Cheap Vegan Eats

Reduced or sale priced produce

If you enjoy cooking up a spontaneous meal, search your local shops for fruit and vegetable in the ‘reduced’ section and consider what you can make with them. You never know where your creativity will take you. Also, if you visit supermarkets and shops near closing time, you can often benefit from dramatically reduced prices on bakery and fresh produce. Items such as pastry and bread can be put in the freezer and defrosted later to last the entire week.

Special occasions and deals

In many health stores you can find ‘specialist’ products such as vegan cheese or vegan meat equivalents, that are great if you're craving such foods. Their costs may run a little higher than the supermarket own brands, but if you find them, you can work them into a tighter budget.

Freeze and reheat

If you have access to a freezer, you can make up several portions of a curry, chili or casserole with a big bag of supermarket ‘basics’ vegetables or potatoes - and freeze them. This is much cheaper than buying ready meals and is also convenient. Frozen vegetables can sometimes be cheaper than fresh - for example frozen peppers, broccoli or spinach - and taste just as good. They also keep for longer, meaning you don’t end up throwing any away.

Leftovers for lunch

If you can, make extra of your evening meal and use the remainder as a packed lunch the next day. It’s usually cheaper and more convenient than buying lunch when you’re out. Plus, you'll know it will taste good! If you get in to the habit of making extra and freezing it, you should have plenty of choice of what to eat the next day.

Make a list and stick to it

Lists are a good idea, particularly if you find yourself buying things that you don’t manage to eat in time, or if you get distracted and tend to impulse-buy products on your shopping trip. If you plan your week’s meals, then write a list and only buy what’s on your list - and you’re less likely to overspend.

It is much easier to resist non-essential food purchases when you’re not already hungry.

Whether you’re a student, a parent raising a family on a tight budget, or someone just trying to save a buck, a vegan lifestyle can be a money-saver as well as a life-saver. As vegan meats and milk have grown in popularity and become more commonplace (they are now available in grocery stores everywhere), prices have dropped and will likely continue to do so.

Aside from these products, there are plenty of other delicious and nutritious vegan options that will save you money. (Plus, going vegan/ vegetarian now will save you a boatload of cash later in life, when you won’t have to pay for expensive cholesterol-lowering drugs or elective weight loss surgery.)

More great ideas->https://www.peta.org