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Question: I want to switch to a vegetarian diet to help eliminate unhealthy eating habits, but my tendency is to grab quick meals from fast food places. I am also concerned about the availability of health foods (as my Food Basics supermarket has a very crappy selection), and the price it would cost per meal. 
– Eric, early 20's, Etobicoke, ON

Eating well on a budget is definitely possible, but you do have to make friends with your kitchen (but you don't have to be a gourmet chef or spend a lot of time prepping or cooking).

Just to give you an example: I can buy a one pound bag of organic lentils for $1.79 (and much cheaper if I buy a larger quantity or conventional lentils). Make that into a hearty lentil soup with roasted red peppers (available in a jar), onions, tomatoes (or tomato paste) oregano, garlic, lemon juice & a bit of salt and it yields 8 - 10 servings. I haven't done the exact math, but it definitely works out to under $1 per serving. You can eat VERY cheaply if you focus on beans, lentils (legumes) and whole grains such as brown rice, barley, millet and others. Add fresh or frozen vegetables to these staples, seasonings of choice and you've got a nutritious, economical meal. More examples: stir fry veggies with tofu over brown rice – cheap & easy! Rice & beans with Mexican seasoning – cheap & easy. And the list goes on.

There's also a new book out titled "Eating vegan on $4 a day" by Ellen Jaffe-Jones ($13, $10 in the US) – you might be able to borrow it from the library. Most of the recipes in it are fairly simple and quick.

Just keep in mind that vegetarian/vegan convenience foods will make your grocery bill sky rocket (i.e. frozen entrees; prepared meals, etc). Cooking from scratch, but using convenient ingredients such as canned beans or frozen veggies/fruit will help keep costs low, and cooking time to a minimum.

Eating out can be expensive. However, if once in a while you have to resort to grabbing something from a fast food place, a couple of options are:

Subway or Mr. Sub – veggie sub (note the sauce/dressing choices are not all are vegan but can be left off, as can the cheese)

Taco Bell – ask for a 7-layer burrito (make it a "5 layer" by asking them to leave out the cheese and sour cream) or get a bean burrito or two.

	This Veggie Challenge was exactly what I needed. And talk about cheap! I saved tons of money on this diet!          – Lara, Williamsport, PA

There are vegetarian and vegan options at other fast food places – but I would recommend double checking their websites and seeking nutrition info and ingredient lists to make sure what you're getting is truly vegetarian. (I.e. Manchu Wok may look vegetarian-friendly, but often cooks with chicken stock – so the veggie/noodle dish that appears vegetarian really isn't – and usually, these types of places use a lot of oil, making the dish unhealthy).

Ideally fast food options should be a last resort – you can't rely on them if you want to be healthy. (By the way, there's no such thing as a 99 cent burger – the meat industry is heavily subsidized by our tax dollars at an enormous environmental cost.)

Let us know if you have any further questions. Keep learning and enjoying the veggie way!

Nimisha
Veggie Challenge Team

More information

There are some excellent tips at: How to Eat Vegetarian on the Cheap

Search google for many more articles: www.google.com/search?q=inexpensive+vegan