Vegetarian on a Budget
In many family budgets, one of the biggest food expenses is often meat. So in theory at least becoming a vegetarian should be an outstanding financial maneuver. In theory, if all you ate was rice and vegetables, you should be able to live for very little.
But theory and reality are often far apart from each other. Because the culture of vegetarian living has developed so many high quality foods to fill the gap left behind by a good steak or a plate of barbeque ribs, you can spend as much or more on your vegetarian lifestyle as you did when you were a meat eater. The high cost of living as a vegetarian is not entire attributable to gourmet foods however.
The truth is if you are going to live in day in day out and month in month out on a vegetarian diet, not only do you need some high quality foods to substitute for taking a whole food group out of your diet, you need variety. The quality is needed because its your health on the line if you don’t get the proper nutrients. The diversity is needed because if you get bored with the vegetarian lifestyle, you may quit and give up. And nobody wants that.
Another reason that the cost of vegetarian eating is often higher than a "normal" diet comes from the fact that vegetarians are still in the minority. So prepared vegetarian foods and vegetarian only restaurants are rare. And to be able to make a profit, these specialty stores must charge a lot because they are specialty stores. Unfortunately, even though we see the vegetarian community as a supportive one, if you are going to be able to afford the vegetarian lifestyle, you are going to have to learn to cut costs.
Cutting costs means eliminating shopping at "boutique" vegetarian markets and no more eating out. Or at least it means cutting down on the eating out significantly. You can buy fresh vegetables and fruits at farmers markets or grocery stores that are just as valid as vegetarian options as any you get as a specialty store. Using a good food processor and other means, you can chop, dice, boil and puree just about any kind of vegetarian meal that you might be able to imagine getting in a restaurant. And at a much lower cost. Not only that but the leftovers can go into a compost pile to make fertilizer for your garden when you can grow your own vegetables next spring.
That "grower to consumer" market that often surfaces as a farmer's market is a great way to save lots of money also because you are buying your produce directly from the farmer and you cut the grocery store out of the loop entirely. One way to make sure you capitalize on every opportunity to buy inexpensive produce is to work as a community. Get about a dozen vegetarian families working together to always be on the lookout for a great buy. One might find a small farmer's market or roadside stand that is selling produce far below grocery store prices. Another might find a farmer who will basically give his food away just to clear the field. With some coordination, you could field an army of vegetarians to grab those bargains while they are fresh and stock everybody's kitchen with low cost fresh produce.
These are just a few of many ways you can find to save money on your vegetarian groceries and still have just as much quality but without as much cost. By shopping smart and shopping for bargains, you can live the vegetarian life and feel good about it because you are not only healthy, you are smart.
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Be a Good House Guest and a Good Vegetarian When you are learning the ropes of your new lifestyle of ...
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But What if Your Sweetheart Loves Meat? The vegetarian culture is one that fosters a certain "snootiness" because of our ...
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Getting Restaurants in on the Act Its one thing to move into a vegetarian discipline when it comes to preparing ...
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How to Not Miss Meat Even if your reasons for turning toward a vegetarian lifestyle are moral, ethical or religious, ...
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Is It Time for an Intervention? "Guess what mom and dad, I'm a vegetarian!" If those words would strike terror ...
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It’s a Diet AND a Community Becoming a vegetarian is about a lot more than just changing what you eat. ...
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Life Without Meat Becoming a vegetarian is about a lot more than just a change to your diet. It is ...
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Little Secrets Vegetarians Know Most people who don’t know anything about the vegetarian lifestyle think that is must be pure ...
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Living With Meat Eaters Sometimes the biggest obstacle you face when you make a decision to become a vegetarian is ...
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Low Fuss Vegetarian Cooking "I can't become a vegetarian because I don't have the time to work up complicated vegetarian ...
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Soup Skills of Vegetarians If anything could be considered the heart of great vegetarian cooking it would be the soup. ...
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The Good of Vegetarianism Sometimes the only thing really holding you back from making the big step of becoming a ...
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The "How" of Vegetarianism Sometimes the real obstacle of making that big change in your life to becoming a vegetarian ...
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The Lifestyle of a Vegetarian One of the biggest injustices that the vegetarian movement has endured is that in popular ...
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The Passion and the Hobby of Vegetarianism It is going to take some effort to make the transition to a ...
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The Rules of Being a Vegetarian Becoming a vegetarian is not like joining a club or enlisting in an army. ...
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The Social Vegetarian Whenever you make a major change in your lifestyle, having a strong support group around you is ...
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The Teenage Vegetarian Because the younger generation is often more in touch with world culture than adults, teenagers are in ...
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The Vegetarian Mom to Be Whether you are already a vegetarian and have learned you were pregnant or you are ...
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The Vegetarian Quality of Life It is unfortunate that many people are not very understanding of why it is difficult ...
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Vegetarianism the Easy Way "Make it easy on yourself." I like that phrase. And it’s a good motto for learning ...
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Vegetarian on a Budget In many family budgets, one of the biggest food expenses is often meat. So in theory ...
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Vegetarians are NOT Crazy One of the things that often holds up a lot of people from considering a lifestyle ...
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Will Vegetarianism Change the World? We all fear change. And when we see a "movement" start to get momentum in ...
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Your Vegetarian Baby Most of us have to make a transition from a meat eating diet to a vegetarian one. ...
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Disclaimer
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site is a common sense guide to Vegetarian on a Budget. In practical advice websites, like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made. Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their individual circumstances to act accordingly.
This site is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
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Be a Good House Guest and a Good Vegetarian
But What if Your Sweetheart Loves Meat?
Getting Restaurants in on the Act
How to Not Miss Meat
Is It Time for an Intervention?
It’s a Diet AND a Community
Life Without Meat
Little Secrets Vegetarians Know
Living With Meat Eaters
Low Fuss Vegetarian Cooking
Soup Skills of Vegetarians
The Good of Vegetarianism
The "How" of Vegetarianism
The Lifestyle of a Vegetarian
The Passion and the Hobby of Vegetarianism
The Rules of Being a Vegetarian
The Social Vegetarian
The Teenage Vegetarian
The Vegetarian Mom to Be
The Vegetarian Quality of Life
Vegetarianism the Easy Way
Vegetarian on a Budget
Vegetarians are NOT Crazy
Will Vegetarianism Change the World?
Your Vegetarian Baby
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