Veganism is notoriously expensive.

Here’s the truth about the cost of going vegan—and the difference in cost between vegan items and non-vegan items.

More and more people are changing to become vegan and vegetarian. For the most part, there are environmental or ethical reasons that encourage people to make the switch from eating meat regularly to not eating meat. Additionally, it’s a bit of a lifestyle shock to go from meat-eating to vegan. The vegan diet doesn’t include dairy or any animal byproducts, which becomes another lifestyle shock.

However, going vegan is one of the best ways to reduce your environmental footprint and increase the way you take care of Mother Earth. 

Embracing a plant-based diet doesn’t have to mean you need to embrace an empty wallet. Although the vegan diet is notoriously expensive, it doesn’t have to be. Between specialty stores and otherwise, there are a bunch of different places you can go to stock your fridge and pantry in a vegan way. For instance, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are super vegan and vegetarian-friendly. They’re also budget-friendly. Another option is Aldis, which happens to be a discount grocery store. There’s no reason you’ll need a specialty shop to fuel your diet, especially when the cost of going vegan isn’t actually as much as you might think.

The difference between vegan options and non-vegan options isn’t actually that much. As an example, this list shows the comparison. For the most part, the average difference in price is between $11.00 and $12.00 total. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not a lot.

The cost of going vegan and avoiding popular grocery items like Greek yogurt, ground beef, milk, turkey slices for sandwiches, coffee creamer, and more isn’t as much as you’d expect. For one thing, there are so many substitutions that are available. There are meat-free burger patties, dairy-free cheese and yogurt, dairy-free creamer like oat milk or almond milk, and even tofurkey slices. Basically, if you can dream it, vegan, you can eat it.

Being and becoming vegan might take time and effort because it’s truly a lifestyle change. With that in mind, it’s really important to know your baseline health so you can build a diet that gives you all the nutrients you need.

Whether you’re going vegan for environmental, ethical, or health reasons, be sure to check in on the way you’re getting your nutrients, because it’s possible a plant-based diet won’t give you everything your body needs to function appropriately.