Author Topic: Vegan to save money  (Read 7913 times)

ck425

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Vegan to save money
« on: May 17, 2019, 03:40:03 AM »
Hi All,

Obviously there are moral reasons to consider becoming vegan (animal cruelty and global warming), but has anyone here considered becoming vegan to save money? And if so how did you find it?

Metalcat

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2019, 04:20:26 AM »
I switched to mostly vegetarian for ethical reasons and financial reasons. It saves me a ton.

However, being flexible saves me even more, because I'm not limited to only vegan options.

Knapptyme

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2019, 05:19:19 AM »
Yep, but like Malkynn, it's a mostly vegetarian lifestyle. When work has free food at a function, I consider it free sustenance and am not too picky. I haven't tracked expenses closely enough to know how much, but I can see the prices of things (meat) when I go to the store.

A worthwhile note--I also abstain from alcohol consumption for personal and financial reasons (even if it's offered for free). I'm guessing that has a greater impact on one's finances than going vegan would for most people.

habanero

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2019, 05:43:15 AM »
When I cook vegan (or vegetarian) and do a quick cost overveiew most dishes are so cheap it’s laughable. Prices do vary a lot - apparently fruit/veg is where supermarkets make the most money (over here at least) I mostly shop in ethic shops due to the much wider selection and much lower prices than supermarkets.

But it can also wary a lot how much a meat-based diet costs. It’s easy to find cheap cuts most customers don’t want and don’t know how to use.

Vegan or vegetarian shouldn’t matter that much cost-wise and it’s far less limiting at home or elsewhere.

dashuk

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2019, 06:49:50 AM »
If your protein arrives in the form of tinned beans, dried pulses, nuts, seeds, etc, then yes, way cheaper.

If it's in the form of fake meat (Quorn, etc), cheese, and other such processed 'substitute' products, then way more expensive.


Zikoris

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2019, 07:32:46 AM »
I've been vegan for 20+ years and met a lot of vegans, and can 100% say I have never met someone who went vegan to save money - but hey, if you want to, that's great, because vegan food is cheap! I have yet to meet a person in real life whose grocery spending even comes close to ours, and the only people who are even sort of in the ballpark are at least vegetarian.

MadBikePoet

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2019, 09:24:45 AM »
If you're in it just for the money savings, then basing your dietary needs around plant sources rather than animal sources is a good route to go. Dry beans are way cheaper than steak and chicken because they cut out the middle man (or cow or bird in this case). I suggest thinking in terms of what you decide to eat, not what you decide not to eat and to really like your reasons for doing so. I follow a plant based diet. See Michael Pollan (eat food, not too much, mostly plants), but I consider myself an "opportunistic omnivore," so when there are opportunities for some free animal protein at parties or art receptions, I'm all over it.

Of course there are tons of other reasons for choosing to eat what you eat. Along with being frugal, I place a high value on my health. Fortunately a plant based diet scores very well on that metric as well. So, I really love my reasons for choosing this, and when I do decide to buy some meat or consume some animal protein at a function, I love my reasons for doing it. Where I run into challenges is when frugality and health seem to be opposed. For example, some very delicious (to me) but nutritionally bankrupt foods are very cheap sources of blank calories. Stuff like processed cereals and donuts and their ilk. I constantly need to remind myself that limiting my intake of these "treats" is a better choice in the long run since I can always make more money, but I can't undo a bad diet.

socaso

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2019, 09:53:11 AM »
I was a vegetarian for 16 years and it was so much cheaper than a meat based diet. I still plan 2 vegetarian or vegan meals each week to save money and because I like them.

sideHustler

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #8 on: May 17, 2019, 10:04:29 AM »
I find vegan food is far cheaper than the standard American diet... except when it comes to restaurants. Vegan restaurants will bleed you dry.

honeybbq

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #9 on: May 17, 2019, 01:59:16 PM »
I would say meat->vegetarian saves you quite a bit rather than vegetarian->vegan.

Eggs are a great source of protein and are cheap. As is milk, cheese, and other dairy products (compared to meat). Beans and tofu are also quite cheap, but I'd get bored without the flexibility.

Point mentioned before - substitute cheese, butter, meat, etc is usually more expensive than the 'real' thing.

dougules

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #10 on: May 17, 2019, 03:20:02 PM »
I switched to mostly vegetarian for ethical reasons and financial reasons. It saves me a ton.

However, being flexible saves me even more, because I'm not limited to only vegan options.

+1.  I eat a lot of vegetarian meals, but the 80¢/lb after-thanksgiving special on turkeys is hard to beat. 

The big way that eating less meat saves you money, though, is health.  Heart bypasses aren't cheap. 

habanero

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #11 on: May 17, 2019, 04:44:38 PM »
If you go vegan just remember to get Vitamin B-12 one way or another. Without it you go batshit crazy or die. None of that in any plant. Its added to the "milk" (soy/oat/almond/whatever that does not lactate) so normally not a problem.

https://www.vegansociety.com/resources/nutrition-and-health/nutrients/vitamin-b12/what-every-vegan-should-know-about-vitamin-b12

BicycleB

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #12 on: May 17, 2019, 05:16:55 PM »
If your protein arrives in the form of tinned beans, dried pulses, nuts, seeds, etc, then yes, way cheaper.

