I am going to give you all the knowledge I have on being a vegan on a really tight budget.

I went vegan when I was about 15 I believe. I am 28 now. I have a pretty huge amount of knowledge on how to swing the vegan lifestyle while completely poor. For me, it was never an option to give up. I am just a bleeding heart, sensitive soul and watched some videos on factory farming and went vegetarian straight away. Then I watched some on the dairy industry and realized I was being a hypocrite so I went vegan.

That being said I understand that not everyone is simply 100% comitted straight away.

I am also not in any way judging. I cry if I accidentally kill a tiny bug and cry at the mere thought of an animal dying. That is not the norm, I get that. :) And I know a lot of people get discouraged when they feel they can't afford the vegan diet. (probably much how I feel when I try to go RAW vegan) So, hopefully my ideas will help you and if people seem to be into it I can start posting affordable recipes regularly.

I'll start by showing you my dinner for tonight.

This was a bag mix of 2 types of lentils, rice, and dehydrated veggies. It costs a bit over $2 per bag. I used two bags (not realizing how much it'd expand with the rice) and added 2 small potatoes, ($4 for a 5lb bag) and a can of corn from ALDI (50 cents) This made a huge crockpot full of food. I had 3 decent sized bowls today (it's all I ate, I am lazy and poor also atm!) and I have enough to probably eat 3 decent sized bowls tomorrow and still have 2 or 3 more after that. This makes the cost per meal INSANELY low. Like, 30 something cents per bowl.

Nobody can argue that $0.33 per bowl is not cheap.

and you can obviously throw whatever you want in there. Spinach for added nutrients. Onion would be good. Just be creative and also use what you have on hand. I make mystery pots of stew/soup all the time and they're usually great.

Also, save your veggies scraps and use them later to make your own broth to flavor your soups! All those carrots butts, and pieces of onion, and parts of peppers, will add a lot of dimension to your cheap meals. I never throw away scraps!

Avocado. If it's in season, eat it often, daily even!

I am only aware of the stores in my area but if you hunt around you should be able to find out which store has them cheapest. For me, it's ALDI and they are 60 cents. This is a super healthy, GOOD fat and just sprinkling some salt and eating with a spoon is great and gives you 300 of your needed calories. Although, as you see from the meal above, it really isn't hard to get calories as a vegan.

Stir fries are amazing and can be very cheap.

This was simply fried turnip greens, mushrooms, and canned green beans.

I got a huge thing of mushrooms at wal mart (I try to avoid wal mart but ended up there at like 12am) for like 3.99 and the a very big bag of turnip greens for $3. I used olive oil from ALDI which was cheap but I can't remember how cheap, regardless I hardly used any and it doesn't change the price of this meal much, I'll say 20 cents. I ended up making 4 bowls of this and had a bunch of turnip greens left over. You could again use onion here, or whatever veggies on hand. By making the bulk the stirfry turnip greens, it ended up very cheap and could be combined with quinoa which can be cheap if you buy it in bulk, or brown rice, or white rice. I ate it on it's own but it you used rice you could stretch the meal even more. I can't eat tofu due to my IC but to add protein, in the past, I would definitely add some tofu to this. (tofu can be cheap at some places, again hunt around, try looking for an Asian market near you, sometimes they have really good prices on tofu!)

Before I got IC (which makes my diet way limited) I did a LOT of Asian foods. Here's a pics of some:

The noodles btw are this brand and I found them at walmart for SO CHEAP. I think like 30 cents. :O I think they have one other vegan flavor.

Here are some other Asian soups I made using ingredients from the Asian market. (So cheap. Try to find one near you, and check to see if they have curry paste because those tiny jars of green curry paste you get at the grocery store are a HUGE rip off when you see that you can get like 3lbs for $7)

Now that I have IC I do a lot of roasted veggies. Here are pics of some of those. (For chickpeas I get raw bags and make em in a crock pot. Canned works too but cheaper to get bulk raw, you can make a ton and then tupperware em and eat em on salads and with veggies all week)

Also, nut butters on toast or avocado on toast makes for some filling meals.

Some more super cheap, canned veggie/on hand veggie/raw bean/legume crock pot creations:

And of course, the only thing we vegans eat ;), salad:

So, I would say the most affordable thing is the crock pot creation. I would make huge pots and tupperware them and eat em for supper for about 4 days and then make a new creation. You can change up the flavor a lot with different seasonings. Sometimes I use curry to make it taste a lot different if I am tired of the same ole'. But also eat a diverse breakfast and lunch.

Some other cheap vegan foods.

• oatmeal
• pasta with red sauce
• chili (serve with bread or tortilla chips)
• mashed potatoes
• flatbread (toufayan is SO cheap)
• hummus
• homemade black bean patties

Oh, and a tip for if you like compact fast nutrient packed snacks on the go. All the Clif bars are vegan. Even the builder bars!

As you can see, being vegan can be cheap and diverse. I have many more meals I didn't even share just because I didn't want this to be the never-ending post and because the older the meals are the harder it is for me to find pics on my PC but I tried to illustrate a decent variety for you guys. :) I hope this can help some people who need some direction with veganism.

Some important tips.

• Eat nuts a lot if you need extra protein, also remember the beans and legumes, and tofu if you want, or just edamame.

• Try getting fortified milks, like coconut milk with added calcium. Also consider a calcium supplement.

*Take a B12 supplement EVERY day.

• Look into flaxseed oil for omegas.

*Consider getting some spirulina/wheatgrass and add it to your diet for added nutrients.

*Find a vegan multivitamin.

It actually isn't hard at all to get protein. You can also find vegan protein supplements to make smoothies. I forgot to post smoothie pics but I used to drink those daily. (can't now) If you get large frozen bags of fruit it can be pretty affordable and you can add protein powder!

Ah here's one, not the best pic:

Bananas are SO cheap! I buy them and cut em myself and freeze them or smoothies. Then you can just add a bit of berries and some vegan milk and you're good to go. You can also look into making your own milk at home for way cheaper. Rice milk is very cheap to make but I haven't mastered that yet.

Oh, and vegan pancakes are super cheap and amazing, obviously.

Okay, I am finished or real this time. I hope this helps. Don't be intimidated by the crock pot, it's actually great for lazy people. Also, biggest tip for the lazy vegan. Meal plan. Make more than enough and freeze or refrigerate it. :)

Oh, and burritos are really cheap and great for lazy people too. Okay, okay. Bye. <3