Some More Cost-Effective Choices

The original article that sparked my interest in the $3/day experiment generated some criticism both on the author's blog site and in the vegan FB group where I first encountered the article. I agreed that I thought that some days there did not appear to be adequate calories and many days seemed to lack adequate protein. I also thought that there were some lower cost alternatives that would have produced more nutrition for each dollar spent.

I want to emphasize that this is not a personal criticism of the author, who I commend for even engaging in this experiment and the putting it out there for everyone to see. The purpose of this is to demonstrate that one can get adequate nutrition on a vegan diet that is very frugal. When one is limited to such a frugal budget, it's important to maximize the nutrition one gets for each dollar spent. In the interest of helping vegans or anyone living a frugal life to achieve a balanced and nutritious diet, I would offer these alternatives.


The original article's food items:

2 cans of black beans (estimated $1.75/can)  Alternative: Black beans can be bought for about $.75/can at Aldi’s, Ruler, and Family Dollar. Dried beans can be bought for $1.15/lb. at Aldi’s and will yield the equivalent of about 4 cans, are easy to cook, can be cooked in batches large enough for several meals and frozen or kept in the refrigerator for several days.

1 can re-fried beans ($1.48/can) Alternative: These can be bought for much less than $1 at Aldi, Ruler, and Family Dollar. see above note on dried black beans.

Tomatoes (A bunch of 4 is $4.00, so one is $1.00)  Alternative (maybe): This depends on the size of the tomato, but local tomatoes [were in season at the time] are available at the mainstream grocery for $.69/lb. Out of season, I would not buy them.

Head of lettuce (From farmer’s market for $0.75)
Package of pasta (3 packages for $3.00)
Package of vegan waffles ($3.00 for package of 8)  Alternative: Prepared food is expensive. One can make a batch of waffles for a lot less, freeze them, and reheat in the toaster. Or come up with a breakfast that will provide more nutrition for less. [Note: I looked up Van's Gluten Free Waffles and one waffle, which is what the author had for breakfast, is only 100 calories, not really enough calories. A serving is 2 waffles.]

Tortilla chips ($2.00/bag)  Alternative: Tortillas can be had for a fraction of this. More food for your dollar.

Onions ($2.00/bag)
Potatoes ($2.00/ bag–$0.20 for one 8 oz potato)
Frozen spinach ($1.00/bag)
Brown rice, precooked ($0.16 for 1/2 cup)  Alternative: Cooking up a pot of rice will cost half this amount. It can be frozen in single serving portions and reheated or keep for several days in the refrigerator. While one can use a normal cooking pot, a rice cooker makes the job even easier and they are common in Goodwill and other thrift shops for about $5.

Bread, whole grain ($1.79/loaf or 12 slices)
Banana ($0.20 per banana at the farmer’s market)
Zucchini ($1.00 for 1)
Cucumber ($1.00 for 1)
Celery (1 stalk about $0.50) Note: I apologize to Jessie for initially misinterpreting this (I assume) as a single stalk of celery rather than the whole bunch, which is labeled as a “stalk” on the package. If she did actually pay $.50 for a single stalk of celery – an entire bunch can be bought for $.69 at Aldi’s.

Red bell pepper ($1.00) Alternative: I do not buy red bell peppers at $1/each, which is expensive, even when I am not restricted to $3/day. They are available for less at the farmer’s market, Aldi, Ruler, and Jay’s. If not, I do without.