If it's in the form of fake meat (Quorn, etc), cheese, and other such processed 'substitute' products, then way more expensive.

So true!

Like many here, I rarely buy meat, but do eat a few eggs as well as a goodly amount of beans and vegetables. My biggest cost saving was replacing "milk and cereal" with "rice and beans." The goal was ecology, but it did cause cost savings.
« Last Edit: May 17, 2019, 06:03:08 PM by BicycleB »

Bernard

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #13 on: May 20, 2019, 04:57:37 PM »
My wife and I have been vegetarians for over 25 years, primarily for ethical and, to a lesser degree, health reasons. Our daughter was vegetarian, then vegan for a few years, now she eats white meat and fish on occasion.
Being vegetarian and vegan is expensive, more so if you need to eat out. If you want to save money, buy Happy Meals, cans at the 99 Cent Store, and $1 specials at the local burger joint. If we're on the road and want to eat something, we'll pay many times over that amount. There's few restaurants that serve even rice that hasn't been prepared with chicken broth, or beans that don't contain lard. You'll be using your computer to search high and low for a specialty restaurant.
Becoming vegan to save money?
LMAO!
« Last Edit: May 20, 2019, 05:00:25 PM by Bernard »

Slow2FIRE

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #14 on: May 20, 2019, 06:03:12 PM »
I switched to mostly vegetarian for ethical reasons and financial reasons. It saves me a ton.

However, being flexible saves me even more, because I'm not limited to only vegan options.

+1.  I eat a lot of vegetarian meals, but the 80¢/lb after-thanksgiving special on turkeys is hard to beat. 

The big way that eating less meat saves you money, though, is health.  Heart bypasses aren't cheap.

What does health and heart bypasses have to do with meat?  Sounds like more an issue of gluttony, improper nutrition, lack of exercise, environmental exposure and potentially the misfortune of bad genetics.

Do you have a longitudinal study of people with relatively the same nutrition, body mass index, activity level and similar genetic background (ideally a twin study would be best) to support these claims?

elliha

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #15 on: May 21, 2019, 02:26:05 AM »
I think that the best diet from a financial point of view is a base diet of vegan and/or lacto-ovo-vegetarian dishes with the occasional adding of meat or fish when cheap is the ideal. You can find cheap and good quality meat at times and then it can go in the freezer and be eaten when it suits you. However, on most days you eat cheap vegetarian dishes like rice and beans, pasta and lentil and tomato sauce, vegetable soups etc. If you are not vegan for ethical reasons I would say that eggs and milk are convenient and not very expensive food. I ate like this (only I never ate any meat, just fish) with a base diet of vegan dishes and some with eggs or dairy (mostly cheese, cream or sourcream) and 4-5 times a year I had fish for 11 years and it was cheap, flexible and not too restrictive. I am now married to a man with fish and egg allery, have a son with egg allergy and we all feel that we want meat to be part of our diet but we do tend to eat some vegetarian dishes and I would like to start having 1-2 vegetarian days a week but we have not really managed to get that routine to stick but we do keep it up for a couple of weeks at the time and during Lent when we do not buy meat (but will eat it once a week if there is any in the freezer).

Zola.

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #16 on: May 21, 2019, 05:48:01 AM »
But steak is so lovely.

Metalcat

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #17 on: May 21, 2019, 05:53:52 AM »
But steak is so lovely.

Then have steak.

I cook nearly 100% meat free at home (rare fish a few times a year), but I order meat when I eat at restaurants.
It's not like steak should be a regular part of anyone's day to day diet anyway.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #18 on: May 21, 2019, 06:32:56 AM »
I was recently on an island with vegans and vegetarians who stood for the cooking. The food was absolutely good, but I saw a lot of expensive ingredients, like vegan cheese and vegan everything else.
The cheapest way must be to replace your normal products with vegan products that don't cost a fortune and not try to imitate a normal meat or dairy product.

To save money, I support going for vegetarian, instead of only vegan. It makes your life much easier and you have more choice of food. And if you don't have moral problems with it, be flexible in restaurants.

We are currently eating vegetarian twice a week and maybe we could do it even more often. We just need to get used to it. DH recently made his own veggy burgers from beans, lentils, grated parmezan cheese, an egg and quinoia. Tasted well.

habanero

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #19 on: May 21, 2019, 06:47:51 AM »
vegan cheese and vegan everything else

This I don't get. Its like taking the essence of a produce, make something not even remotely similar and then pretend to be eating the same as the original. My favorite is vegan raclette. The original dish has one ingredient: Cheese. If there is no cheese in it you can call it whatever you want, but it sure as hell ain't raclette.

Its a big "we actually don't know how to cook properly" - statement. There are more than enough actual vegan ingredients growing in nature to make a tasty, nutritious and varied menu. The special vegan section in supermarkets is a big display of products that should not exist.

