Spend Less on Groceries For Vegans

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While being vegan may seem like a cheaper option when it comes to food, buying Vegan specific foods can definitely bump up your shopping bill, especially if you’re buying plant-based alternatives such as Quorn.

Here’s how to spend less on groceries for vegans.

How To Spend Less on Groceries For Vegans

I’ve written a lot in the past about saving money on your groceries, and recently a friend got in touch to ask for advice about reducing the cost of her vegan grocery shop.

She said that although her main meals are cheaper as she doesn’t have meat or dairy, other products are considerably more expensive than their non-vegan counterparts, such as vegan chocolate and vegan ice cream (which can be as much as £7 a tub when not on offer!) so the cost of having a few occasional treats was really increasing her shopping bill.

She also buys mostly organic fruit and veg and eco-friendly washing products such as products from the E-cover range.

I really wanted to come up with some ways to help her save money!

Related Post: Growing Your Own Veggies For A Vegan Diet

1. Vegan Grocery Savings: Use Shopping/Cashback Apps

While I do concede the majority of the foods offered on these apps wouldn’t be suitable there are still some that would be so always worth checking before you shop.

With these apps, you simply browse the offers, buy the products you want to save money on and then upload your receipt via your phone’s camera and the app. You can then request a refund which is sent directly to your bank.

I love using these apps to save money and find that in particular, GreenJinn offers a lot of Vegan food products as well as cashback on everyday fruit and veg.

If you’d like to find out more then take a look at these posts: 

Shopmium Review: Why I Love The Shopmium App

GreenJinn Review: Using the GreenJinn App

Checkoutsmart Review-How To Use The Checkoutsmart App

Awesome Free Food Apps

I also use the supermarket’s own apps – for example, I recently had £2 off a shop at Morrisons which could be used on any products in-store.

2. Using Coupons For Vegan Food

I know not everyone likes using coupons as they can be fiddly and there is always that fear that they won’t be accepted when you get to the till.

However, they are a great way to help reduce the cost of any grocery shop.

If you do a big monthly shop online don’t forget to take advantage of big conditional spend vouchers. Recent examples include up to £20 off your first £60 spend at Sainsbury’s online groceries and the same for Ocado.

While these are usually for new customers only, if you’ve not used them before and you stick to basic products rather than branded they could save you a significant amount of money.

Farm foods often send leaflets with smaller discounts such as £2 off a £20 shop which could get you a discount when stocking up on frozen veggies.

As always, look out for coupons for vegan products in magazines (such as the freebie magazines seen in Asda and Tesco), in national Newspapers and in leaflets through your door.

3. Yellow Sticker Shopping For Vegan Products

I love yellow sticker shopping and while I mostly buy meat, there are often plenty of plant-based products in the reduced section too as well as fresh fruit and vegetables.

Some of the cheaper supermarkets such as Aldi do also stock some organic fruit and veg so it may be worth checking these out, especially if they are included in the super six.

Christmas is a great time to stock up on winter vegetables and freeze them or make them into soup for January when money tends to be a bit tighter.

Many supermarkets have lots of extra vegan products in-store during Veganuary and if these aren’t as popular as expected, then they can often end up getting yellow stickered.

Lidl have a wonky veg box that costs just £1.50 and contains up to 5kg of fruit and vegetables. These are placed after the tills (to stop people from adding to them as they shop) so don’t forget to look out for them when you’re paying for your shopping.

4. Spend Less on Groceries For Vegans – Look Out For Value-Range Products

While it might be tempting to only look at the specialist ‘free from’ section to find treats it’s worth getting to know the supermarket’s own brand and value ranges as well.

Often there are hidden gems that may be offered elsewhere in the store that are suitable for vegans.

For example, value-range garlic bread in most supermarkets is vegan because they use oil instead of butter as it’s cheaper to produce.

Some of the mid-range garlic bread is suitable for Vegans too. Many of Tesco’s ‘Everyday Value’ range of biscuits are also suitable for vegans.

With the cost of living crisis, many supermarkets have expanded their value ranges quite significantly to include things that haven’t been available previously, such as oat or soya milk.

The Vegan society provides an excellent list of ‘unexpected’ vegan foods here.

5. Switching Laundry Products

Many vegans are pretty eco-conscious and using my friend above as an example, she likes to buy E-cover products which bumps up the cost of her shopping bill.

Switching again to something like an Eco-Egg could save money in the long run. There are also lots of refillable options when it comes to household cleaning sprays.

6. Autumn Foraging

While foraging isn’t possible all year round, there are plenty of things you can forage in the Autumn months including apples and blackberries. These can then be frozen and used over the winter months.

My post Foraging In Autumn covers everything you need to know.

Looking for more ways to cut costs? Take a look at my Money Saving Hub where I’ve brought together all of my best tips, tricks and guides to help you spend less and save more.

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