Making the switch from processed-foods and the carnivore world to whole plant-rich foods can be a little daunting when you start to see the big world of exotic sugars, cacao, flours, fruits etc. But the truth is, learning how to eat a plant based diet on a budget is really easy if you start with very basic eliminations to your diet and replacing those items.
One thing I challenge you to think about, is how much money do you spend eating out right now? How much money do you spend on pre-packaged food? Sodas? Starbucks? Were you making meat (which is very expensive when organic) the center of your meal? How many ailments do you have that require medications? When you heal with food and make everything yourself, you may spend a little extra when you want something special and eat out worthy, but it’s not really that much more than when you were buying these items. If you are still buying packaged foods on top of eating differently, then it can indeed be more expensive.
After eliminating a lot of foods from my diet, I can honestly say this is a lifestyle change, not a diet.
I will talk about 2 things below, tips for saving money and my staples that I always have in the house.
Here are my tips for shopping the essentials:
1. Buy the fresh fruits/vegetables you love: If you love it, you’ll eat it! I think foods going bad can cost way more than buying what you love in the first place.
2. Abide by the Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen: If it’s on the dirty list, buy it organic, if it’s not, I don’t think it’ll be the end of the world if you are on a budget. Anything you are peeling, you probably don’t need to worry about organic. For me personally, I just can’t bring myself to buy anything non-organic anymore, but it wasn’t always like that. For me, I just don’t want to support or give pesticides my “vote.”
3. Buy in season fruits and veggies: 9 times out of 10 it’s cheaper to eat what’s in season. Nuff said.
4. Make the switch gradually: Don’t feel like you have to throw everything out all at once. It makes me cringe to think about people eating sugar, but the switch itself is hard enough without feeling like you have to spend a fortune and obsess over what’s in your pantry. Use what you have, then don’t buy it again.
Pantry Staples and How to Replace
White sugar=rapunzel sugar
Brown sugar=coconut sugar
White flour=brown rice flour, coconut flour, spelt, oats
Cocoa=Cacao
Sugar Syrup=pure maple syrup
milk=coconut milk/nut milk (fresh or preserved for backup)
Cheese=Nutritional yeast (and nuts or tofu)
Once you’ve replaced these items, don’t go back. It can actually be a less painful process to your body when you gradually make the switch. Maybe you won’t feel the same extreme euphoric moment, but when it’s done, you won’t even crave processed foods! When you’ve eaten the last cheese poof, make protein balls and granola bars and freeze what you won’t eat in a week.
Or get yourself a tax credit and donate to your local food pantry. It may pay for your first whole foods splurge!
5. Don’t buy everything at the same grocery store: It may be inconvenient, but it will save you money. For my pre-packaged oils, cacao, sugars, etc., I will usually compare prices with online stores like Amazon. Here is one story on how to do it on $1.50 a day at the .99 cent store.
6. Meal Prep: When you have decided your breakfast/lunch/dinner menus at the beginning of the week, you will save a lot of money! Make a certain type of cuisine all week so you are using the same types of foods/spices/herbs. I also tend to prepare my sauces/broths in batches and freeze them in ice cube trays so I can still make dinner quickly. Check out my freezer article here.
7. Forage/grow it yourself: Through This Rawsome Vegan Life, I learned about this amazing website called Falling Fruit. It’s a map that tells you where you can pick your own fruit in your city. Not sure if it’s very good with the rural areas, but in Los Angeles, it’s a pretty cool website! How fun would it be to take your kids on a fruit foraging adventure! It’s free grocery shopping…I don’t even have kids and this is one of my favorite things. We make our own fresh orange juice every summer by going for bike rides and collecting oranges on our trail. Check it out!
8. My staples when on a budget:
1. Dry/canned beans (protein)
2. Potatoes/Rice (starches)
3. Kale, Spinach (greens-I switch between the two every week)
4. Soft-dried dates (Check out my sugar guide for options)
5. Oats (great protein, fiber, and you can puree to make into flour)
5. Bananas: They are so versatile, cheap, make a great snack, you can freeze them for desserts, make ice cream, cover them in chocolate, use in smoothies, egg replacement, etc.
6. Frozen Fruit: You can make chia jam, smoothies, throw on top of overnight oats and have them thaw in the fridge, etc. Or make your own frozen fruit by buying fresh produce when it’s in season and freezing it for later. Buy the really ripe fruit from the grocery store and get it on sale or freeze your fruit before it goes bad.
7. Garlic/Ginger/Onions: You can make anything taste good with these in your food! I always put onions in my skillet before cooking anything else. Nothing like a caramelized onion for dinner.
8. Nuts: You don’t need nuts to be whole-foods, unprocessed, vegan, etc. They make life more interesting when you can make homemade milk, cheese, creamy desserts, etc., but you can live without it if you are on a budget. Use a cauliflower and nutritional yeast for your cheese! Also, you’ll probably stay thinner filling up on potatoes and rice than nuts!
If you want to invest in one nut, cashews are what most vegan desserts/cheese/etc. are made from since they taste very neutral.
Blenders: Lastly, I highly recommend investing in a high speed blender. We use this one. It may seem expensive, but I truly wish we had bought ours years ago. It’s simply amazing how much more I can make and how fast I can make it. This is one of those time=money scenarios. Sure, you can make stuff without it, but you’ll probably end up spending more on that Naked juice than you should and not be happy with what you are getting. I use it to make sauces/smoothies/soups/desserts/flours/doughs/butters/mylk/ice cream/condiments/etc. I always save my jam jars, ketchup bottles and any other glass jar that ends up in our house. They make great storage and to-go items! So, you may not save with the upfront cost, but over the long haul, I can’t even consider it a luxury item anymore. I use it 3-6 times every day. There is no kitchen appliance that can replace it, but it replaces so many…
Hope this helps you shop on a budget! If you want me to elaborate on anything, leave a comment or shoot me an email at mjohnson@vanillaplummedia.com.
These are all such great tips! I’m struggling with this because our grocery bills are so high, sometimes even 800 a month yikes, but like you mentioned when I think of the cost of eating out…..one cheap meal on the fly at a fast-food restaurant can use up funds that could have gone into both a green and fruit salads for the week! So the decision comes easier =) Beans and rice are such money savers too and I think you hit the nail on the head with the garlic and the onions! They pack loads of flavor but are still cheap. Great ideas friend!