"cost" of going vegan?

Brown Bane

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Hey everyone! New member and vegan-in-progress! I have a hopefully simple question for anyone that's got more experience. I'm finding that I'm hitting the grocery stores more often and buying quite a bit.

What I was wondering was if switching over to being vegan was initially "pricey" just because I was still finding foods that I liked?
 
This will vary depending on what you eat and where you live. Although my wife does a lot of the shopping and costings it seems to me that a simple vegetarian diet can be just replacing meat with legumes, and a few other changes, and therefore it has to be cheaper.

A vegan diet, no animal products at all, is slightly more expensive I think, and this is because products like vegan cheese and milk and other special products for vegans are more expensive than the equivalents because of lower economies of scale, or maybe even higher quality in some cases.

So if you avoid the specialist products and just made a vegan diet primarily out of healthy fruits, vegetables, and basic grains/legumes etc, this probably isn't the case.

However your mileage may vary.
 
Thanks! I'm doing a little of both. I've replaced a lot of the stuff I normally use like dairy products, as well as swapping out certain foods for more wholesome options, but I'm also trying out new foods to widen my options.
 
I try to rotate my shopping. I do major shopping a few times a month where I get the most groceries that last about two weeks. Just buying veggies, grains, beans, lentils, fruit and almond milk is the cheapest. When I get more vegan substitutes such as cheese and gardein it does get quite expensive. But just a basic vegan diet is really much cheaper than buying meat all the time.

If you do like having meat substitutes such as seitan you can make your own for cheaper than buying it premade. Just some vital wheat gluten, spices and veggie stock or beefless bouillion (made with mushrooms) makes a really great loaf. I usually make one once a week and it lasts about a week or more. I make pepper steak with it, can go on sandwiches, vegan pot roast (though I don't reccomend boiling the seitan as it falls apart) or anything else you can think of.
 
I think that there is a lot of initial investment in vegan products that can't be avoided if you are doing veganism correctly. Jars of ingredients that may go in one recipe and not another can add up. I liken it to buying spices. You buy them as you need them. You don't go out and buy every spice you will ever need on day-one. Eventually, you have all the spices you need for most of your dishes. There just is a bit of front-loading costs when transitioning to veganism but it also demonstrates your commitment.
 
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I think that there is a lot of initial investment in vegan products that can't be avoided if you are doing veganism correctly. Jars of ingredients that may go in one recipe and not another can add up. I liken it to buying spices. You buy them as you need them. You don't go out and buy every spice you will ever need on day-one. Eventually, you have all the spices you need for most of your dishes. There just is a bit of front-loading costs when transitioning to veganism but it also demonstrates your commitment.
This was exactly what I was wondering. I'm thinking as I learn to figure out what I like, I'll realize what I will or won't need.
 
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I found that I am saving money on my new diet. And I am eating things like cereals and soy milk, which do cost a little more. But in the past I was eating 2lbs of meat a day, and that starts to cost a lot too. Things that are really inexpensive are beans and rice, etc. You can eat a tons of those on a good budget. Fresh veggies aren't that bad either on price.
 
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I'm finding that I'm hitting the grocery stores more often and buying quite a bit.

What I was wondering was if switching over to being vegan was initially "pricey" just because I was still finding foods that I liked?
Are you changing from carnivore to vegan or from vegetarian to vegan? When I changed from carnivore to vegetarian about 35 years ago, I found the vegetarian diet much cheaper. From vegetarian to vegan is not such a big change but if you are substituting vegan cheese for the normal cheese, then the vegan alternatives can be much dearer and that is true of all dairy products. I am also much more into healthy options now, so that too bumps the grocery bill up. If I could totally cut out alcohol that would probably reduce the bill quite a lot,as alcohol is very expensive in the UK. Fortunately I live in Spain and Portugal half the year and there wine etc is much cheaper. I would like to cut out wine but it is so much part of European culture and social life.
 
It all depends...

Personally I have found that going vegan has meant my food bill has gone down. It all depends on what you where buying previously.

For me since going vegan - my diet is more healthier and I am more of a raw vegan therefore I don't really buy any vegan substitutes such as vegan cheeses, vegan burgers etc. This is what seems to rack up the food bill.

The more raw your ingredients the cheaper it should be :) However when it comes to food, I like to think I am investing in myself therefore I don't necessarily look at the price.
 
Hey everyone! New member and vegan-in-progress! I have a hopefully simple question for anyone that's got more experience. I'm finding that I'm hitting the grocery stores more often and buying quite a bit.

What I was wondering was if switching over to being vegan was initially "pricey" just because I was still finding foods that I liked?
Typically it depends on what you buy. Usually produce tends to be less expensive. Also Trader Joe's tends to be very affordable since they use their own brands.
 
For transitioning to be vegetarian also meant I started discovering what to cook and I became much more gourmet so to say. Therefore I started buying exciting ingredients and spices which costed me more. But eating and cooking also gave me more joy :)
 
It's totally dependent on your diet and options available local to you. Me and my mom are vegan, she prefers processed foods that are similar to her previous diet and I eat plant based. She spends on average about $80/month on chips, mock meats (also cheeses, yogurts, and milks), breads, etc. I spend about $20/month on fresh fruits and veggies, rice, beans, and oats. We both eat about 2000 calories a day and don't eat out much, but dependent on your taste and habits you could be spending more or substantially less. I treat the processed food as more of a treat for myself for both price and health concerns which saves me a TON.