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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I definitely utilize the bulk bins! I love the bakery too! I pretty much love everything there lol. It’s always fun to sample whatever they have out!
I love the salad bar!
I love the bulk bins!
I do not usually shop at Whole Foods, mostly because I do end up spending a lot more than other stores. This post is really helpful, so I think I’ll give WF a try again!
The lentil soup looks really good, and I think I’m going to try to pick up the Mahi Mahi very soon!
I love their line of essential oils!
I love the salad bar and the variety of pre-made refrigerated soups when I need to grab something on the go!
I love pretty much every single bulk bin!
I have the oppposite problem as you did most of the time–I always end up spending more, despite being pretty disciplined in what I buy, using coupons, etc. I tend to use WF for certain products the regular grocery store doesn’t have, grass fed meat when it’s on sale, their frozen bones (to make soup, broths, etc), and their supplement area.
I do love the fresh-ground honey PB! Such a great treat! And I now buy their house blend coffee for our weekend French press habit. I can get organic coffee there for less than what I used to get at Starbucks for conventionally grown coffee, so that’s definitely a great deal.
I do wish they had some kind of loyalty card or something, though. Would make me more likely to use the hot food bar more often.
Maybe it’s just me, but spending $125 for meals for the week seems normal, not like crazy savings. My boyfriend and cook most of our meals at home (B, L, D), though we do go out for a couple of meals a week and we rarely spend $125 unless we also have alcohol in the cart. To me $125 for just breakfast and dinner seems kind of high. But we’re also not having a different thing for dinner every night. Most recipes seem to make at least 4 servings (and things like soup even more) so we tend to cook only every other night. Don’t get me wrong, I love whole foods and I think as long as you stick to whole foods, produce that is season, buying only what you need whenever possible, and using the bulk section you can make the trip affordable. I just think it’s possible to get even more food there and eat more meals for well under $125. I think what often ends up hiking up the cost of the trip are prepared foods and the like.
I am a big fan of their 365 line. The prices are not much more than your typical store brand. I also usually am able to get amazing deals on things like hummus and salsa.
I buy things from WF that I usually can’t find at the grocery store closer to my apartment, like the fresh ground almond butter and some of the stuff in the supplement section. There’s a Whole Foods close to my office so I will also go there for lunch from the salad/hot bar and coffee every so often!
I love their Hope Hummus and raw cashew butter you grind in the store!
Totally not budget friendly but I love all of their ready made salads and food. So yummy!
I love that I can get a jar of unsweetened almond butter at whole foods for under $8. A similar jar at my local grocer is more than twice the price. For natural items, they often can’t be beat.
I love the Whole Foods bakery when I am looking for things of higher quality than I’d find at a usual grocery store.
I’m obsessed with their in-store made guac! I eat copious amounts of samples and then order some extra spicy!
I really like their fresh baked breads and salad bar!
I love Whole Foods pre-made salads. While they are hardly a bargain they are always so fresh and delicious!
I love the fresh produce! It always looks really good!
I love the case discount on Mojo & Larabars. Great way to get my favorite on-the-go snacks on the cheap!
I can’t pass up the fresh ground honey peanut butter!
We picked up buckwheat groats from the bulk food bins at Whole Foods the other day to make this Kasha pasta from Mark Bittman: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015727-kasha-varnishkes
It’s super cheap: a package of bow-tie pasta, an onion, just 3/4 c. groats (which were only $1.50 from the bulk bins), and some olive oil, salt, and pepper. The groats have a great texture and they absorbed so much savory flavor from the onions and olive oil. And, it made a ton of food. My boyfriend and I had it for three meals each, alongside an arugula salad.
I love their fresh peanut butter and salad bar. When I need a quick lunch that’s the place for me!!
I like that I can find a variety of bars and treats especially the dark salt justin pb cups. MMM Good
I love love love the Dang coconut chips on yogurt!
i loooooove Whole Foods salad bar – like, my fave restaurant in NYC, basically. 🙂 also like a lot of stuff on their 356 line, including their peanut butter, animal crackers, almond milk, tortilla chips… so good.
I love the cheese deals at Whole Foods and the 365 brand.
i love their salad bar!!
I love the bakery and prepared foods areas of Whole Foods but really everything there is awesome!
I love their lemon and garlic green olives and canned green curry paste – makes putting together green curry very easy!
LOVE their bulk foods section and their prepared foods section! Their prepared foods section is a great way for me to quickly grab a healthy dinner when I have very little time.
I love their bulk bins and meat and fish department. I don’t shop there that often because it’s a little too pricey for me, but spending extra money for good meat and fish is worth it!
I LOVE their dried mangoes and their fresh produce!
You can’t beat Whole Foods’ salad bar. The kale caesar salad is my favorite, I love to add the blackened chicken in it for protein. I also love the curry chicken salad when they have that!
I shop there for seafood. I think they have the best around. But my secret find there are the gluten free wildberry waffles. They put them on sale every so often 2 boxes for $5. (which beats the grocery store every time)
I love the bulk bins at whole foods! always find savings there, and new goodies!
Produce and nut butter section!
Their biscuits in the bakery sections. My fiance and I devour them in one day when we buy them and I found out their secret ingredient to make them so fluffy and soft–>cream cheese!!
Besides their scrumptious buffet with an array of amazing foods, I love Whole Foods 365 peanut butter, their green apples (Oh soooooooo good!) and their cookies and pastries! I always treat myself with a new baked good on my way out!
I love the bakery — such a great selection, plus you can buy the odds and ends of breads they can’t use, which is perfect when shopping for 1 or 2 people!
Sushi! To be fair, I’ve actually never tried sushi aside from the Whole Foods version and even then I normally stick with the California roll. Regardless, I absolutely love it, very fresh and filling!
The fresh seafood section is our fav. 🙂
I love their bulk bins of course but also love the quality and diversity of the produce they carry! Their fresh juices and hot and cold bars are a huge temption for me as well!
It’s not a grocery item, but I LOVE the hot bar!
I also love the bulk bins. Perfect for when you only need a small amount.
breakfast bar and produce!
I love making my own almond butter at my WFM!
I love the Farro from the bulk bin, the cheese selections, and the fresh fruit popsicles!
Thanks!
Love the bulk bins.
i have never been to whole foods before! there is not one in my town, so i would only go when visiting my family, and the opportunity has never come up before!
My favorite item at Whole Foods is Jay Robb protein powder.