Holly White's top tips for saving money on a plant-based diet
Plant-based chef and author Holly White shares her top tips for saving money as a vegan
Recently, I cut meat from my diet for a week to see if I would save on my food bill.
I ended up saving about €15 over the course of the week — or €60 for a family of four.
With the cost of living crisis leading us all to make cuts where we can to save money, I decided to ask plant-based chef and author Holly White for some of her perils of wisdom for saving money on a plant-based diet.
Unlike their meat and dairy counterparts, many plant-based groceries such as plant-based milks and protein sources like legumes and beans, have a very long shelf life. This means you can buy them in-bulk when they're on offer.
"I always buy my plant-milks on offer," she says, adding that 2-for-1 deals are very common on these products.
No matter what diet you're on, taking advantage of your freezer space (if you can), is a common tip.
"It's cheaper and there's much less chance of food waste," Holly says.
"I can get gorgeous organic produce much more reasonably, frozen."
"I take an hour on a Sunday to make some quinoa, hummus, roasted vegetables and [prepare] some tofu or tempeh, and that will form the base of my lunches throughout the week."
Holly says this tends to be very cost-effective, as well as time-effective.
"Place a bag or tupperware in to your freezer and any time you are chopping up vegetables, place the odds and ends into that bag. When you're ready, boil them up and make your own stock, which you can use as a base for soups, curries and casseroles."
If you love your coffee, Holly advises investing in a coffee maker and/or a milk frother.
Unfortunately, many cafés will charge you an extra 50c to get a plant-based milk instead of cows milk.
"I make it myself at home now," she says. "Over the course of a month an extra 50c can add up."
