Turning Over A New Leaf! Vegetarian Style

About a month ago I took the plunge and went vegetarian.  Last summer I lived the entire summer on a vegetarian diet and really liked it a lot only to fall back into my same old meat eating pattern once winter arrived.  This time around though I think I am going all in and won't be going back to the meat eating side of things.  My reasons are varied.  My health has greatly suffered from my years of putting my body through all sorts of abuse and eating all sorts of junk food.  I wasn't exercising or eating very healthy foods and ended up gaining a lot of weight.  Which of course never makes anyone feel really great about themselves.  I have been a meat eater all my life but have found that when I have omitted meat from my diet I tend to feel much better.  My stomach wasn't giving me problems anymore and I wasn't feeling all bloated and tired after eating on a vegetarian diet.  This time not only have I given up the meat but also all of the sugary junk food that can be every ones friend and enemy at the same time.  It wasn't very easy at first but after about a week I found that I craved it less and less and I have to say I feel great!  I have so much more energy and feel really good.  I have even lost some weight, which of course is an added benefit.  I really feel good eating this way and want to continue on this vegetarian journey.

Throughout this past month I have been doing tons of research on vegetarianism and veganism and am now starting to wonder if I shouldn't just go full on and go vegan now too.  I recently watched the documentary Earthlings which really rocked me to the core.  (If you haven't seen this documentary I highly recommend watching it.)  This movie really got me thinking about ways I can change my habits so I won't be adding to an already huge problem.  I don't want to have my finances supporting that kind of cruelty in any way.  So now I am in what I will call a transitional period.  My end goal I think is to become vegan.  My problem....I have a kitchen half full of products I need to use up or get rid of to make this transition.  I can't justify throwing it all out and running out and buying all new stuff....my pocketbook can't afford that and my family is still on the fence and still want some of the meat and other things.  I know it is going to be harder to do especially living in a household that doesn't exactly support my decision fully.  So I guess I am looking for some suggestions on how I might be able to make this transition a little bit smoother on not only myself but my family as well.  I know I can't be the only person out there that has faced this problem.  It is just after doing all of my research I am pretty confident that this lifestyle change is a good fit and choice for me and can be for my family as well.  I know ultimately the decision for the other members of my family on weather or not they choose to live this way or not is up to them but I would like to try and show them there is another way of living too that can be highly beneficial to their health as well as mine if they just give it a chance.