Khaetra

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #20 on: May 21, 2019, 06:48:40 AM »
I agree with others who say be flexible.  My store recently had big packs of chicken thighs BOGO.  Guess who has a freezer full of thighs :).  Going Vegan may not save money, depending where you live.  Rice and beans themselves are cheap, but you will also need to spend money on ingredients to make sure you get the nutrients you need (whether from other foods or vitamins).  I tried going Vegan, but even working with a nutritionalist and making sure I was eating what I needed to eat I felt like crap, my Iron and B12 levels were in the danger zone and I developed other health issues.  I added meat/fish back and within a month felt (and looked) much better.

GuitarStv

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #21 on: May 21, 2019, 06:56:36 AM »
vegan cheese and vegan everything else

This I don't get. Its like taking the essence of a produce, make something not even remotely similar and then pretend to be eating the same as the original. My favorite is vegan raclette. The original dish has one ingredient: Cheese. If there is no cheese in it you can call it whatever you want, but it sure as hell ain't raclette.

Its a big "we actually don't know how to cook properly" - statement. There are more than enough actual vegan ingredients growing in nature to make a tasty, nutritious and varied menu. The special vegan section in supermarkets is a big display of products that should not exist.

Agreed.  Almonds and soy beans do not lactate.  Therefore, there is no such thing as almond or soy milk.  Call it what it actually is - dirty nut water and bean juice.  Side benefit - no surprises with taste, the flavour will exactly match up with the name.

:P

simonsez

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #22 on: May 21, 2019, 07:14:30 AM »
vegan cheese and vegan everything else

This I don't get. Its like taking the essence of a produce, make something not even remotely similar and then pretend to be eating the same as the original. My favorite is vegan raclette. The original dish has one ingredient: Cheese. If there is no cheese in it you can call it whatever you want, but it sure as hell ain't raclette.

Its a big "we actually don't know how to cook properly" - statement. There are more than enough actual vegan ingredients growing in nature to make a tasty, nutritious and varied menu. The special vegan section in supermarkets is a big display of products that should not exist.
I take it you are not a fan of the Impossible Burger, or even that it exists.  The nerve of vegans trying to emulate animal products they like the taste of with non-animal product substitutes!!!

My wife is vegan and one day she was putting margarine on a piece of toast.  Can you believe her?  I slapped that away from her and told her proper buttered toast is not for vegans.  She's a slow learner but we'll get there. /s

Back to the topic, with creating sauces and in a lot of baking, we go through a ton of nuts, especially cashews.  Buy those in bulk if not already.

habanero

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #23 on: May 21, 2019, 07:29:34 AM »
I take it you are not a fan of the Impossible Burger, or even that it exists. 

Aware and really enjoy it. Because it actually is what it says on the sticker: Tastes like meat, cooks like meat and looks like meat. That's a lot more than can be said about VegMe and "cheese" sold in the vegan shops.

Jenny Wren

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #24 on: May 21, 2019, 07:44:16 AM »
I'm vegetarian bordering on vegan, for environmental reasons (and the simple fact that I just don't like the flavor/texture of meat, particularly beef). My spouse and kids consider themselves flexitarians -- primarily vegetarian with an occasional bit of meat here and there. Both can be as expensive or as cheap as you like. When the family went flex several years ago, our grocery budget went down by about 10%. With two teen boys, that was no small amount.

If you eat a ton of processed food or fast food, vegan or otherwise, it is going to be expensive in both money and health. The only specialty items we get are nut milks, but we have two lactose intolerant people in our fam so that would be the case regardless. Sometimes we make our own. If you eat out of season, it's going to be expensive. I prefer scratch-cooked meals at home that follow the basic recipe of veggies--carb--legume. Stirfries, pasta, flatbreads and wraps, soups, chilies, etc. These are cheap no matter how you like them, even cheaper if you leave out things like meat and cheese. Our meat "substitutes" are cheap, too -- a $1 block of tofu feeds a family of four in a dish. A pound of TVP (I use this in pastas or to make a sausage substitute) is $2/lb from the Winco bulk bins (and it doubles in size when reconstituted), and vital wheat gluten (for making seitan) is also around $2/lb in the bulk bins. Dried beans and legumes, of course, are also cheap.

As for eating out, we tend to opt for Asian takeout, particularly non-chain places with cuisine from Buddhist-heavy countries. There is nearly always a vegetarian or vegan option that cost the same or less than other options. In our area, at least, burritos and tacos are also usually a safe bet at the local chains, with most places having true vegetarian options that don't cost more. And of course, a vegetarian salad is a possibility just about anywhere (and salads are often less expensive "add-on" items, anyway). The Happy Cow app is great for finding places with a decent menu in your budget. Now, if you want to eat out at a McD's or other burger joint, your options will be limited and any veg options will be priced at a premium and weak at best. But really, why would one go to a burger joint if they are vegetarian? It's like going to a sushi place for the ice cream. When traveling, if there is a McD's then there is likely a Subway or similar sandwich shop nearby, just go there instead.

