I posted a plea for help a few days ago and again I thank everyone for there response. I am having a problem getting motivated in actually starting to eat the right things. One of the main rationalizations I make in my head, is that  the money is'nt their for us to purchase a week or so worth of food. Nature's Pantrey is the local health/ vegan friendly grocer . We wondered around and priced a few things and found things to pretty pricey. The thing is that I have been out of work for the last 9 months and our budget  of a couple of hundred dollars makes it hard to decide on what to get . I know with the way we have been eating I can buy alot fo junk for cheap, and that's exactly what it is, junk. Each tme I make steps to go forward I get knocked back with ignorance and ecomomical issues.

I totally know how you feel about the money issue.  The truth is that most of the meat substitues and things like that are pretty pricy.  I try to stick to rice, beans, quinoa and things like that as staples rather than all of the fancy things.  Eating simpler is way easier on the budget and healthier.  Try to buy only produce that is in season and it should be more cost effective.  Things to spend money on are good oils and spices.  They may cost a lot when you buy them, but they last a long time.  Hope this helps.  Good luck!

Based on the name of your local health food store we may live in the same small town (Eastern ORegon), if so the local Safeway has a ton of stuff for much cheaper, but it is spread through out the store so you really have to hunt (and most of the store clerks don't know where or what most of it is). Try the end of the aisles on the side near the checkstands, the organic/whole grain/vegan items are usually grouped together there. Good Luck!

I think that a lot of superhero/vegan foods can be expensive, but the simple things that are part of a good vegan diet are actually very cheap, filling and good. For example: brown rice (bulk is cheaper), vegetables are incredibly cheap (broccoli, carrots, etc...) bags of dried beans. While I was in college and on a very tight budget, I found that these were my easy cheap and healthy go to foods. The things that are really expensive are processed packaged foods, and fruit can get really expensive but if you stick to

bulk brown rice

veggies

and dried beans

I promise you will see your grocery bill go WAY down.  Hope this helps, and good luck!