, if we take into account all these factors, your vegan diet can be MUCH cheaper than what you currently spend on food, but it can also be of same cost you spend on your diet now. The good news is - there is something for every budget and every person out there. So if the cost is preventing you from taking this step, I’m going to show you that it shouldn’t be a factor in your decision because you can learn to spend less on a vegan diet than you’re spending now.
If you decide to become vegan, you do not have to give up a lot of foods you probably commonly eat and therefore you can already plan your grocery budget pretty well. And you know what, the cost to go vegan is nothing. You save money if you do it right.
Explore Possibilities To Save Your Money. Meet Billry.
Replacing Non-Vegan With Vegan Options
Your basic baking dishes call for dairy items like milk and butter plus eggs. You can substitute soy milk or water for milk without altering the recipe. One cup of milk equals one cup of soy milk or water.
Instead of butter, you use good vegetable oil. Avoid Crisco. That uses animal fat. I know this because Crisco is a Southern thing. Try Wesson vegetable oil. This substitution is also a one-to-one measurement. One tablespoon of butter equals one tablespoon of vegetable oil.
You do not have to spend a lot of money on fancy egg substitutes unless you want to cook scrambled eggs. If you just want to bake and need to add an egg or two to the batter, you use the tried-and-true substitute that my mama taught me as a kid. In a small bowl, mix one tablespoon of white vinegar or apple cider vinegar with a teaspoon of baking soda. You now have an egg for baking.
You see, the egg in a recipe acts as a binding agent and a leavening agent. Lucky you! Vinegar mixed with baking soda does the same two things. Measure carefully. You can use this substitute for as many eggs as the recipe requires, although this will not work when cooking quiche. You will need the egg substitutes for that, assuming you want to go vegan for reasons other than saving money.
When you need to grease a pan, use a vegetable cooking spray. You will not add calories to your cooking, but you will keep your food from sticking. This option works great on waffle makers.
OK, so now we saw that there are ways to replace everyday cooking ingredients with vegan options, but does it pay off?
We compared prices of several non-vegan ingredients you use every day, with vegan options (prices sourced from local stores). So here are the results:
As you can see, these basic vegan alternatives turn out to be cheaper than what you use in a regular American diet. But as we said, the prices can vary based on location and your choices of brand, for example.
Saving Tips For Soon To Be Vegans
Put Some Color on Your Plate!
Put some color on your plate refers to eating more vegetables instead of going for vegan meat and other alternatives to non-vegan food. When something is labeled ‘vegan’ it tends to come with a price tag. So, instead of spending money on that, choose more vegetables and get your “meat” nutrients in other ways.
Purchase the raw varieties of vegetables so long as you will eat them within two to three days. Eating vegan or vegetarian can mean more frequent shopping for fresh items, but it does not have to cost more than eating like a carnivore.
Frozen Section
Don’t forget the frozen section. Frozen fruit and vegetables tend to be a LOT cheaper than fresh options, so make use of that. In the frozen section, nab a few large bags of frozen stir fry vegetables. Go for at least a couple of bags of California blend and one of traditional stir fry vegetables. This option has tons of broccoli and cauliflower in it, but grabbing a separate bag of each provides you enough for a nice side dish.
While in this section, grab a few bags of frozen fruit. You can serve it for dessert with sorbet or sherbet (pronounced SHER-but) for a tasty alternative to ice cream. Read the ingredients carefully because some of the sorbet or sherbets use milk or cream, not all though.
Walmart has a store brand of essentially everything called Great Value. Great Value makes the best soy cheese. Their cheddar tastes like cheddar. Their Swiss tastes like Swiss. Their soy cheese melts when you put it on toast or in a recipe. This is a big deal because most of the gum eraser, I mean soy cheese, that the fancy-schmancy organic companies make does not melt. It sort of burns and smells funny. The other bonus is that Great Value brand soy cheese comes in sandwich slices and is very affordable.
Soup Makes a Meal
Soup makes a meal, and so does chili. Cook a hearty vegetable soup using vegetable stock instead of chicken or beef stock. You can use either your fresh or your frozen vegetables. In a pinch or a power outage, you probably want to use your canned goods. You really can cook in a fireplace, by the way. (I live in Oklahoma where all the weather lives, too. Storms happen.)
Remember to include grain in your soup or chili to make it more filling. Rice goes with any soup, and when you cook it from the start in the soup stock with the vegetables, it picks up the flavors.
cook your food
Eating homemade is ALWAYS cheaper than eating out, that’s just a fact. And you can stick to the quality of food you like and choose your prices yourself. In most restaurants you get way too much food and it’s just a waste in every possible way. So plan in advance, shop your groceries and make your own dishes at home!
READ LABELS
You’d be surprised how much food or snacks you already eat are vegan. So not only can you keep them in your diet but you already know how much they cost you. Also, you should make sure you’re getting all your nutrients, so reading labels for vegans is a must!
AVOID ‘VEGAN’ EVERYTHING
OK, you maybe don’t have to avoid literally everything, but as we already mentioned, when something is labeled vegan, it’s usually more expensive than ‘regular’ food that’s also vegan. Same goes for restaurants. You don’t need to go to a place that advertises as ‘vegan’ to eat vegan, you can do so literally anywhere!
Essentially each ethnicity has its own food culture. If you live in a metropolitan area, you can find many delicious options at ethnic groceries. Try an Indian grocery for amazing mixes and jarred chutney and curries. You can make a faux chicken korma at home with these mixes or a vegetable vindaloo or pakoras. The same is true for Hispanic, Vietnamese, Kenyan, Thai, and Korean. Most metros have at least a couple of stores catering to each culture, and you should shop them all. You can pick up boxed mixes that let you make at home the same dishes you eat in fine restaurants. Every country has its equivalent of Kraft or Betty Crocker mixes, and you find them at the ethnic grocers. They typically cost between $1 to $2.50 and make the equivalent of four to six servings. An added benefit is that you can go there with your non-vegan friends so you keep socializing now that you changed your lifestyle!
no need for 50 supplements
Yes, supplements are an integral part of being vegan because you need to make sure you’re getting everything you need for proper functioning of your body. This is why you have to remember to talk to your doctor as well! But you don’t have to go out and buy 15 different supplements right away (if you want to save money). There are combined supplements on the market and make sure you look into those out as well.
Final Thoughts
When you want to learn how to cut expenses, consider the cost to go vegan. You will save money, eat healthier, and likely discover new foods. Try it for a month and see how much you save. That provides you money in the bank.