BicycleB

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #25 on: May 21, 2019, 07:56:36 AM »
vegan cheese and vegan everything else

This I don't get. Its like taking the essence of a produce, make something not even remotely similar and then pretend to be eating the same as the original. My favorite is vegan raclette. The original dish has one ingredient: Cheese. If there is no cheese in it you can call it whatever you want, but it sure as hell ain't raclette.

Its a big "we actually don't know how to cook properly" - statement. There are more than enough actual vegan ingredients growing in nature to make a tasty, nutritious and varied menu. The special vegan section in supermarkets is a big display of products that should not exist.

Agreed.  Almonds and soy beans do not lactate.  Therefore, there is no such thing as almond or soy milk.  Call it what it actually is - dirty nut water and bean juice.  Side benefit - no surprises with taste, the flavour will exactly match up with the name.

:P

@GuitarStv, you are a marketing genius.

:)

dougules

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #26 on: May 21, 2019, 10:46:57 AM »
I switched to mostly vegetarian for ethical reasons and financial reasons. It saves me a ton.

However, being flexible saves me even more, because I'm not limited to only vegan options.

+1.  I eat a lot of vegetarian meals, but the 80¢/lb after-thanksgiving special on turkeys is hard to beat. 

The big way that eating less meat saves you money, though, is health.  Heart bypasses aren't cheap.

What does health and heart bypasses have to do with meat?  Sounds like more an issue of gluttony, improper nutrition, lack of exercise, environmental exposure and potentially the misfortune of bad genetics.

Do you have a longitudinal study of people with relatively the same nutrition, body mass index, activity level and similar genetic background (ideally a twin study would be best) to support these claims?

I'd always thought that significant meat consumption was detrimental to your health, but I'm not a nutritionist.  If you know more than I do, feel free to share. 

Jenny Wren

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #27 on: May 21, 2019, 11:27:05 AM »
I switched to mostly vegetarian for ethical reasons and financial reasons. It saves me a ton.

However, being flexible saves me even more, because I'm not limited to only vegan options.

+1.  I eat a lot of vegetarian meals, but the 80¢/lb after-thanksgiving special on turkeys is hard to beat. 

The big way that eating less meat saves you money, though, is health.  Heart bypasses aren't cheap.

What does health and heart bypasses have to do with meat?  Sounds like more an issue of gluttony, improper nutrition, lack of exercise, environmental exposure and potentially the misfortune of bad genetics.

Do you have a longitudinal study of people with relatively the same nutrition, body mass index, activity level and similar genetic background (ideally a twin study would be best) to support these claims?

I don't know what pay walls you can get through to read the studies and I'm not paid to do someone else's research (paywalls and science info is a rant for a different day), but research has shown that Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is a known contributor to heart disease and that it is derived from eating red meat. There was a relatively recent Harvard study on it, last year I believe, so finding info should be relatively easy if you care to do the research. Of course, it likely wasn't a twin study, but the point is that eating red meat in excess, which is defined by more than a couple of times a week, can be a problem. Of course, if you don't eat it more than once or twice a week and follow other healthy eating habits and are otherwise low-risk for heart disease, rock on with your bad self!

All dietary choices can come with risks, particularly if they aren't balanced. But discounting risks just because one doesn't want them to be so doesn't make them disappear. A diet with red meat will expose one to increased TMAO production. You can make choices to minimize the risk and still enjoy red meat, but the risks are still there. Of course, there are also some nutritional benefits to eating red meat. It is up to the individual to weigh the risks and benefits to make an informed choice -- or not, I'm not your mom :)

Note: Please get nutrition info from registered dieticians, not nutritionists or internet weirdos like me. A registered dietician is trained and educated. Nutritionists can be a crap shoot, ranging from excellent to woo-woo, one step up from new age MLM instagram influencer.

habanero

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #28 on: May 21, 2019, 11:42:28 AM »
The general international recommendation - which I for one don't follow - is to limit intake of read meat to 350-500g per week. I would think it's quite far down the list of health risk compared to what an average person consumes and do and don't do (eating too much sugar, not using their body, being overweight, living in a place with bad air etcetcetc)

Slow2FIRE

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #29 on: May 21, 2019, 04:54:19 PM »
I switched to mostly vegetarian for ethical reasons and financial reasons. It saves me a ton.

However, being flexible saves me even more, because I'm not limited to only vegan options.

+1.  I eat a lot of vegetarian meals, but the 80¢/lb after-thanksgiving special on turkeys is hard to beat. 

The big way that eating less meat saves you money, though, is health.  Heart bypasses aren't cheap.

What does health and heart bypasses have to do with meat?  Sounds like more an issue of gluttony, improper nutrition, lack of exercise, environmental exposure and potentially the misfortune of bad genetics.

Do you have a longitudinal study of people with relatively the same nutrition, body mass index, activity level and similar genetic background (ideally a twin study would be best) to support these claims?

