How to Eat Vegetarian on the Cheap

Sally, a guest poster at Get Rich Slowly, wrote a wonderful article on eating vegetarian on the cheap.

I'm a vegan myself, and I think her article is a great introduction to vegetarian eating in general and how it can save you money (meat is expensive!).

Her top strategy is to eat locally-produced foods as often as possible, which is also great in reducing oil consumption and global warming. She and her husband do this in three ways:

1. Shop at the local farmers market.
2. Purchase local foods through joining a community-supported agriculture program, or CSA.
3. Pick them ourselves.

She has a few other great tips as well:

1. We buy frequently-used items in bulk at Costco and, if those foods will spoil too quickly, split the items and the cost with friends.
2. We make liberal use of cheap vegetarian proteins: four servings of organic tofu will set you back $2; beans are even cheaper than that.
3. We attempt to keep our meals as empty of refined foods as possible.
   
4. We freeze leftovers in individual-sized, labeled containers.
5. Last, and possibly the least intuitive, we buy high-quality, high-cost items when doing so will mean the difference between an okay meal and a great one.

See also:
Get Healthy and Fit, Part 1