In case this has not already become apparent from my general behaviour and throw-away comments, I am a student living away from home. This means that I do all my own cooking, which is in part what allowed me to make the change to become veggie, and eventually vegan. Unfortunately transport has always been a bit of a problem for me, so my shopping habits (and therefore eating habits) aren't always ideal. In addition to this, I often end up spending more money than I should on groceries, because I buy from wherever is closest. I will also admit that I have been relying a bit heavily on pre-made meat analogues, just because it's convenient.
I didn't really think much of it until I had a conversation with a friend who had gone vegetarian for Lent. He mentioned that his grocery bills were much lower than in the past, particularly since he ate legumes rather than meat or meat analogues. He then asked if being vegan worked out cheaper for me than being vegetarian (the logic being that I no longer spend money on milk, cheese and yoghurt)... and I had to admit that I really didn't think so. In fact, I suspect my grocery bills are higher than they were when I was veg.
The reason for this being, of course, that a lot of vegan products available in other countries are only available here at a greatly inflated price, if you can get them at all... A 200g block of vegan mozzarella will set me back around R60, whilst dairy mozzarella costs that much PER KILO. Not to mention the food miles... Fortunately soy milk and meat analogues are less expensive, thanks to my two preferred brands (MA Milk Alternative by Good Hope International Beverages and Fry's, respectively), and both brands manufacture their products locally (yay lower food miles!). But I still feel I can cut costs even further.
After this conversation with my friend, I decided that this year will be the year that I cut way back on highly processed (and expensive) products, particularly non-local ones, and focus on fresh produce, legumes and whole grains instead. Having my veggie sister now living with me, finally having a car and wanting to lose a bit of weight definitely adds to my resolve. And lastly, there's a Korean store, a Chinese store, and an Indian wholesale store (spices and legumes) close to my house, and a farmer's market-type store (Fruit and Veg City, for other South Africans :P) within driving distance. So I really have no excuse.
In the spirit of saving some other people money too, I'm hoping to post some recipes and meal ideas that I have found are both tasty and affordable. If anyone else has anything they'd like to share, let me know :)
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