I don't know what pay walls you can get through to read the studies and I'm not paid to do someone else's research (paywalls and science info is a rant for a different day), but research has shown that Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is a known contributor to heart disease and that it is derived from eating red meat. There was a relatively recent Harvard study on it, last year I believe, so finding info should be relatively easy if you care to do the research. Of course, it likely wasn't a twin study, but the point is that eating red meat in excess, which is defined by more than a couple of times a week, can be a problem. Of course, if you don't eat it more than once or twice a week and follow other healthy eating habits and are otherwise low-risk for heart disease, rock on with your bad self!

All dietary choices can come with risks, particularly if they aren't balanced. But discounting risks just because one doesn't want them to be so doesn't make them disappear. A diet with red meat will expose one to increased TMAO production. You can make choices to minimize the risk and still enjoy red meat, but the risks are still there. Of course, there are also some nutritional benefits to eating red meat. It is up to the individual to weigh the risks and benefits to make an informed choice -- or not, I'm not your mom :)

Note: Please get nutrition info from registered dieticians, not nutritionists or internet weirdos like me. A registered dietician is trained and educated. Nutritionists can be a crap shoot, ranging from excellent to woo-woo, one step up from new age MLM instagram influencer.

I shall look into this further, because sometimes these increases in negative health outcomes are very marginal and have a tiny chance of happening (even if the relative risk increase is large).

Maybe I'm being a bit pedantic, but the person I quoted did state simply "meat" and not red meat.  I don't personally eat red meat very often due to greenhouse gas concerns more than any other alleged concerns.  However, as you point out, many foods may have risks for individuals and an imbalance of diet tends to be a much larger concern.

For example, does everyone with concerns of marginal negative health impacts avoid all foods cooked over an open flame and avoid coffee?  Maybe - but I personally judge the danger of acrylamide to be very low, especially in the quantities that I am likely consuming.

Jenny Wren

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #30 on: May 21, 2019, 05:45:38 PM »

For example, does everyone with concerns of marginal negative health impacts avoid all foods cooked over an open flame and avoid coffee?  Maybe - but I personally judge the danger of acrylamide to be very low, especially in the quantities that I am likely consuming.

It's funny that you posted this! I was chowing down on some lovely roasted (charred) cauliflower and drinking coffee this morning while writing that, all the while thinking to myself about what a hypocrite I am because of the health warnings on both. Because man, do I love broiled and nearly burned roasted veg and life without coffee isn't life at all! But yeah, we gotta weight our own dietary habits against low-level dangers. If someone is eating a side a beef a month, particularly if it's combined with other risky behaviors, they may want to rethink their habits. If someone has a burger on the weekends and a steak on Friday night, they probably are just fine.





Linea_Norway

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #31 on: May 22, 2019, 03:40:56 AM »
If you go vegan just remember to get Vitamin B-12 one way or another. Without it you go batshit crazy or die. None of that in any plant. Its added to the "milk" (soy/oat/almond/whatever that does not lactate) so normally not a problem.

https://www.vegansociety.com/resources/nutrition-and-health/nutrients/vitamin-b12/what-every-vegan-should-know-about-vitamin-b12

Here is an example of how wrong it can go:

https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/woman-who-had-dementia-for-5-years-turned-out-to-have-a-common-and-reversible-condition/?fbclid=IwAR1hhes9ptfaUiC7bw5FSmNZFvP0mnFC6lqB3MsWZHuNG_H4-PyuLotSj2M

mistymoney

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #32 on: May 22, 2019, 07:52:37 AM »
I've been vegan for 20+ years and met a lot of vegans, and can 100% say I have never met someone who went vegan to save money - but hey, if you want to, that's great, because vegan food is cheap! I have yet to meet a person in real life whose grocery spending even comes close to ours, and the only people who are even sort of in the ballpark are at least vegetarian.

I eat vegan 4-5 days out of the week for health purposes. And feel good about the ethics too! Try to stick to fish, and occasionally game, and avoid factory farmed animals. Pasture raised eggs, no dairy (allergies anyway)

I do not think it saves me any money!

I buy a lot of fresh and frozen organic fruit and some veggies - some frozen veg are regular just cuz not offered by our local food store. I prioritize organic lettuce, celery, carrot, peppers and cabbage. Get regular avos and bananas and most other stuff.

I do try to avoid beans and the processed faux meat! I try to base my meals on nuts and seeds which I think are much healthier than legumes - but way pricier! I don't digest legume particularly well, even though I cook from scratch, soak and sprout for 24-48 hours. I do best with lentils for digestion.

I mix up sprouted lentils and sunflower seeds/almonds for veggie burgers and such. Or large salads with sprouted sunflower seed and raw/soaked pumpkins seeds. All organic on the seeds and nuts.....$$.

But I feel pretty great and look 10+years younger than my age.....so #winning!

mistymoney

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #33 on: May 22, 2019, 07:59:22 AM »
I switched to mostly vegetarian for ethical reasons and financial reasons. It saves me a ton.

