How To Eat a Plant-Based Diet on a Budget
There might be several reasons why someone would want to embrace a plant-based diet. Personally, I became a vegetarian and later a vegan for the animals, but I also discovered and learned about the positive impact of a plant-based diet on the environment, which motivates me as well. Over time, I started focusing on eating healthier, mostly a whole foods plant-based diet–with some exceptions. The benefits of a plant-based diet can therefore be measured in terms of animal welfare, the environment, and your own health.
I’ve already given you some tips on how to start a plant-based diet, shared my experience and what I wish I knew before going vegan, showed you how to substitute some animal-derived products, and even shared some of my favorite vegan recipes with you.
However, I’ve heard people commenting on how this kind of diet can be more expensive, so this post is all about debunking this myth! It can be true, depending on what perspective you see it from, but the same would apply to a non-vegan diet. In both cases, you can make it an expensive or a cheap diet, in the same way you can make it healthy or unhealthy. A plant-powered diet shouldn’t be pricey if you know what to do. Let go of your fears and don’t let it be an obstacle! Here are my tips to eat a plant-based diet on a budget.
EATING PLANT BASED WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK
1) FOCUS ON WHOLE FOODS
Prioritizing whole foods in your diet will be healthier, cheaper, and better for the environment. Focus your meals on balancing grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fruits. Nutritious food should be your goal.
Your meals can be a combination of all these. For instance, I love to prepare bowls with potatoes, rice or quinoa, sauteed vegetables, beans, avocado, and seeds.
Other foods you can add to your grocery list are single-ingredient products like tofu, tempeh, or lentil pasta which are rich in protein, and can be very affordable.
Whole foods will be cheaper than vegan substitutes, like plant-based processed meats, as well as healthier. However, you can try making these products–including burgers, vegan meatballs, vegan cheeses–at home with whole foods to make it healthier. Otherwise, incorporate them into your diet, but only in a small percentage, with the bigger one being whole foods.
2) BUY FOOD IN BULK
Everybody wins when you buy food in bulk, as it is better for the environment and for your wallet. Firstly, when you buy in bulk and take your own containers to the store (mason jars or reusable bags), you avoid waste that comes from food packaging. Additionally, this habit will save you money, not to mention time, because you will make the most out of your visits to the market or grocery store. Even when you buy plastic-wrapped products, but in bigger packages–instead of buying in bulk plastic-free–you will save money, and a bit of plastic packaging.
3) SHOP AT DIFFERENT PLACES
This is one of my favorite ways to save money as a vegan: knowing where to buy. Nonetheless, this could mean multiple places, so it will demand some organizational skills from you.
For instance, I buy my tofu and lentil/chickpea pasta at Whole Foods Market, since it’s cheaper there than at my local supermarket, as they sell their own brands. Another store that does this is Trader Joe’s, where Tahini, which can be used to prepare homemade hummus, is cheaper than at Whole Foods or the local supermarket. In Argentina, I used to buy fruits and vegetables at a verdulería, which is basically a small place where they sell local fruits and vegetables at great prices. In Miami, in replacement, I sometimes buy fruits and vegetables at a Latin American supermarket near my workplace.
The list goes on and on, but you get the point! At the beginning, this will demand that you do some market research and compare prices. Start with a few products, like your favorite ones, and begin your learning journey.
4) CUT AND FREEZE YOUR OWN FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
One way to make sure you will eat healthily and sustainably, even in those days when you feel like you can’t even get up from bed, is to use one of your good and energy-filled days for meal prepping or veggie cutting.
Once you have bought your groceries, choose what vegetables and fruits to cut, so you can store them in the freezer for those days when you want your food to be magically ready to be placed in the pan or oven. I do this with kale, peppers, and broccoli, and mostly with fruit, since I love frozen bananas, mangoes, and strawberries to prepare smoothies (or smoothie bowls) with perfect consistency. I sometimes buy them in a bag, already cut, but it’s more expensive and less sustainable (except for blueberries, which are cheaper and use less plastic than when they come in trays).
This tip will not only save you time and energy on those days that your battery is running low, but it will also save you money, since you will avoid surrendering to take away food (which is wasteful) and avoid buying pre-cut fruits and vegetables at the store (which also always come loaded in plastic wrapping).
5) eat leftovers
The golden rule for sustainable living: eat your leftovers! Food waste is a problem that has a significant impact on the environment, both because of wasting resources used to produce that food, as well as the pollution that results from throwing food to the landfill. Moreover, it’s bad for your finances, and you will never be able to eat plant-based (or any kind of diet) on a budget if you throw away your leftovers (not to mention it can be said to be morally wrong).
