Tips for Saving Money at Whole Foods
About a month or so ago, I received an email from Whole Foods asking me about partnering together to create a one-week meal plan for me and Ryan that included two meals each day for the two of us for $125. (Full disclosure: I was provided a $125 gift card.) Since getting a little creative in the kitchen is one of my favorite things, I was more than game and immediately started brainstorming ideas for a healthy and delicious meal plan.
The first step in my meal plan journey involved attending a value tour at my local Whole Foods led by Jennifer, the regional marketing specialist at Whole Foods in Charlotte. Jennifer and I walked around the store and chatted for about an hour while she pointed out lots of money-saving tips and tricks.
Some key takeaways:
- Check the bimonthly Whole Deal brochure which features more than $45 of savings per issue on average (you can also find these coupons at www.wholefoodsmarket.com/coupons) and check out weekly sales fliers, One Day Sales and sale items throughout the store.
- Sign up for your local store’s newsletter and follow them on Facebook and Twitter to receive bonus coupons, budget-friendly recipes, and notices of sales and more.
- Shop seasonally.
- Cut costs, literally. If you need only half a cabbage, sandwich, chunk of cheese, fish fillet, loaf of fresh bread, etc., simply ask a team member to help you get (and pay for) only the amount you need.
- Utilize the bulk bins to buy as much or as little as you need.
- Check out the 365 Everyday Value line for hundreds of affordable organics, including peanut butter, organic frozen veggies, pasta, sauce, canned tomatoes, soups and more.
- Consider purchasing Value Packs to help you get fish and meat at a better price, and allow you to use only what you need.
- Look for budget-friendly pricing on lesser-known cuts such as boneless sirloin, flat iron steak or skirt steak.
- Receive discounted pricing on most items when you buy a full case.
- Make the most of your leftovers with the Whole Foods Market recipes app, which allows you to save recipes, create meal plans and shopping lists, view sales items at your local store and more.
When it was time for me to create my two-meals-a-day meal plan, I opted for breakfast and dinner since breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and dinner is often the meal that requires the most planning in our house. When I set out to do shopping for our meals, there were a few hiccups in my plan. My father-in-law was in town, so our dinners needed to be able to feed three people and I knew we’d likely be going out to dinner once or twice. Whole Foods wanted the meal plan to include two meals each day, but food I bought did cover breakfast, lunch and dinner for me and breakfast and dinner for Ryan. (Ryan actually did bring his lunch to work using food from our grocery haul a couple of times, but he also ate at his workplace cafeteria or out with coworkers during the week as well, so I’m not counting his lunchtime meals.)
And a few important notes: We went out to dinner twice during the week because we wanted to take my father-in-law out to some of our favorite local hotspots, so we did not consume two of the planned dinners on the “correct” days (Tuesday and Friday) but we ate the “dinners” for lunch for two of the days during the week. I hope this makes sense! The meal plan is just a guideline for our breakfasts and dinners, but I wanted to be sure to actually make and eat everything, too, which we did!
As I shopped for our food, I did a lot of price comparisons (buying in bulk ended up being the cheapest every time!) and clipped coupons to save money, like I usually do each week.
I was truly surprised when I went through the checkout line and only spent $69.76! I ended up going through the line again and picking up more food to use to get closer to the $125 total.
Our total for the week ended up being $115.20, but it did not include the jar of peanut butter I also used in the meal plan that we already had at home. (I figured being $10 under budget made up for the peanut butter since that would be an easy purchase within the budget.)
Here is what our one-week meal plan looked like:
- Breakfast: Tortilla topped with banana, peanut butter and cinnamon
- Dinner: Fish tacos with (frozen) mahi mahi, black beans, chopped romaine lettuce and pico de gallo
- Breakfast: Overnight oats made with oatmeal, Greek yogurt, honey and raw almonds
- Dinner: Turkey and ham rollups with romaine, tomatoes and pumpkin seeds, served with apple slices
- Breakfast: Cottage cheese topped with a sliced apple, cinnamon, almonds and pumpkin seeds
- Dinner: 365 Everyday Value whole wheat linguine with steamed spinach and 365 Everyday Value marinara, served with roasted broccoli
- Breakfast: Two waffles topped with a dippy egg and tomato slices, served with a plum on the side
- Dinner: Chopped salad with romaine, ham, tomatoes, black beans, edamame, wheat berries and pumpkin seeds
- Breakfast: Two waffles served with a cup of Greek yogurt
- Dinner: Baked chicken breasts with sweet potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts
- Breakfast: Three-minute egg white oatmeal, topped with chopped almonds
- Dinner: Crockpot lentil wheat berry soup <—We loved this soup!!!
