Vegan on a Budget + Grocery Shopping Tips & Tricks
Have you been intimidated by turning vegan or attempting plant based but you think veganism is expensive? Or maybe you are vegan but feel you spend way too much on vegan alternatives. I myself am guilty of over spending.
Well I am here to help with a couple tips and tricks on how to save money while shopping for vegan products. As an example I went to the most affordable grocery store there is and no it is not Trader Joe’s. Although Trader Joe’s is high on the list. I went to The Grocery Outlet! I know not everyone has access to a Grocery Outlet but they do have locations all over the U.S and a ton of them in California, so I thought I’d start here.
(scroll to the bottom of this post to get straight to other tips and tricks outside of The Grocery Outlet)
I went to The Grocery Outlet this weekend and spent $25 on a handful of fresh produce, vegan cheeses, impossible patties, vegan beef, tostadas (not imaged) and vegan dressing.
Guess how much I saved? I saved a whopping $32.88 when comparing these items to the actual price in regular grocery stores!!
A lot of people don’t know this but The Grocery Outlet is gold for big names vegan brands that are 50-80% off! I bet you’re wondering how they have these items for such a low price.. something must be wrong with them right? Nope! Think of The Grocery Outlet like the food version or Home Goods or Marshall’s. A lot of food companies over produce a product and even mess up logos. Often times a company might have a typo on a package and may have mass produced hundreds of the item, not realizing. It can also be as simple as a color palette on a package no longer aligning with what they had envisioned. Instead of throwing them out, they will go to discount stores like The grocery outlet. Another reason being, they might expire soon.. so the only negative is that you need to check the expiration date on each item you purchase.
It’s so easy to spend less than $30 and get a full meal prep for 1-2 weeks. They have all the basics you’ll need. From a variety of non dairy milks, creamers, coffee, frozen meals, vegan cheeses, non dairy yogurt, canned goods and cheap fresh organic produce.
I took photos of some items that I didn’t end up purchasing; just so you guys could get an idea of some items they do have.
As you can see from the images all of the non dairy milks and creamers range from 98 cents to $1.99 and there is even a wide range of all the cold brew coffees that tend to be $7.00 in other stores.
This is the area I scored in! 2 for $5.00 impossible meat and frozen Gardein meals? SCORE!!
10 count of Beyond Meat burgers for $7.99? an even bigger score!!
As you can see The Grocery Outlet has so many vegan alternatives nearly 80% of their regular price. I walked out with pounds of vegan beef, feta cheese, sliced cheese, tostadas, organic bell peppers, zucchini, cucumber, radish, tomatoes, mango and onion all for $25.00— which would have normally been nearly $60.00.
The fun part about it The Grocery Outlet is that the products are never consistent, just like Home Goods! Your location might have different vegan options than my location. Next week they will have more and different items than they did this week. Every time I go there it’s as fun as going thrifting to be honest. You never know what good finds you’ll get.
Tips and Tricks for shopping vegan on a budget regardless of what Grocery Store you are going to:
Every Sunday think about the meals you want to make for that week. Try to come up with ideas where you can use the same ingredients in creative ways.
For example, with what I purchased at The Grocery Outlet for $25.00 I will be making tostadas, nourishing bowls (with the produce), beef stir fry and veggie stir fry for the week. I will also be using the feta, cucumber and radish for a recipe.
Another example, I forced myself to use this tactic last week and I had 1 can of chickpeas some vegan Italian sausage and marinara sauce. The first day I had some regular pasta, the next day i had red lentil pasta, chickepeas and sausage doused in marinara, the same night I used the same can of chickpeas to roast and have as a snack. I made sure to use each ingredient for a whole new idea every meal.
If you shop somewhere else go the grocery stores website and look at what deals they have and re arrange what you are going to eat based on those discounts.
For example, when I go to sprouts I look at the 2 for 5.00 deals. When the Mushroom or Vegetable Broth is 2 for $5.00 I will use it for a stew one night, to make gravy the next night and a broth for rice the next night. Sprouts also has deals in Impossible Meat fairly often and when they do I am sure to pick that up as well. It is super easy to look at the weekly deals for the store nearest you.
If you want to test out vegan cheeses, meats and non dairy milks but don’t want to pay full price to experiment; go to The Grocery Outlet nearest you! Whats the harm in spending only $10.00 for some vegan cheese, vegan meat and soy milk?
If you have been vegan long enough to not need to rely on vegan alternatives get creative with produce, grains, pastas, legumes, beans. You can get more bang for your buck. They key is to not buy these products at Whole Foods and although Sprouts is a bit cheaper, avoid it. Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Food 4 Less and The Grocery Outlet all have organic produce for a cheap price and you can get triple the amount of produce for the same price as you would going to somewhere more expensive like Whole Foods and Sprouts.
A lot of people don’t like to hear this one buuuuut… you have more at home than you think you do. Raid your pantry and really take a step back to think about what you can make, without buying more.
For example, beans are usually a staple and if you are only waiting to eat them until you have a burrito or taco night; you are doing it all wrong. Black beans are sooooo good for breakfast when you toss them into a tofu scramble. You can also make a cold bean salad with anything you have. I use kidney beans, black beans, corn and sometimes even chickpeas; toss them into some balsamic vinaigrette and into the fridge. This is so good and an easy lunch or snack idea that’ll last you a few days. You can roast up some chickpeas and put them into a nourishing bowl or on top of a salad. Another idea is to mash up white beans with so vegan mayo, garlic, salt and pepper and toss it on some toast. The options with beans are endless and the sooner you realize this, the more your pocket while grocery shopping will thank you!
Freeze and store your meals!! I know this should be common knowledge but sometimes people aren’t aware of how much you can save by making items shelf lives longer; simply by stashing them in the fridge. I do this with fresh veggies that are about to go old, canned goods like water-chestnuts and bamboo shoots, bread, corn tortillas (this has saved my life!!), sauces, etc.
I hope these tips will help you and give you ideas on how to save more money. If you use any of these tricks tag me on in your grocery haul and let me see how much you saved!!
Note: All of my opinions about The Grocery Outlet are strictly my own and I am not sponsored, endorsed or in any way connected to the business.
