How can I be an affordable vegan?

[TheRealMrsH]

I'm excited. Tonight I'm making chili. I bought canned because I won't have the time to prep beans and such. This weekend I'm gonna go shopping and do a lot of pre prep work so making meals during the week go a lot smoother.

 

[Forster]

I buy a lot of frozen vegetables, which often have similar nutrition as fresh and can be incredibly cheap as well. I stock up when they are on sale for around a buck a bag. When you consider that you're only paying for the usable portion, a dollar for a pound of vegetables is a great buy, and there's no waste because you only take out what you need and keep the rest frozen.

Yep and frozen fruit too. Make lots of fruit smoothies for breakfasts.

 

[Forster]

You don't have to eat organic.

You could try cream of wheat. Oatmeal. Dal (if you can find it -- there are quite a few different types). Grits. Bananas/apples/oranges. Rice milk. Almond butter. If you feel brave you can make your own bread, hummus, pancakes and so on. Oils are very cheap per calorie, so if you add oil to things you could get by on less veggies or pasta or whatever.

Second the hot cereal thing. I buy oatmeal in 50# bags, unbelievable amount of cheap meals. Probably eat oatmeal for breakfast 4 days/week, add a little cinnamon, bit of fruit and a touch of soy milk and I'm good to go.

 

[sallyomally]

Very good ideas here.I seldom buy the packaged faux meats mainly because of the expense. There are some tasty veggie burger recipes on the web. I have a quick version using re fried beans that also doubles as filling for tacos when crumbled. We also use potatoes for a lot of dishes.
I second Digger's suggestion about purchasing frozen veggies on sale; it's a very good value.

This article looks interesting and may be of some help:

http://loveallbeings.org/vegan-basics/vegan-on-a-budget/

 

[Kitties]

I agree with frozen veggies. I love fresh but with frozen, it's always ready in the freezer and you don't have to worry about it going bad in a few days. So I try to keep some in the fridge.

Potatoes are one of my favorite and cheap foods.

Some people might find this awful but I like the long cook oatmeal. I cook it and then reheat left overs in the microwave. And to me it tastes just fine. I'm single so I don't want to cook and stir every time.

I cook lentils from dry. Most other legumes I'll stick with canned since it's just me.

 

[Rosie1]

Since everyone has already listed really great ideas/suggestions, I'm just going to be a smartass and say that Breatharianism is the cheapest way to be vegan. Like, evar.

 

[Freesia]

You can try buying soup mix packets, the one I just used has barley, split peas and lentils, all dried and can help bulk up a soup.

 

[Pickle Juice]

Since everyone has already listed really great ideas/suggestions, I'm just going to be a smartass and say that Breatharianism is the cheapest way to be vegan. Like, evar.

Well that's too extreme. You could at least drink water.

 

[SummerRain]

Well that's too extreme. You could at least drink water.

You know that water has been through other animals right? That's not vegan.

 

[Digger]

Yep and frozen fruit too. Make lots of fruit smoothies for breakfasts.

Yeah I almost always have frozen blueberries and/or strawberries in my freezer. Great for nice cool smoothies, no ice required.