Frugally Veg*n

[chiaraluna]

As it seems that we don't have one yet, here's a thread where we can all share tips on living frugally veg*n! From food to clothing to transportation to health, share the little nuggets of wisdom that have helped you live a happy, healthy, low-budget veg*n life so far. :)

[Ludi]

I grow my own organic produce instead of buying it, which I think saves us a little money both in trips to the store and the actual cost of the produce - organic is quite expensive, and I'm usually happier with the quality of our own stuff over the store vegies, which are often wilted. I usually pick ours the day we eat it, so it is really fresh. :vebo:

We buy very little processed foods instead using beans and whole grains,nuts, etc to make things from scratch, which is very frugal.

[purrpelle]

^^^:yes: veggie burgers and the like are a "treat"

[janie]

Great idea for a thread, chiara! :up:

Rice and noodles are my friends. Freezing things to save for leftovers instead of tossing them if I accidentally make too much is something I always do. I make sure only to buy as many fruits and veggies that I really need, so none go to waste. Bags of cheap, frozen veggies always last me awhile. I don't eat out.

Being a college student, I am learning to master the art of living frugally vegan. :p

[purrpelle]

I buy soy and almond milk by the case because my HFS gives me 10% off when i do.

[purrpelle]

also, MY HFS gives me soy yogurt that's a day out of date for free. It's a great idea to make friends with the manager.

[janie]

Out of date? Meaning expired? Is it safe to eat then?

[purrpelle]

you can safely eat yogurt a MONTH after the expiration date.

[Washoe]

^^^:yes: veggie burgers and the like are a "treat"

Try making your own out of wheat gluten and TVP. Here’s a recipe. (https://www.bobsredmill.com/recipe/detail.php?rid=636) Follow the instructions to the letter—I’ve found that if you monkey with the moisture content in any way, the stuff falls apart. One time I even tried to substitute dried onion for the fresh onion, and the patties crumbled. Bob’s Red Mill has the lowest price I’ve been able to find so far on both TVP and wheat gluten

[janie]

you can safely eat yogurt a MONTH after the expiration date.

Really? I wish I would've known that - I just threw out a container the other day. :lol:

[purrpelle]

Really? I wish I would've known that - I just threw out a container the other day. :lol:

was it open? not if it's open... forgot to mention that :lol:

[janie]

was it open? not if it's open... forgot to mention that :lol:

Nope. I just noticed that I hadn't used it, and it had "expired" 3 days ago. Thanks for the info! :)

[Washoe]

not if it's open...

Actually, I’ve kept open containers of yogurt past the expiration date for a looooong time—at least a month or even more. I have a theory that the stuff can’t go bad because the culturing bacteria competes for available nutrients with any spoilage microorganisms which get in there, and the spoilage microorganisms can’t gain a toehold.

[chiaraluna]

I find that making a shopping list before going to the grocery store and really sticking with it works well when planning a shopping trip. Also, I know that I sometimes have problems with not finishing one thing before buying another similar product (i.e. buying new cereal before the first box is gone), so forcing myself to completely finish off each type of food before I buy any more helps. Sometimes what looks like the dregs of a bag of flour goes a looooong way! :)

[chiaraluna]

Here's a little blurb I found online... :)

A Few Random Things To Do To Save Some Money (from Cheap Vegan #8)

Brown bag your lunch rather than buy it at work or school. I know this is kind of a “well, duh” piece of information, but it’s worth repeating. Two dollars a day spent on lunch five days a week adds up to $40 per month, which adds up to $480 per year. It’s even more if you spend $3-5 dollars per day or more. If you don’t have access to a refrigerator and a microwave, you choices are more limited, but there are plenty of things you can take. A homemade sushi roll costs 40¢, a sandwich on thrift store bread, a couple of homemade muffins (recipe in #3) and some cut-up veggies, popcorn you popped yourself (issue #1), or homemade tortilla chips (recipe in #7) costs less than 50¢. If you do have access to a microwave and a refrigerator, you can bring left over beans, rice, casserole, polenta, pasta, or whatever’s lurking in your refrigerator. You could save $360 or more per year!