However, being flexible saves me even more, because I'm not limited to only vegan options.

+1.  I eat a lot of vegetarian meals, but the 80¢/lb after-thanksgiving special on turkeys is hard to beat. 

The big way that eating less meat saves you money, though, is health.  Heart bypasses aren't cheap.

What does health and heart bypasses have to do with meat?  Sounds like more an issue of gluttony, improper nutrition, lack of exercise, environmental exposure and potentially the misfortune of bad genetics.

Do you have a longitudinal study of people with relatively the same nutrition, body mass index, activity level and similar genetic background (ideally a twin study would be best) to support these claims?

there are a ton of well-done scientific studies on this. of course it is not at a true experiment level as that would be unethical to do.

Google it up and focus only on studies that are included in www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov for the real scientific knowledge.

That is, if you truly want to know, which I think you actually aren't that interested - but if you are...The truth is out there!

Zikoris

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #34 on: May 22, 2019, 09:45:46 AM »
I've been vegan for 20+ years and met a lot of vegans, and can 100% say I have never met someone who went vegan to save money - but hey, if you want to, that's great, because vegan food is cheap! I have yet to meet a person in real life whose grocery spending even comes close to ours, and the only people who are even sort of in the ballpark are at least vegetarian.

I eat vegan 4-5 days out of the week for health purposes. And feel good about the ethics too! Try to stick to fish, and occasionally game, and avoid factory farmed animals. Pasture raised eggs, no dairy (allergies anyway)

I do not think it saves me any money!

I buy a lot of fresh and frozen organic fruit and some veggies - some frozen veg are regular just cuz not offered by our local food store. I prioritize organic lettuce, celery, carrot, peppers and cabbage. Get regular avos and bananas and most other stuff.

I do try to avoid beans and the processed faux meat! I try to base my meals on nuts and seeds which I think are much healthier than legumes - but way pricier! I don't digest legume particularly well, even though I cook from scratch, soak and sprout for 24-48 hours. I do best with lentils for digestion.

I mix up sprouted lentils and sunflower seeds/almonds for veggie burgers and such. Or large salads with sprouted sunflower seed and raw/soaked pumpkins seeds. All organic on the seeds and nuts.....$$.

But I feel pretty great and look 10+years younger than my age.....so #winning!

Well yes, if you choose to buy a ton of fancypants expensive stuff, ANY diet can be expensive. Your diet could consist solely of rice and beans, but if you decided to top every bowl with gold flakes, it would cost a fortune. It sounds like your spending has nothing to do with veganism, and everything to do with your own expensive preferences (and possibly getting duped into bullshit health-food scams).

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #35 on: May 22, 2019, 12:11:36 PM »
I've never gone a week without meat, and sometimes I'm tempted to try just for the sake of trying, but the motivation barrier is high. I once had rice with orange sauce. Really not too bad.

I'm always impressed with ethnic stores, how they sell such large bags of staples like rice and pinto beans. I just wonder what I could handle sticking with the basics, or how much more I'd enjoy even a small-ish six ounce steak at the end of a vegetarian week. It'd be interesting, it's certainly possible.

Nothing particularly vegan here, I love my cheese and I typically prefer meat, but the Impossible meat at Qdoba is becoming my favorite (not exactly cheap, though).

Also worth noting is that a lot of meat gets thrown out, which is really sad. I'm finding meat prices at my main grocery store shoot way down a day or two before the expiration date. Not a bad deal if you need help figuring out what to make for dinner. You get to save money and prevent waste :)

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #36 on: May 22, 2019, 03:38:00 PM »
I've never gone a week without meat, and sometimes I'm tempted to try just for the sake of trying, but the motivation barrier is high. I once had rice with orange sauce. Really not too bad.

I'm always impressed with ethnic stores, how they sell such large bags of staples like rice and pinto beans. I just wonder what I could handle sticking with the basics, or how much more I'd enjoy even a small-ish six ounce steak at the end of a vegetarian week. It'd be interesting, it's certainly possible.

Nothing particularly vegan here, I love my cheese and I typically prefer meat, but the Impossible meat at Qdoba is becoming my favorite (not exactly cheap, though).

Also worth noting is that a lot of meat gets thrown out, which is really sad. I'm finding meat prices at my main grocery store shoot way down a day or two before the expiration date. Not a bad deal if you need help figuring out what to make for dinner. You get to save money and prevent waste :)

Ethnic grocery stores are great for buying anything that that particular ethnicity uses frequently.  Probably the best example is to get spices at an Indian/South Asian grocery store.  You can get a huge bag of cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, etc. for the same price as a tiny little jar at one of the major supermarkets.  As a side note to that, knowing how to use spices effectively can make you not miss the meat in vegetarian dishes. 

Eating meat isn't necessarily binary depending on your motivations.  Just eating it less frequently has a lot of upsides. 

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #37 on: May 22, 2019, 04:11:42 PM »
After living in a mostly Indian neighbourhood for close to a decade, I will never buy spices in those little jars again . . . white people have been getting hosed on those prices for waaaaay too long.  It's insanity.

