Vegan Goodness:
Today we ate:
- Trader Joe’s “cheerios” with sliced strawberries (CSA) and soymilk and peanut butter toast (for mom) and Smoothies for LP and his dad.
- Amy’s no-cheese burrito for lunch (since I left the house so focused on grading papers I forgot to pack lunch!)
- Almonds and corn chips for a snack
- Crackers and tofutti cream cheese for a later post-graduation snack
- Vegan BLT’s for dinner (with tofu bacon, CSA tomato, lettuce and radishes for some spicy crunch)
- Plain yogurt with agave for dessert
Money Matters:
During the month of June we have a bigger budget than we will in July. This is partially because I am still working, and there are costs that come with that (transportation, classroom materials, meeting co-workers for weekly Friday breakfast, etc.) So, rather than be completely limited by our “Year of Family” budget, we are simply trying to be more aware of our spending this month, and trying to cut down on “extras.”
Today we spent the following:
- $14.36 for food to bring to my classroom advisory party (this also included the aforementioned Amy’s burrito for 3.00 – I’m so mad I forgot to pack lunch!)
Friday Tips for Living Vegan and Living Cheap:
No matter what lifestyle change you are making, build in some “treats” for yourself. Life is not about feeling deprived – it is about finding abundance in your options!
As a vegan I often have people ask me how I became vegan, and how I gave up specific things (like meat, cheese, etc.). You can read about my personal vegan story here, but one important component of my transition to veganism was actually having goodies for myself. Over time of trying to do extreme diets (which veganism is NOT) and other times when I have tried to save extreme amounts of money, I have learned that I’m better off if I give myself the opportunity to splurge a little so that I don’t feel deprived. I stopped “cheating” and eating cheese on my non-dairy diet when I went ahead and bought vegan cheese to cook with every once in a while, even though it was pricey and not really healthy. I also stuck with my vegan lifestyle more easily when I saw the many choices I did have. In addition to eating amazing fruits, veggies, grains, etc. I still get my chocolate fix with a little bowl of chocolate chips and peanuts now and again, or a bowl of vanilla soy yogurt with chocolate chips. This is similar with living on the cheap. The G-man and I won’t be able to eat out much in the next year, but we can still have special treats at home, like homemade coconut-milk ice cream, or even pizza with Daiya mozzarella. These treats have some pricey ingredients, but it’s worth the splurge now and again to do something special for ourselves, because our lifestyle isn’t about deprivation – it is truly about abundance.
