Whether you’ve already made the transition to veganism or you’ve been doing it for a while, there’s no doubt that the movement is on the rise. Recent data from Waitrose suggests that one in eight Britons are now vegetarian or vegan – with a further 21% significantly reducing the amount of meat they eat on a weekly basis.

The truth is that there’s never been a better time to make the switch. Finding go vegan options on a restaurant menu or even in a supermarket may have been a difficult and lonely task a decade or so ago, but not today. One myth remains however – that going vegan is expensive.

In truth, it can work out much, much cheaper than eating a meat and dairy-based diet. Here are four easy ways to keep vegan costs down.

Also Read: 10 Healthy Foods That Reduce Stress

Keep it simple

A vegan diet is, in principle, built around some of the cheapest foods around. While posher plant-based products may come at a premium, staples such as fruit, vegetables, lentils, grains and beans should come in at a snip of the price you were paying before for your weekly shop.

Stick to these and you won’t need to waste hours reading the small print on food labels. You’ll be incredibly healthy, too.

Buy in bulk

One of the best things about a lot of those vegan staples is that they’re easy to store and built to last. That means you can buy them in bulk – and shave a significant amount of money off your bill by doing so.

Look for the largest available sizes of rice, lentils, and oats and so on and stock up. Your best bet may be a local wholesale food store.

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Image by Andy Delecluyse from Pixabay

Make your own

If you enjoy the finer things in life, you may need to weigh up your financial options to decide which luxuries you can allow yourself and which you’ll have to let go. If gourmet vegan treats are off the menu, it’s possible to make a lot of them yourself at a cut price.

Have a go at making your own nut butter in a food processor and using it as flavouring in soups, salads or stir fry sauces. It’s also easy to make your own energy bars and granolas, while controlling exactly what you add in as you go.

Embrace Frozen Produce

Guess what’s cheaper than fresh fruit and vegetables? The frozen stuff. It’s frozen soon after harvesting and retains all its nutritional value and can easily be brought back to life with a little seasoning.

You can also experiment with freezing any fresh items that are close to going off. Frozen fruit for example works even better than the fresh stuff in smoothies.

Do you have concerns about fully go vegan? Put a few of the tips above on cheap eating into practice, and you’ll have one less thing to worry about.