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #38 on: May 22, 2019, 05:57:35 PM »
I've been vegan for 20+ years and met a lot of vegans, and can 100% say I have never met someone who went vegan to save money - but hey, if you want to, that's great, because vegan food is cheap! I have yet to meet a person in real life whose grocery spending even comes close to ours, and the only people who are even sort of in the ballpark are at least vegetarian.

I eat vegan 4-5 days out of the week for health purposes. And feel good about the ethics too! Try to stick to fish, and occasionally game, and avoid factory farmed animals. Pasture raised eggs, no dairy (allergies anyway)

I do not think it saves me any money!

I buy a lot of fresh and frozen organic fruit and some veggies - some frozen veg are regular just cuz not offered by our local food store. I prioritize organic lettuce, celery, carrot, peppers and cabbage. Get regular avos and bananas and most other stuff.

I do try to avoid beans and the processed faux meat! I try to base my meals on nuts and seeds which I think are much healthier than legumes - but way pricier! I don't digest legume particularly well, even though I cook from scratch, soak and sprout for 24-48 hours. I do best with lentils for digestion.

I mix up sprouted lentils and sunflower seeds/almonds for veggie burgers and such. Or large salads with sprouted sunflower seed and raw/soaked pumpkins seeds. All organic on the seeds and nuts.....$$.

But I feel pretty great and look 10+years younger than my age.....so #winning!

Well yes, if you choose to buy a ton of fancypants expensive stuff, ANY diet can be expensive. Your diet could consist solely of rice and beans, but if you decided to top every bowl with gold flakes, it would cost a fortune. It sounds like your spending has nothing to do with veganism, and everything to do with your own expensive preferences (and possibly getting duped into bullshit health-food scams).

nuts and seeds are fancypants???

check your own bullshit assumptions.

Zikoris

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #39 on: May 22, 2019, 06:42:46 PM »
I've been vegan for 20+ years and met a lot of vegans, and can 100% say I have never met someone who went vegan to save money - but hey, if you want to, that's great, because vegan food is cheap! I have yet to meet a person in real life whose grocery spending even comes close to ours, and the only people who are even sort of in the ballpark are at least vegetarian.

I eat vegan 4-5 days out of the week for health purposes. And feel good about the ethics too! Try to stick to fish, and occasionally game, and avoid factory farmed animals. Pasture raised eggs, no dairy (allergies anyway)

I do not think it saves me any money!

I buy a lot of fresh and frozen organic fruit and some veggies - some frozen veg are regular just cuz not offered by our local food store. I prioritize organic lettuce, celery, carrot, peppers and cabbage. Get regular avos and bananas and most other stuff.

I do try to avoid beans and the processed faux meat! I try to base my meals on nuts and seeds which I think are much healthier than legumes - but way pricier! I don't digest legume particularly well, even though I cook from scratch, soak and sprout for 24-48 hours. I do best with lentils for digestion.

I mix up sprouted lentils and sunflower seeds/almonds for veggie burgers and such. Or large salads with sprouted sunflower seed and raw/soaked pumpkins seeds. All organic on the seeds and nuts.....$$.

But I feel pretty great and look 10+years younger than my age.....so #winning!

Well yes, if you choose to buy a ton of fancypants expensive stuff, ANY diet can be expensive. Your diet could consist solely of rice and beans, but if you decided to top every bowl with gold flakes, it would cost a fortune. It sounds like your spending has nothing to do with veganism, and everything to do with your own expensive preferences (and possibly getting duped into bullshit health-food scams).

nuts and seeds are fancypants???

check your own bullshit assumptions.

On their own? No, but if you're basing a meal on them? Yeah, that's going to cost you a fortune. You do you, but it's kind of crazy to say veganism is expensive solely because you purposely pick the most expensive vegan ingredients in existence.

LG89

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #40 on: May 22, 2019, 08:14:20 PM »
Wow more scaremongering here than I expected. Disappointing.

Agree with Zikoris, been vegan for over a year now and my grocery bills have gone down. It only goes up when I want to eat/serve the fancy vegan stuff (yes the vegan cheeses - how dare I try and eat something similar that doesn't involve unethical acts/cruelty! /s )

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #41 on: May 22, 2019, 08:33:49 PM »
I went vegan, but mostly she just costs me money.

GuitarStv

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #42 on: May 23, 2019, 07:06:51 AM »
Wow more scaremongering here than I expected. Disappointing.

Lol.


vegan cheeses - how dare I try and eat something similar that doesn't involve unethical acts/cruelty!


I'm guessing from your scaremongering comments that you've never spent time working on an actual dairy farm?
« Last Edit: May 23, 2019, 07:30:54 AM by GuitarStv »

mistymoney

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #43 on: May 23, 2019, 07:22:16 AM »
I went vegan, but mostly she just costs me money.

but tastes better, amiright?

Sailor Sam

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #44 on: May 23, 2019, 07:49:42 AM »
I went vegan, but mostly she just costs me money.

but tastes better, amiright?

