Is Being Vegan Expensive?

Hello everyone!

It has been way too long since my last post, and I have been promising to chat about the cost of being vegan for over a month now! Those of you who know me, understand that I haven’t been slacking, but just the opposite! I have been CA-RAZY busy (hey…I don’t call me Crazy for nothin’!) building my company. What I have thought about, I’ve brought about, and everything is coming together in the most perfect way. For more deats on my grandious, and gratifying vision, you can check out my other site here. If you live in Australia, Canada, USA or England, I’m always looking for happy and motivated people to join our growing team in sharing this gorgeous company and their exceptional vegan products with the universe.

Now…onto the topic that is the 2nd most common question about being vegan (behind of course the ever-popular “where do you get your protein?”)

Is being vegan expensive?

In short…no. In my humble opinion, it is absolutely the most cost-effective diet out there. And by diet, I really mean lifestyle. I am in no way comparing it to the “lose-weight-quick diets” that can also be cost effective financially, but really not-so-much from a health perspective. As a long-term diet and lifestyle choice, I have found that I have saved a ton of money on my grocery bills. Where the diet can be expensive, is in the same ways as an omnivorous diet. If you decide that you prefer more organic foods, or a completely raw diet, or meat (alternatives of course), and/or super foods, your costs will most definitely increase. Premium quality foods are more expensive across the board; vegan or not.

For the express purpose of not keeping you here reading for hours and hours, I will be focusing simply on the costs of plain old vegan food; not necessarily organics or superfoods. More so, the every-day foods an average crazy vegan like me thrives upon. You can refer back to my posts on “What Does a Vegan Eat Anyways?” to really see what kind of food I’m talking about.

Now, to be fair, I should qualify that my plant-based diet was most expensive in the beginning while I was transitioning. I was buying every kind of “fake” food in sight! I wanted to try it all; the good, the bad and the AH-MAZING. Here’s a basic cost-comparison chart of transition foods I purchased, compared to the less animal-friendly versions I consumed regularly in my past life:

Plant-Based Food	Cost	Animal-Based Food	Cost
Daiya Cheese Shreds	$2.33/100g	Kraft Cheese Shreds	$2.23/100g
Yves Breakfast Sausage Links	$2.15/100g	Johnsonville Breakfast Sausage Links	$1.97/100g
Yves Bacon Strips	$2.50/100g	Maple Leaf Bacon	$1.00/100g
Yves Veggie Ground	$1.32/100g	Extra Lean Ground Beef	$0.55/kg
PC Blue Menu Beef Strips	$2.50/100g	PC Beef Strips	$0.40/kg
Yves Chicken Tenders	$2.50/100g	Maple Leaf Prime Chicken Tenders	$2.99/100g
Yves Veggie Dogs	$1.63/100g	Schneider’s Country Naturals Hot Dogs	$1.06/100g
Yves Italian Sausages	$1.23/100g	PC Italian Sausages	$1.00/100g
Yves Pepperoni Slices	$1.32/100g	Pillars Pepperoni Slices	$2.00/100g
Yves Deli Meat Slices	$2.45/100g	Schneider’s Deli Meat Slices	$1.88/100g
Silk Soy Milk	$0.21/100mL	Neilson 2% Cow’s Milk	$0.21/100mL
Earth Balance Buttery Spread	$1.08/100g	ButterImperial Margarine	$1.25/100g$1.31/100g
Sol Veggie Burgers	$1.29/100g	Webers Beef Burgers	$1.31/100g
So Delicious Ice Cream	$1.40/100mL	Haagen Dazs Ice Cream	$1.60/100mL
PC Blue Menu Breaded Veggie Chicken Breasts	$1.53/100g	Jane’s Breaded Chicken Breasts	$1.65/100g

Notice a trend? I wanted the familiar comfort foods that I was used to. All that salty and cured goodness! Yes…it exists in the plant world too, and while still not the healthiest options, they are at least cholesterol and cruelty free. Yves is just one of the companies that produces these foods (it was the most convenient option for me as it’s what my grocer always kept on hand). Upon transitioning, the flavours and textures took some getting used to, but the basic need to satisfy the salt and fat cravings were fulfilled. What I will tell you is that I rarely consume any plant-based meat alternatives in my current diet, as they remind me too much of the animal versions. Textures that I no longer miss, or crave. More so…textures that remind me why I stopped eating them in the first place.