If you use applesauce in your baking (I do), but you can never use it all before it starts growing penicillin samples in your fridge, do this. Buy the big jar (make sure it’s the cheapest per ounce) and divide what you won’t be able to use right away into 1-2 cup portions in sealable containers and throw ‘em in your freezer. When you know you’ll need some applesauce toss one of the containers in the fridge and let it thaw for 12-24 hours, or place it in a bowl of hot water (make sure the container’s shut well) to thaw for up to an hour and it’s ready to use.

Make muffins. They’re so cheap (around 5-6¢ each) and are good for a quick snack, to take in the car (so you don’t stop somewhere and buy an expensive snack), and make a good on-the-run breakfast. There’s a recipe in issue #3 as well as just about any cookbook. Compare the cost of two muffins (10-12¢) to the price of an “energy” or “power” bar ($1-2). The nice thing about muffins is that you can pretty much throw whatever you want/have into them: oats, raisins, banana, cocoa powder, granola, cookie or cereal or cracker crumbs, or whatever’s in your cabinet. You don’t have to go buy a lot of weird ingredients. Make one day a week, like Sunday, Muffin-Baking Day and whip up a double or triple batch. Keep some in the freezer and thaw in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. They take about ten minutes to mix together and 20-25 minutes to bake.

Use the frozen juice instead of bottled. A little blurb in Budget Living magazine showed that switching from fresh-squeezed orange juice (in the carton) to cheapo-brand frozen orange juice concentrate will save you $273 a year. Or you just drink water and save even more.

[courgette]

http://vegsandiego.com This site provides tips for veganism on a budget. They have two budget plans with menus, shopping lists and recipes.

I find it important to make a menu before groery shopping. It is not a set in stone thing, I just choose or plan on about 4 menus and make sure I have the things I need on hand.

I also use the freezer as "pantry" I make rice in huge batches and freeze in individual portions (my husband won't eat rice, so it is just me), I make seitan and freeze in meal size portions, I freeze homemade veggie broth and soup, etc. My freeze is my friend:sunny:

[faded_amaranth]

If you work at a grocery store you can take home anything that is going to be thrown away b/c it is past the sell by date. That food can be eaten several days to a couple month past the date, depending on the shelf life of it. As far as I know all grocery stores allow this since the food is going to be thrown away otherwise. In theory, as long as one worked in a grocery store, they would never have to pay for food.

[MZCsmpsns]

Don't really have any tips... just thought I'd mention.. on vacation one time, we stopped at a gas station around midnight...they were getting ready to throw away their donuts, and offered for us to take as many as we wanted to for free because they were gonna throw them out (we got 3 or 4 bags-that was one of the times I was like 'crap, why can't donuts be vegan?' lol)
Possibly if you frequent a grocery store, and ask them about their produce, they may give you what they'd normall throw away for free? Some stores keep up w/their fresh produce, and what they trash is still useable as long as it's used w/in a day or 2.

[flvegnewbie]

I always cook extra. If I make a pot of soup, I always make extras for lunch the next day, or for dinner a few days later.

Alot of other people have already said this, but make a list before grocery shopping. I usually have a grocery list always started & as someone uses the last bit of something they can add it to the list, so that it's not forgotten the next trip.

Cook more dried beans & rice (when you have time), they are MUCH cheaper than canned. Also the less frozen foods we buy the less my grocery bill will be.

I've also found the simpler the recipes the less ingredients, therefore less groceries.
Also, we have got to do better with this, but watching portion sizes will really cut down on the amount of groceries we have to buy on a bi-weekly basis.:up:

Also, the fewer times that you have to shop, the less you'll spend, you won't be at the store as often so you won't be lured in to pick something else up.
I usually shop bi-weekly & weekly for fruits & veggies ONLY (with the exception of milk occasionally).

Also, if your able, check out cookbooks at your local library & jot down the recipes that interest you or type them up on your computer (this is MUCH faster), instead of buying the whole entire cookbook. Then make your own customized cookbook with a simple 3 ring binder & some page protectors, that way as your using them in your kitchen if something gets splattered on the recipe you can just wipe it clean.
This idea also works really well for all those recipes we print offline.