No complaints, mate!

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #45 on: May 24, 2019, 09:40:23 AM »
I went vegan, but mostly she just costs me money.

:high five:

GuitarStv

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #46 on: May 25, 2019, 08:16:51 AM »
Vegan foods:

- Pringles original
- Oreos thin crisps
- Hershey's chocolate syrup
- Sour patch kids candy
- Fruit by the foot candy
- Ruffles original potato chips
- Lays BBQ and classic chips
- Cracker Jack
- Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili
- Airheads
- Duncan Hines Chewey Fudge Brownie Mix



It's only harder to find vegan junk food because being vegan is very much a fringe thing.  But companies are catching on.  Not being able to easily find vegan junk food is likely to be a very short lived benefit.

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #47 on: May 25, 2019, 09:00:38 AM »
Just an example of how vegan/vegetarian is as cheap & healthy (and as uncomplicated) as you want it to be:

I found myself at Dairy Queen yesterday (not my choice, was with others) for lunch. Choosing vegan was both healthier and cheaper. DQ really has no vegan options, except for the $1.99 side salad with the balsamic dressing. For an extra $1, the cashier threw on a handful of peanuts, some extra tomatoes, and some strawberries. I spent $3.25 on lunch, the people I was with each spent at least $10 on meals plus huge blizzards.

Now, since I'm not 100% vegan, I could have probably made a meal of the processed dairy-containing snacks like cheese curds, pretzel sticks, ice cream/smoothies, etc and spent as much as my friends while loading up on junk.

Also, +1 to keeping snacks on hand (no matter your dietary choices). I keep trail mix, bought in bulk, in a tupperware in my car and I always have a granola bar in my backpack. If hunger hits hard, the snack lets me keep my wits about me so I don't load up on junk food or end up spending cash I didn't plan to spend.

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #48 on: May 25, 2019, 09:23:34 AM »
vegan cheese and vegan everything else

This I don't get. Its like taking the essence of a produce, make something not even remotely similar and then pretend to be eating the same as the original. My favorite is vegan raclette. The original dish has one ingredient: Cheese. If there is no cheese in it you can call it whatever you want, but it sure as hell ain't raclette.

Its a big "we actually don't know how to cook properly" - statement. There are more than enough actual vegan ingredients growing in nature to make a tasty, nutritious and varied menu. The special vegan section in supermarkets is a big display of products that should not exist.

Agreed.  Almonds and soy beans do not lactate.  Therefore, there is no such thing as almond or soy milk.  Call it what it actually is - dirty nut water and bean juice.  Side benefit - no surprises with taste, the flavour will exactly match up with the name.

:P
Exactly. It's insane that any human would consider drinking dirty nut water and bean juice. That's just crazy!

But humans drinking another species' growth fluid that is designed to turn a 70 lb. calf into a 700 lb. cow as fast as possible? What could be more normal? 

:P

mistymoney

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Re: Vegan to save money
« Reply #49 on: May 25, 2019, 09:49:10 AM »
vegan cheese and vegan everything else

This I don't get. Its like taking the essence of a produce, make something not even remotely similar and then pretend to be eating the same as the original. My favorite is vegan raclette. The original dish has one ingredient: Cheese. If there is no cheese in it you can call it whatever you want, but it sure as hell ain't raclette.

Its a big "we actually don't know how to cook properly" - statement. There are more than enough actual vegan ingredients growing in nature to make a tasty, nutritious and varied menu. The special vegan section in supermarkets is a big display of products that should not exist.

Agreed.  Almonds and soy beans do not lactate.  Therefore, there is no such thing as almond or soy milk.  Call it what it actually is - dirty nut water and bean juice.  Side benefit - no surprises with taste, the flavour will exactly match up with the name.

:P
Exactly. It's insane that any human would consider drinking dirty nut water and bean juice. That's just crazy!

But humans drinking another species' growth fluid that is designed to turn a 70 lb. calf into a 700 lb. cow as fast as possible? What could be more normal? 

:P

Don't forget about the blood and pus! Those are the candy and chocolate sprinkles on the sunday!

most in our household have dairy allergies - so we haven't consumed any milk products in quite some time.

However - one of the things I myself found hilarious was the disgusted outcry against icecream made with human breastmilk - this was somehow disgusting and full of untold disease potential.

#weird

We are all so used to what we are used to - some don't realize how malleable our sensibilities are to what we exposed to early in life. Can't step back and question.

This goes for our tastes as well. We are primed, even before birth, to what our family eats. In utero, we become accustomed to the physiological reaction to what our mother's are eating, then to her breastmilk which is affected by her diet, and then to the first foods we are given when hungry. There is a reason why most people tend to eat very similarly to the food they were brought up on.

If you really want to change your food preferences, be very attentive to what you put into your mouth when you are very hungry. You can begin to alter what you crave when hungry. But if you find yourself with some regularity getting very hungry at work or other situation where you don't have a lot of choices, and grabbing a bag of chips from the vending machine - your body will crave that regularly.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!