So…nowadays, my diet is mostly whole-food and plant-based. Beans, lentils and nuts have replaced the plant-based meats as my major source of protein. Whenever I get asked about the cost of being vegan, I usually include the cost of beans in my response. A bag of dried beans will last me about 4-6 weeks, and costs about $2.99 – $8.99 per bag. I always have a variety on hand in my pantry including chick peas, black beans, navy beans, lentils, split peas and kidney beans. I will most often buy my beans dried, then re-hydrate and cook them, but usually have a can or 2 hanging around in my pantry for meals on the fly. Yes buying dried beans takes some advanced prep, but really? If remembering to toss beans in a pot of cold water to soak before you go to bed is too much trouble, then set yourself a reminder on your smart phone! But for sake of argument and convenience, let’s compare 1 can of beans (enough to feed 2+ people as a protein serving for dinner), to 2 plain chicken breasts. A can of beans is about $1.89, verses about $12 for 2 chicken breasts. So for one dinner for 2 people, you’ve shaved $10 off of your meal. Multiply that by 7 days, and you’ve saved $70 on a week’s worth of dinners. Obviously you’re not going to eat the same meal every night, but you get the point. A whole food plant-based protein source is extremely cost effective.

As far as the veganized versions of food and drink that are still mainstays in my diet, there are really only three that I consume semi-regularly:

Milk Alternative

There are so many out there nowadays (making plant-based living that much more accessible than it was even five years ago). You can try rice milk (brown, basmati, white), almond milk, flax milk, hemp milk, coconut milk, various nut milks…and on and on and on. You can even make your own! Google it.

Silk Original is my preferred dairy-alternative for my tea, smoothies and baking. Between my daughter and I, we empty a carton every couple of weeks. It’s very rare that you’ll find either of us drinking a full glass as we are mostly water and juice drinkers. When we do have a full glass, it’s usually alongside my famous chai cookies :). So when comparing apples to apples, the cost of a carton of plant-based milk, verses a carton of a cow’s milk is about the same. And by “cost”, I am specifically referring to finances; not the cost to our environment and quality of living of course.

Cheese Alternative

I’ve talked about this before, and I’m sure it will come up often. I was a self-proclaimed cheese addict. I had the same response of every single non-vegan considering veganism: “I could never give up cheese!”. Trust me…it’s true what they say about your taste buds actually changing. If I accidentally consume cheese hidden in a dish, I can taste it instantly and let me tell you…I cannot stand it! It tastes so unnatural to me now. The great thing about my preferred cheese alternative, Daiya, is it does not have that cheesy aftertaste (for lack of a better description). It tastes…well…clean?! Daiya is not something I eat very often; probably about once or twice a month when I’m making grilled cheese, lasagna, quesadillas or pizza. Again, when comparing apples to apples, you will see in the chart above that the cost of Daiya is more expensive than cost of a bag of shredded cow’s cheese, however, I consume it a heck of a lot less than the addictive cow’s version, so my overall costs have decreased dramatically.

Butter Alternative

Vegan or not…any diet or not, it is my humble opinion that you toss out your butter and/or margarine, and pick yourself up some Earth Balance. I would compare the taste more to margarine but more natural and not…well…plasticky. There are several varieties to choose from, including soy-free. They come in traditional tubs, and are also available in 1/2 cup sticks for baking. Earth Balance is cholesterol free, unlike its dairy-based cousin, and chemical free compared to the man-manipulated “healthy” alternative. It should of course be consumed in moderation because it is a pure fat, but I have used it in all the same ways that I used butter and margarine previously. On popcorn, slathered on fresh bread, whipped with sugar for buttercream icing or blended with olive oil in pasta a’iolio. Mmmmmmmm.

Apart from those alternatives, there are a few others that I consume every once in a while for a treat like burgers, hot dogs, Veganaise and ice cream. Again, these costs are on the higher side of the animal-based versions, but because these “treats” are consumed so much less than they were in my past life, my overall costs are substantially less.

Of course, the foods I consume more than anything else go without saying. A wide variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These whole foods eat up about 75% of my weekly grocery bill. I certainly don’t need to identify these costs for you though, as they are already a major part of your diet, right?! 🙂

The beauty about not buying the expensive foods like meat and dairy mean I can spend more on the foods that heal and the foods that help us thrive. I’ve discovered a more diverse palate of these food groups than I had ever known about while living on the traditional western diet. Whether its new cooking methods, unique combinations, or foods I’d never even heard about, I’ve found veganism to be such an education in food! It’s become so much more fulfilling than I ever thought it could be. My initial 30-day challenge has turned into such a healthful and gratifying lifestyle; and of course a more cost-effective one.

‘Til next time, stay crazy, happy and healthy.

xo

Laura-Lea

Crazy Vegan Mommy

  

“Radiate Positivity”