Crockpot Lentil Wheat Berry Soup
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups dry lentils
- 3/4 wheat berries
- 6 cups reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 sweet onion, roughly chopped
- 2 cups chopped carrots
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (depending on taste)
- 1/2 – 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (depending on taste)
Directions
- Combine all ingredients and cook on low for 8 hours. Serve and enjoy!
- Breakfast: Strawberry, mango and spinach smoothie
- Dinner: Leftover lentil and wheat berry soup
Giveaway
Now Whole Foods Market wants to give you guys a chance to shop at their store and create some healthy budget-friendly recipes.
FIVE readers will win a $25 gift card to Whole Foods!
To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post, telling me about some of your favorite Whole Foods finds!
I will randomly select five winners on Friday.
Good luck!
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We just had a Whole Foods open up last Tuesday where we live and I have been two more times since! We went on grand opening day after work and it took us two hours to get through the store. Lots of great deals- even better than Kroger which used to be my favorite grocery store. My favorite find of the night was the fresh, handmade pierogies at the pasta bar. Yum! They have pumpkin tortellini that I would like to try next time.
Can I just say how obsessed I am with the nut bin? Lol
I love the organic pasta at Whole Foods! Also, their pre-prepared sushi is unreal!
I love the ROOTS hummus sold at most NC Whole Foods! The black bean is my favorite!
I love the whole foods hot bar/salad bar!
I love everything at Whole Foods-sushi,pizza,soup and the hot bar always has roasted plantains for dessert!!!
I must admit I love their bakery. cake by the slice and bulk cookies! Yum!
I love the 365 peanut butter as well as the 365 strawberry jam! Honestly, I love everything in that store.
I love checking out their meat department!
I love Whole Foods Mana bread! It has raisins and carrots or dates and cinnamon and it is delicious toasted with some kind of nut butter for breakfast!! Whole Foods makes my heart sing! Basically you feel good about any food you consume from there!
I love Whole Foods…my local grocery store has a terrible selection of organic veggies and fruit…like terrible! 🙁 After becoming more aware of what I eat and fuel my body with, that local store wasn’t cutting it. I now shop at Whole Foods for everything, especially the delicious produce selection! 🙂 the meat is soooo much yummier too!
I LOVE Whole Foods Salad bar. It is delicious. They also have Honest Kids Juice that I LOVE for my kids, and Pirates Booty Snacks.
I love the fresh meats and bakery. Everything at Whole Foods is wonderful. Thanks for the chance to win!
I love printing out my whole foods coupons and stacking them with manufacturer coupons to save extra money. This allows my money to stretch farther.
My favorite item at Whole Foods is at the checkout lane, the chocolate bars with bacon in it. So great.
Love the 365 Complete Body Cleanse there! 🙂
The fresh meats cannot be beat! And I agree with you about bulk buys being the way to go.
I love the whole foods salad and hot bar!
Starving college kid could really use free food!
I love their fresh juices and bakery…it’s all about balance!
I love WF and find that their pantry staples are quite affordable! Cereals, broths, soups, peanut butter, jelly, and condiments are always cheaper than the regular grocery store, and wayyy better quality. I also love all of their dairy products!! The hot bar always gets me in trouble though, I can fill a box to the brim because everything is always so delicious!
I’d love to say it’s the fresh produce, etc… but what I love most about Whole Foods is the salad bar and hot foods section! It’s so good and I always leave with WAY too much food, in a good way!
Their entire hot bar!
365 nut butters and almond milk!
