Save Money And Time With The Vegetarian Lifestyle
While most people think that living a vegetarian lifestyle will cost significantly more, in reality, that line of thinking couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, even on a strict budget you’ll find that you can very easily live and eat the Vegetarian Lifestyle. After all, it doesn’t take big bucks to eat veggie!
Here are the Top 6 Tips For Saving Money:
1) Eliminate meat and you will save A LOT of cash.
Meat is far more expensive than grains and legumes so you can feel good about saving your hard earned money.
2) The more whole plant foods you purchase the LESS your grocery bill will be.
Even a vegetarian diet budget can creep up if you start buying pre-packaged or prepared items because you are basically paying for someone to chop, cut, and prepare food for you.
For example, chopped watermelon in a plastic container costs almost double what you would pay if you just bought the watermelon whole and cut it yourself. So don’t be a lazy vegetarian like Craig Ballantyne! Do your own food prep you will save money.
3) Buy from local farmers and markets that are willing to give you a DEAL.
They typically have better prices overall since you are going directly to the farmer. Plus, farmer’s markets are becoming more and more popular even in large cities.
4) Buy produce that is in season.
Since the produce will be in abundance during this time – the price will be less.
5) Instead of buying and paying for expensive salad dressings, make your own.
You can easily combine a few ingredients such as lemon, honey, salt and herbs and add to your salad for a zesty dressing.
6) Costco! Believe it or not, Costco has great prices on produce and bulk items.
You can get 3 times the amount of organic salad greens for about the same price as going to the regular store and getting the same brand in a smaller bag.
The Vegetarian Lifestyle is CONVENIENT
Another common misconception of the vegetarian lifestyle is that it takes way TOO MUCH TIME to follow.
Simply by setting aside a block of time to prepare your meals, the Vegetarian Lifestyle is just as easy and convenient as any other weight loss meal plan – only you don’t have to cook 10 chicken breasts at a time with our plan!
I love PREPARING MY MEALS at home.
When I make a meal, I make enough for several more meals so I can take it with me to work and so I don’t have to cook again. When I need to rush out of the house, I put my already prepared food in a Tupperware container, put it in an insulated lunch box with an ice pack and my next meal is ready to go. Now I can eat anytime, anywhere.
This is just as easy as making your lunch on any other diet plan – but again, you don’t have to spend a lot of time and money on expensive meat dishes. Most of what I eat doesn’t need to be heated up. Plus, the less heating involved in preparation means you will get more nutrients from your food.
If you must eat out…
…Most restaurants cater to vegetarians since it is more common. 
Restaurants are willing to accommodate you by making changes to the meal. You just need to ask. Seriously, it is NOT an inconvenience. When I go to restaurants, they almost always are happy to add a sliced avocado or other toppings to my salad. Just ask!
Grocery shopping is simple and convenient as well.
After all, every grocery store has a well-stocked produce section. And these days conventional grocery stores and the growing number of health food stores all carry convenient foods for vegetarians that don’t need much preparation.
All in all, it’s pretty easy to stick to the Veggie Lifestyle. So, go ahead and give it a try, even if it’s only one day a week to start out with!
Kardena Pauza
Author of, Easy Veggie Meal Plans
One of the first things I started to do was eat ALL my veggies raw, yes that’s right RAW, the earth that our food is grown in is so toxic that there’s almost no goodness left in it by cooking it we lose almost everything worth having, the results are fantastic..
I’ve been on a vegetarian diet now for 1 1/2 months now and I am loving it, I decided to give the vegetarian lifestyle a try again, this is my third time to go vegetarian, the other times I was younger and not ready to give up meat since that is all I knew how to get my protein from, Kardena, I’m a no grain, raw foodist, vegetarian now and I am loving it I was getting tired of cooking that meat and having to try to get all the animal fat off of my dishes and the smell out of my apartment, the reason that I went to vegetarian is ten days going into Thanksgiving I went on the Master’s Cleanse diet and coming off the cleanse you can not eat any meat for two extra weeks, so I said it does not make any sense to go back eating meat being off of for over three weeks and I feel better without the meat my skin is clearer and I don’t feel stuffed after I eat or gassy, which I hated feeling like that. Kardena & family have an enlightened prosperous and wonderful New Year! P.S. Thank You for Easy Veggie Meal Plans! Yvonneladynredd, God Bless you!
Hello Ian,
That’s a great point. This maximizes the amount of nutrients you are giving your body, also you save money on your gas or electric bill from not cooking. And less supplements needed since you are getting them from your food!
Kar
Hello Yvonne,
Yes you have to be ready mentally to go vegetarian. I never ever thought I would be vegetarian. But my body was telling me otherwise so I became open minded to the idea of being vegetarian. Congratulations on your evolution and feeling healthier and glowing! Thank you for the well wishes and you have a wonderful, prosperous 2010 also. blessings, Kar
These are great tips. I personally love shopping at costco. I can get a big tub of organic greens, and another big tub of baby spinach for about what 1 small bag would cost at the grocery store. They are getting more and more organic items all the time!
Hi Julie,
Cool, you’ve found your way through all the junk in Costco and found the good stuff! Exciting the changes that are happening.
Kardena
i add ‘crunchy combo sprouts’ to my smoothies every day, they’re a mix of mung beans, lentils, and peas. they were on special the other day so i bought heaps and thought i’d try freezing them, and it worked really well! so now i have a great supply on hand…
Wow! You got me on this one! That’s a new ingredient for my smoothie’s I’ll have to try.
Thanks for sharing!
Well, I started out at Trader Joes and Whole Foods and my grocery bill actually went up!!! But I will try the local growers and see how that works for my family. I will keep you all posted.
Please do
I am having a problem….what shall I eat for Breakfast…I need some ideas fast
I was happy when I came across your article on vegetarian lifestyle. I have been struggling with how to lose my belly fat after I had my third & last baby. I have removed meat from my diet. With this I know I will get d body of my dream. Keep me posted please.
Hi Rhoda,
Excellent! Vegetarian is a healthy option, just remember to eat reasonable portions.