Enjoying the vegan lifestyle on a budget

By Gloria Stovall

Contrary to popular belief, the vegan lifestyle can indeed be enjoyable, lovely, comfortable and achievable on a budget.   I know this truth from my own personal experience as well as testimonies from other vegans living frugally on a budget.  When done the right way in which I will explain in this blog, the vegan lifestyle is significantly cheaper than a non-vegan lifestyle.  For example, I own a gorgeous onyx vegan leather designer jacket that generates numerous compliments and second glances when I wear it.  This vegan jacket is so smooth to the touch as it feels and looks identical to animal leather; but what I adore most about this cute vegan jacket is no innocent animals were harmed to construct it; and I only paid $39.99 whereas designer leather jackets made from real animal skin can cost anywhere from $150.00-$500.00, depending on the designer and merchant. 

In addition to leather, there is also vegan fur, wool and down feather alternatives that nearly cost 50% less than the products made with real animal fur, wool from sheep and goats, feathers from geese, ducks and other fowl.  For example, the reason why the major name brands such as The North Face charge a fortune for their products is due to the brutal process that is involved in making these coats that come from live geese.  I will spare you the graphic details that speak of endless cruelty but please know live birds experienced hours of torture for the production of a single down coat. 

Moving on to one of my treasured subjects…food, which happens to be a favored topic among vegans as we are always exploring vegan food options, comparing prices, reading labels and closely examining the ingredients.  When done correctly and the healthy way, in other words, if you are buying unprocessed vegan food verses processed vegan food, the vegan diet is much less expensive than its animal counterpart.  The average can of organic black beans only costs anywhere from $0.92 at Wal-Mart to $1.29 at Whole Foods; and each can yields up to 24 grams of plant protein, which is amazing, not to mention the high level of dietary fiber per serving.   There is absolutely no animal protein on the market with cancer fighting dietary fiber that yields 24 grams of protein for only $1.29; and better yet, the beauty about black beans is you can easily make your own scrumptious black bean burgers without any of the added preservatives and sodium. 

One of my preferred simple vegan dishes to cook and eat is organic broccoli with beans and rice as it is naturally gluten-free, only costs about $2.75 to make per serving, yields about 12 grams of plant protein per serving, high in dietary fiber, antioxidants and flavonoids.   The key to being vegan on a budget is buying foods that are unprocessed and or minimally processed.  Vegetables, fruits, brown rice, oats, whole wheat-if you are not sensitive to gluten, all beans and legumes including chickpeas also known as garbanzo beans, which yield about 14.5 grams of protein and 12.5 grams of dietary fiber per serving.   

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The vegan lifestyle is absolutely achievable on a budget but you must be willing to be creative and avoid buying the processed vegan foods, as they are extremely expensive, usually loaded with fillers including excessive wheat, sodium and a wealth of junk our bodies do not need to thrive. Focus on buying inexpensive whole foods such as beans and legumes, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains including flaxseed.   If you love hummus as much as I do, you can save a great deal of money and fashion your own hummus from a can of chickpeas and best of all, you can control what is added to it.  You can save a remarkable amount of money by making your own vegan protein shakes instead of paying tons of money every month for the overpriced vegan protein shakes online or at the stores. 

The vegan lifestyle has been a huge blessing to me in numerous ways as I can enjoy life and be a happy vegan on a budget.  Thank you so much for reading my blogs and following me.  Have a lovely day!