I've been a vegetarian most of my life, and am pretty much vegan at this point. Vegan food is so much cheaper, esp with the current inflationary trends. Meat, eggs inflation? Doesn't affect me at all. The processed vegan/vegetarian stuff can be pricey (like organic vegan frozen meals, fancy protein powders, specialty nut-based milks, etc). But those are a small part of most vegan's food choices. Beans, rice, pasta, potatos, and veggies are cheap! I think the thing that can be an issue is that being veggie does often mean you will cook more. And having the time and space to cook can be considered a luxury. But cooking most of your meals yourself is also one of the best ways to save money. And you can batch cook and freeze things to save some time. But poorer people sometimes have more chaotic lives, so I do get the idea that it's hard to be a picky eater when you have less money. If you're vegan, you can't just go through the drive through for dinner when life gets complicated. Well maybe, I guess you could get a salad and apple juice at mcdonalds or something, but it's hard to get a complete vegan fast food meal. Maybe Subway? I will say, most poorer people I know do cook most of their meals, so becoming vegan for them would be switching out meat/dairy/eggs for beans so that would be cheaper and not be extra cooking time.