The Cost Of Going Veg

I'm sure that my fellow vegetarians/vegans out there have been asked more than their fair share of times "isn't being vegetarian/vegan so much more expensive?!"

I just had to share this eye opening experience from the grocery store this afternoon...

While standing in line to check out, I discretely scanned the items on the conveyor belt for the woman checking out in front of me.  She had no more items than I did, and about the same amount of bags in her cart at the end.  Her order consisted of about a dozen varieties of meat products (from cold cuts to steaks to chicken cutlets, etc.), barely any produce in sight and tons of processed, sugar laden foods, snacks, cereals, etc.  I almost fell over when the cashier finished ringing everything up and announced her total - $450!!!

 For some reason, this made me anxious.  I did have more than usual in my cart today, since my parents are staying with us for the week and I was shopping for 4 instead of 2.  But my total couldn't be that high, could it?  I nervously kept my hand on my credit card as the cashier rang up my order, thinking I was going to need to use it for a "blowing my grocery budget out of the water" emergency. Then, she announced the total - $115.  Phew!

Here's a snapshot of everything that I got:

I try to eat a diet that consists of mostly whole foods and buy organic as much as I can.  Snacks are almost always a fruit or vegetable, and anything that I can prepare myself rather than buying store bought, I will.  There aren't coupons for most of the items that I buy, yet I still manage to keep the costs in check.  Not only does eating this way apparently save me a LOT of money at the grocery store, it will also save me a lot on healthcare costs in the long run!

So no, it certainly is not more expensive to eat a vegetarian/vegan diet.  You'll save money in the check-out line, and God willing you'll be avoiding medical expenses and hospital bills in the long run.  You won't end up having to pay for medications for things like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.  And, I guarantee you will feel more energetic, light and healthy every single day!  

Weigh in! What tips and tricks do you have for saving money at the grocery store?