Also this way we keep the number of cookbooks down to a minumum & it gives us a chance to see if buying the cookbook is really worth our money. I don't know how many times I've bought a cookbook & then only used it occasionally for 1 or 2 recipes.

I LOVE this thread, awesome idea!!!:D

Michelle

[GNUmoe]

This thread is awesome! :wayne:

My mom recently went vegetarian so we make mostly vegan meals. Nights she buys cheese pizza I'm on my own.

We're not Ba-zillionaires and lately my mom has been a little upset that our diets are costing so much. The reason is obviously because she's a new veggie and likes to buy a lot of meat subs. She's 45, so she was fairly set in her ways and misses meat occasionally. I hate meat subs but I'm so proud of her for doing this that I go along with them every so often.

However, I've been cooking A LOT lately (:chef: = me) and my all vegan meat sub-less meals are a huge hit at my house. My tofu pot pie last night was great, and I made it from things we had lying around the house.

Meat subs are definately a waste of money if you can do without them.

One thing I miss is being able to walk into any grocery store and grab any chocolate bar when I'm craving something sweet. Any natural food store (and some grocery stores) have special vegan-friendly chocolates and ice creams, but they can be very expensive. Whenever I want something sweet and chocolatey I whip up a batch of super-chocolately vegan fudge. It's awesome - it even fools omnis. My little brother ate almost half the pan and then asks, "hey moe, is this vegan?" :lol:

For really cheap breakfasts I make an extra thick smoothie from soymilk, oats, flaxseed, soy yogurt, and whatever fruit is lying around that I'm in the mood for. I love Better than Cream Cheese but it's expensive, so when I buy it I get the cheap-o store brand bagels. They're good and vegan and supercheap. Also, Special K and Soymilk...mmmm

On the weekends I make meals and freeze them, which is a definate time-saver (though not a real space-saver or money-saver). But it helps to make too much food the night before and eat it for lunch the day after.

But now I'm really hungry so I'm going to go rummage in the fridge. I know I'm all out of salad mix - shoot! But, aha! Pot pie! :up:

*~Maureen~*

[chiaraluna]

However, I've been cooking A LOT lately (:chef: = me) and my all vegan meat sub-less meals are a huge hit at my house. My tofu pot pie last night was great, and I made it from things we had lying around the house.


If you have time, I would really appreciate it if you could post some of those recipes in the "Inexpensive Veg*n Recipes" (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=58322) thread. I'm always looking for tasty, cheap new recipes! :D

[codemonkey]

I get almost all my produce from a local farm. They have a year-round CSA (community supported agriculture) program that costs $26 a week. It's year-round because we're in San Diego and they grow stuff all year. Every week I get a HUGE box of seasonal fruits and veggies. We actually have a hard time eating it all and we spend less doing that than we did buying produce at the grocery store. I don't even buy frozen veggies anymore. We still buy onions and garlic and some fruits at the store but everything else comes from the farm. The best part is that it's all seasonal and organic and really fresh (usually picked the day before I get it.)

[GNUmoe]

I live about a mile from an organic farmstand and it makes everything much easier (e.g., it takes me a few minutes to ride my bike there and get all of my fruits and veggies in the summer...yay).

Still not nearly as great as your farmstand. :wayne:

But that's beside the point - I really posted to say that I'll post the pot pie recipe on the site, but I the proportions will be guestimated as I didn't measure anything.

[purrpelle]

I get almost all my produce from a local farm. They have a year-round CSA (community supported agriculture) program that costs $26 a week. It's year-round because we're in San Diego and they grow stuff all year. Every week I get a HUGE box of seasonal fruits and veggies. We actually have a hard time eating it all and we spend less doing that than we did buying produce at the grocery store. I don't even buy frozen veggies anymore. We still buy onions and garlic and some fruits at the store but everything else comes from the farm. The best part is that it's all seasonal and organic and really fresh (usually picked the day before I get it.)

i want that. :smitten:

[Ludi]

i want that. :smitten:


I want to be that! I would love to provide a CSA for my neighbors...

maybe someday....*dreaming*

:bobo: