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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Ummmm… everything! We don’t have a Whole Foods very close to home, so going there is a treat and I always find new yummy things. Usually it’s a new chip/cracker snack. Last time I got their veggie chips… Yum!
I love their Whey Protein powder, they also carry Vegenaise and have a vegetarian Chorizo (can’t recall the name brand) that my hubby loves. I also love the bulk bins!
Love their natural peanut butters fresh from the grinders!
I LOVE their organic berries. And the fresh salad bar is so convenient.
I love love their frozen berries, sprouted bread, and bakery cookies!
What an awesome post!! I loooooove whole foods, especially their gluten-free options! Can’t go wrong with all the juice options, too!
Such a helpful post! If I don’t pay attention while shopping Whole Foods really does turn into Whole Paycheck. Thanks for sharing all your tips and tricks. I can’t wait to make the lentil soup either, perfect for Fall.. Yum!
AH whole foods is my mecca! I love their organic broccoli slaw, organic grapes, the assortment of wholefood nutrition bars, the variety of dark chocolate, and their sustainable meats and seafood! YUM!!
I love love their good seed granola in bulk! =)
I’ve actually never been to whole foods! I recently started my journey to healthy living, so I definitely would love to win a gift card and try it out!
Bulk section and salad bar are at the top of my list!
We save so much shopping at Whole Foods! Their organic tofu is great, and an even better price. We also love all of the seasonal organic produce. We just got a new whole foods out in the county, and it’s so much bigger than our store in the city!
I love the juice bar since I struggle to get my veggies in.
I love their bulk bins, 365 natural peanut butter and 365 electrolyte bottled water (aka fake Smartwater)!
My local whole foods carries huge tubs of my favorite hummus for a really reasonable price – can’t get enough of it!
I love going to my local Whole Foods Market. I could spend all day in there exploring all the goodies they have. I am like a kid in a candy store whenever I visit Whole Foods 🙂
LOVE the Whole Foods salad bar, but the 365 Everyday Value products are awesome!
I love their salad bar!
The bulk foods and salad bar are amazing! I’ve also found some great face cream there.
I love the green chili salmon burgers at Whole Foods!
We love the bulk bins and the Friday specials that our Whole Foods has. We also love that we can get treats with a little healthier ingredients that other places.
I love the baked goods and the salad bar!
Yum! Those fish tacos look amazing! I love the Whole Foods bulk bins!
love their bulk bins–especially the bulk Granola and bulk freshly ground nut butters! Their unsweetened whole foods brand vanilla almond milk is also terrific.
Their coffee section is to die for! I could spend hours in that aisle.
I’ve been into Juice Cleanses and found a great one online, Suja. Whole Foods sells Suja! 🙂 http://tinyurl.com/lha2vy8
I love the prepared foods & bakery at Whole Foods. It’s always a treat to pick up something delicious and already made for me.
365 crunchy peanut butter is a favorite and the Jumble cookies from the bakery are amazing!
I love the coffee at whole foods! They always have tons to choose from, and it’s always fresh.
I don’t typically shop at WF because I always find myself spending WAY too much money (hello, hot bar!!), but my hubby and I will swing by for some of their healthy soups for those days when we’re feeling under the weather! With your tips and some of the other articles I’ve seen recently’ I’m thinking I’ll have to give WF another chance. Another bonus is it will make sure we stick with our meal planning!
My favorite Whole Foods finds = all their nut butters!!! I’m in heaven when I stand in that aisle. 🙂
I just LOVE their cheese selections! I’m always ready to try a new type of cheese! I also LOVE their bulk bins, especially the trail mixes!
I love the 365 Mediterranean blend extra virgin Olive oil. And with that extra $10 splurge on the Raos brand marinara jarred pasta sauce. It is absolutely amazing. I also love buying the bagged frozen peeled and deveined shrimp. Makes an easy weekend got meal to thaw what you need in a pinch. Just some lemon zest, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and bake 10 minutes and you have a delicious dish to serve on rice with a side of veggies. So good!
I just read about this Pasta Sauce today! Im looking for one with less acidity. Do you happen to notice a difference?
I discovered Whole Foods’ portable small soups, salads, and snacks in their refrigerated case that are 2 for 6 dollars. I like to take their kale salad with tomatoes, pine nuts, and cranberries then head over to the salad bar area to grab a little feta cheese and a little garbanzo beans to top the salad. Great way to build a good salad for little money!
Love their coffee!
Does the salad bar count? I love picking up a quick lunch or dinner from Whole Foods. It’s always so delicious!
Kombucha tea from Synergy – I can’t leave the store without one!
A While Foods just opens in the past couple of months less than three miles from our house, so I would LOVE to win!!
I love the pastas!
i love your meal plan! it looks delicious and healthy… win-win for sure! =)
whole foods is one of my favorite places to shop. my “staples” are tofu, yellowfin tuna burgers, and sweet potatoes.
I love their fresh juices and everything on the hot bar!
They had a spicy crab pub mix oh my goshhhhhhhh. I don’t know if it’s a Maryland thing because it had Old Bay on it but it was to die for
I love the brown cow salted caramel yogurt when it is on sale and love their soups and bulk bin snacks!
You’ll LOVE my favorite Whole Foods find, Julie. Our Chicago Whole Foods has a machine that allows you to grind your own peanut butter. It’s my absolute fav! 🙂
Great post! My husband and I love going to Whole Foods but it is so easy to spend more than you would like. Thanks for all the helpful tips/recipes! I am definitely going to make that soup!
I love all of the different Kombucha brands and flavors they carry!
Love their food bar & Blue Bottle iced coffee too!
I love Whole Foods so much! I love the pizzas they make there, so delicious! But the best thing I’ve ever gotten at the Whole Foods near where my dad lives is a turtle brownie, seriously the yummiest brownie in the world. Whenever I visit my dad, I always go and buy one 🙂
Favorite finds have to be all of the bar options – so many different flavors that I can’t find anywhere else.