Being on a budget is pretty easy to do if you’re vegan, but there are some extra tips you should be aware of to save the most money possible. When it comes down to it, plant-foods are almost always cheaper than animal foods, not to mention kinder to your body and the planet. But how many times you find yourself going over budget. To prevent that from happening to you, these top money-saving tips are here for you. It’s pretty easy to stick to your budget if you follow these tips, and you’ll even have plenty of food leftover at the end of the week as a bonus. If you have any money-saving tips fill free to share with as. More ways to save money are always welcome.
1. Stay Away From Trendy Packaged Foods.
Hey, we’ve all bought them, whether it be kale chips, fancy raw cookies, raw chocolate, overpriced superfoods at the store, or nondairy ice cream we just “had to have”. While these foods are nice to have the truth is, they’re not essential to a healthy diet and especially not to a healthy budget. Staying away from these products is the best way to save money that you can use for more filling items like grains, produce, beans, seeds, and nuts.
2. Buy Grains in Bulk
Instead of buying three or four packages of different grains, just buy three or four servings of those grains from the bulk section to try throughout the week. Then you can rotate your grains each week and won’t get stuck with a whole box of something you find you don’t enjoy. Grains costs cents in bulk but can cost much, much more in a package.
3. Rotate Your Seeds
Seeds like chia, flax, hemp, and pumpkin are all great sources of omega 3 fats and fiber to include in a vegan diet, but buying them all on a regular basis can add up quickly. So, you can try to use two different kinds at a time until you run out. However choose whichever seeds work for you since those are the ones you’ll enjoy and eat the most of.
4. Buy Organic if You Can
When you’re on a budget, it’s much better to choose what you can afford over not having it at all. Choose items that rank low in pesticides when you can and the other times, buy organic only if it’s on sale. Treat yourself to one or two organic items per week and learn to shop at the farmer’s market to find organic foods at a lower cost.
5. Buy Nut Butter in Bulk
Ten dollar jars of nut butter do not last long and they’re extremely hard to keep your hands out of! You can also buy whole nuts and seeds and grind them at home in a food processor or high-powered blender to make nut butter and save even more money.
6. Buy Frozen
Buy frozen foods whenever you can. Frozen greens, veggies, and fruits are far more affordable and possibly more nutritious than fresh forms, not to mention they won’t go bad before you can use them. For instance, if you buy a couple different bags of frozen mixed veggies you can make different soups each week. So, just mix them with some vegan cooking broth, spices, and maybe some frozen endamame, lentils, or canned chickpeas. Then you will get an entire lunch or dinner for under 50 cents per serving. You can also buy frozen berries, cherries, acai packs, spinach, kale, collards, broccoli, and many more items in frozen form too. These items are frozen just hours after harvest so they’re possibly more nutritious than fresh counterparts that take days or even a week to get to the store.
7. Buy Generic Labeled Items
Whole Foods’ 365 brand carries amazing non-GMO, vegan items like beans, legumes, grains, spices, produce, nondairy items and more. These are half the cost of their equal name-brand counterparts and every bit as delicious and nutritious. This one tip can cut costs by almost 50 percent if you practice it every single trip on as many items as possible. Unless there’s a coupon for a brand name label that can save you more, always go for generic as the best option.
source: www.onegreenplanet.org