LOVE bulk bins – quinoa, oats, granola – I always get my staples and then typically try something new that often then becomes a staple later (like Brazil nuts!)
i love whole foods a lottt. it’s my 100% favorite place to buy a coffee and sit and do work. for food finds though, my favorite things are wallaby greek yogurt (its like. the best!), their sweet pea soup by imagine, and the ginormo avocados they sell in their produce section.
I’m a sucker for their hot food bar. Also, everything that I’ve ever had from their bakery has been delicious!
I love puffins!!!
I recently discovered these amazing little glass jars of yogurt for my 10 month old girl. They are organic and full fat and are the perfect little portion.
Whole Foods is not only an awesome grocery story but an amazing company! I’ve worked there for almost 7 months now and have been incredibly impressed with the leadership, nation wide and locally, as well as the way the company respects and treats their team members. I love the Alive & Radiant coconut kale chips and I’m addicted of the gin-gins. It’s so hard to narrow down just a few things because I love so much there!!!
Awesome and very encouraging post! Thanks for showing me that paying attention to these tips will save me a fortune at my favorite grocery store. My favorite Whole Foods find are their seasonal, LOCAL vegetables and…makeup products! Most natural lines are only available online. Whole Foods let’s me try my makeup out before I buy!
I love buying in bulk at whole foods! and of course the hot bar!!
I love that they have Ezekiel sprouted bread cheaper than anywhere else! I’ve also been loving their pumpkin chips! Delish!
I love their coffee beans and dark chocolate bars!
Hello. I, also, did the Value tour and learned how to save at WF. I have glass jars with rice, beans, and lentils. I purchased bulk in those items which paired with fresh veggies are my go to for starting a meal. I do a stir fry with sweet potatoes and spices and whatever veggies and done in 15 minutes.
I love EVERYTHING about Whole Foods! I always look out for its basil chili lime tofu that I can buy in bulk to pack in my work lunches.
I love finding red quinoa
Nice! This was a fun post! And a perfect assignment for you! I love Whole Foods but it is spendy, so these tips were great. And your food looks awesome!
I love how simple, absolutely delicious, all of your meals sound! Definitely inspiring =] When I lived in Hawai’i our Whole Foods also had all natural soaps and such that were made in Hawai’i. They smelled sooo good and it didn’t hurt that they were all natural.
I LOVE Whole Foods! We have had to move across the country several times and my request to my husband is that he has to find a job somewhere close to a WFs, haha. It’s mandatory.
My favorite thing about the store is that most of their produce is sourced locally and that they support animal welfare. As a vegetarian, that is a huge plus for me!
Well my old Whole Foods had a smokehouse where they cooked some delicious smoked chicken and veggies. Next tongue smokehouse I always picked up some delicious condiments like kickin ketchup. They also had delicious green juice.
At my new Whole Foods they have a delicious breakfast hot bar, and a brunch type one on Sunday. Yummy! Also, they do cakes by slice. The chantilly cake is the best!!!
I love the salad/hot food bar, their red wines (when I go to the Whole Foods in D.C.), and nut butters!
I love Whole Foods, and I wish that there was one a little closer to me. When I am near one, I always eat at the salad bar and pick up my favorite coconut coffee creamer. I also enjoy picking up a few wines and chocolates.
I love the whole foods salad bar and hot bar! It’s one of my favorite lunches I can get! There aren’t too many places where I can put indian food and salad in the same bowl!
I love the hot bar and 365 finds!
I love whole foods! Whenever I get the chance to go there, I stock up on peanut butter and organic juice boxes for the kids’ lunchbox. Also love the fresh sushi!!
My absolute favorite thing from Whole Foods is their salad bar! I also love their Friday deals, you can save so much!
I am a huge Whole Foods fan and truly believe it is possible to stay on a budget and shop there! My favorite products there are the bulk bins, the 365 almond butter, and their sushi. YUM!
The selection of nut butters, various milk products, and of course all of the samples!!
I love the little packets of coconut butter and the bulk Chia seeds. Oh and Justins maple almond butter.
I looove their hot bar and salad bar! Also love their cashew butter!