This has always been a given for me when growing up, but when I moved to the U.S. I realized people threw away leftovers without batting an eye, and it blew my mind. I believe they do it either because they think stored food turns bad, or out of laziness. Whatever the reason, it is a horrible mistake that will have negative repercussions both for the planet and your wallet.
Even if you are eating out, you can take your leftovers home, and the most sustainable way to do this is to carry your own container. The same applies to eating at the office, or even at home. How could anyone throw away leftovers is beyond comprehension, especially knowing there’s no better feeling than opening your fridge the next day and realizing you don’t have to cook!
6) choose generic brands
As I mentioned above, I buy tofu and lentil/chickpea pasta from Whole Foods’ own brand, which is almost always cheaper than regular brands. Trader Joe’s is another store that sells their own brand exclusively, and other big supermarkets like Publix do the same. The products under these generic brands are varied, including legumes, pasta, canned food, and grains, and will help you save a few bucks in your plant-based diet journey.
7) track your expenses to find areas of improvement
This one is related to a few things I mentioned above. Doing research is very important for you to save money when buying your groceries. Save your receipts and notice what products are the most expensive. Then, explore other brands that sell the same product, and compare prices. Perhaps you will have to buy that specific product elsewhere next time, or you can prepare it yourself.
8) buy food that’s in season
Another great way to eat plant-based on a budget is to buy food that's in season. This will vary depending on where you live, so do your research accordingly.
To give you an example, since I live in Miami, fruits and vegetables that are in season in winter include broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, peas, radishes, oranges, and tomatoes, among others.
Fruits and veggies in season will not only taste better, but will be cheaper, since farmers harvest them in large quantities, and thus the cost of the produce goes down. Travelling and storage expenses are also reduced when you buy local and seasonal products. When you buy food that’s out of season, it comes from other areas, which means they must be transported and stored, two factors that will also have an impact on sustainability.
9) cook and bake more
My next tip to save money when eating plant-based is to cook your own meals, which will take into consideration some of the tips I suggested before (buying in bulk, in season, etc.). When you cook at home you avoid the high expense of eating out or ordering in. This can even include making your own plant-based milk, which can be cheap if you make oat milk (almonds and cashews, for instance, are quite expensive).
Baking is also included in this tip, because I’m not just talking about chopping some veggies and throwing them in the oven, but also about saving money by cooking those things that demand a bit more effort, like bread, banana bread, pizza crust, etc. I love making my own pizza at home during the weekends, and even when I have to make it gluten free because I’m a celiac, it’s cheaper than buying a ready-to-eat pizza. If you’re not gluten-free, it will be even cheaper; just buy flour in bulk or in big packages, a bit of yeast, salt, and olive oil (the big bottles). One package of each ingredient will yield many pizzas, and many pizzas make you happy and save you some dollars!
10) pay attention to discounts
From your great grandparents to you, buying things on sale is the old-fashioned way of saving some bucks. This hack demands your full focus and having eyes wide open to search for discounts, which could be a lower price for an item or having benefits for buying several items of the same product (the traditional ‘buy 1, get 1 free’).
After you locate those discounts, you will need adaptability. This means that even if you love a certain brand, and are used to buying it, if there’s a similar product from a different brand that’s on sale or has a promo, you might have to give in.
11) snacking can be pricey, so be prepared
I’ve never been a snacker, but ever since I started training more intensely, my appetite has increased, and I might have to eat some snacks throughout the day.
However, when you are looking for healthy snacks that are plant-based, they might be pricey. Granola bars, or healthy bites, are convenient, but could be outside your budget. Sometimes, when I want to buy a few of these, I buy them at Marshall’s, since they sell lots of vegan and gluten-free snacks at discount prices. Another option would be to make them yourself.
For healthy and plant-based snacks, you can always go with whole foods. Fruits make great snacks and most are super affordable, especially bananas, which fill you up, are nutritious, and can be super cheap. I like to add some protein to my fruit, so I usually eat apples or bananas with a bit of peanut butter, or prepare a smoothie with vegan protein. Try also buying nuts in bulk, pumpkin seeds, dates, roasted chickpeas, or making chia pudding (chia and plant-based milk). Get creative!
Are there any tips you think will help you save more money when eating a plant-based diet? Let me know in the comments!
If you’d like to know more about plant-based and vegan diets, and sustainability, please don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter to read my future posts!
Hi, I’m Melina,
I’m the creator of Sustainable Rookie, and my goal is to share what I learn throughout my sustainability journey, so that I can help other people live a more conscious life.
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