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 always get our grass-fed beef at Whole Foods. They often have sales, which we keep an eye out for and then stock up on the beef. We keep extra in the freezer – we once had 18 lbs in there! It tastes amazing and hardly even needs any seasoning. Our other favorite treat we always get at WF is their Wellshire Farms dry-rub center cut, thick slice apple-smoked bacon (phew! that was a mouthful). Best bacon around. Other favorite staples are organic vegetables and Tessemae’s all natural dressings. This stuff makes me excited to eat my veggies! We make super easy meals out of quality meat (like the beef or organic chicken) and vegetables with some Tessemae’s. Super simple and delicious!
My absolute favorite thing about Whole Foods is their salad/hot bar section. Not budget friendly because I usually end up with a two-pound salad, but so delicious!
less than $70 for groceries at whole foods is amazing! i love whole foods and my favorite part is hot food bar for sure.
The 365 sourdough bread is delicious and affordable!
I absolutely love their cheese and wine selection. Also, a huge fan of their salad bar. I always pile it up with veggies, pasta salad and toppings. Can’t forget their large selection of my favorite food, pickles!
I love the bulk bins aisle, specifically the hemp flax granola. It’s delicious!
Whole Foods is HEAVEN!!! Their salad bar, sushi, and bulk bins are my FAVE!
I love the grind your own peanut butter
Love, love, love this post! My bf and I shop at our local whole foods pretty much weekly and we always comment how we feel we are saving money over the other pricy Brooklyn grocery stores. The bulk section plays a big part in that! My favorite find in the store right now is a pumpkin spice flavored almond milk. It’s delicious on coffee or by the glass.
I go to Whole Foods all the time despite everyone in NYC telling me it’s so expensive. But the truth is, I love all of their food and I’d rather pay a little more for quality groceries than spend less and be disappointed. My favorite finds? I love their brand of granola, their instant oatmeal is the BEST, and those little dark chocolate covered graham crackers are addicting. I love their variety of fresh and frozen produce too! As someone who lives alone, I’m only buying for one and need to balance what I buy fresh vs. frozen to avoid things going bad. Shout out to the Whole Foods in Tribeca, it’s my favorite one in NYC! 🙂
WF is my favorite. I love their soups and sushi!
I love the bakehouse bread that Whole Foods has! Such a great gluten free bread! Arctic Zero ice cream is another favorite as well! And boy do they have the best cheese section around!
Bulk grains!
My family loves the hot food and salad bar at Whole Foods!! There is something healthy for everyone and the food is delicious!!
i love their bulk bins and the 365 everyday value line!
I love their smoothie bar and hot bar for easy snacks/meals. The 365 brand is awesome for reasonably priced organic items!
I love the bulk bins at Whole Foods, especially when there are sales! Bulk bins really are cheaper! Since I’ve started buying in bulk, I haven’t looked back!
I love the salad bars at whole foods! quick and healthy dinner
I love their olive bar, everything 365 and the awesome hot bar for lunches or a quick dinner!
Love the hot bar for lunch and dinner of course, but recently discovered their breakfast hot bar–love it! Also regularly buy quinoa and lentils from their bulk bin.
I’ve also found some cheeses at a much lower price than other stores so I always stock up when I’m at Whole Foods!
The 365 Everyday Value brand is the best. This line offers tons of great products for a great price!
I especially love the values of Whole Food’s bulk popcorn, bulk pure maple, and the 365 brand milk, cream cheese, and butter. Another thing I enjoy doing to getting a case of a sale item to save an extra 10%.
I love whole foods! Their coffee is my favorite and I always buy a bag when it goes on sale!
I love that they have so many varieties of my favorite brands. Example: my local super market carries Barney Butter almond butter, but just creamy or crunchy. I was in awe at Whole Foods when I found a vanilla espresso bean flavor! My favorite treat is definitely some fresh-ground honey-roasted peanut butter though–SO good!
Whole foods is amazing! I’d use the gift card for snacks on the go or better yet for the great hot bar!
Oh, how I love Whole Foods. Just being there makes me happy! Their almond milk is actually the only almond milk I like, so that’s definitely my favorite product of theirs 🙂
I know fancy schmancy nut butters are all the rage but there is nothing better then 365 peanut butter!
Not only is it the best tasting but it truly is the most economical version even compared to Walmart!
I just love all the fresh produce – and the free samples, of course…
I regularly shop at wholefoods and love their frozen selection of gluten free food (Amy’s burritos are really good!).
Like almost everyone else, I love the hot bar. A great money saving tip is to ask for brown rice from the burrito counter (3.99/lb) versus the hot bar (7.99/lb). A wholefoods team member told me about this little trick and I am forever grateful! I now can make a great rice bowl for almost half the price.
Whole Foods is the absolute BEST! I love their hot food/salad bar- always something delicious and healthy that strikes my eye when I’m not sure what I am in the mood for!
As someone with celiac disease, I love all of their gluten free options!
I love everything at Whole Foods, it’s kind of ridiculous. Some of my favorites include their fresh guacamole (with pico!), milk chocolate covered graham crackers, and off course the hot and salad bars. Now I’m hungry… 🙂
I’ve gotta tell ya, I’m a ketchup snob…Heinz only. I was house sitting a few weeks ago & made an egg sandwich for breakfast. I like mine with a little ketchup & they only had the 365 brand. I bent my own rule & tried it. SO SO good! Really rich flavor, almost like there’s some balsamic vinegar in it. It was delicious! I’m a changed girl. I went right out & bought 2 bottles.
i love the savings you can find at whole foods! for some things, you can find the best deals. one of my favorite whole foods finds has to be the shelf-stable organic almond milk! always at a great price and has clean ingredients 🙂
I love Whole Foods. They have such an amazing (and affordable!) wine selection. And I also love the single bottles of craft beer so I can create my own six pack and find some new favorites. 🙂
My favorite products at Whole Foods are made by Against the Grain Gourmet. The Cinnamon Raisin bagels are great! I also LOVE the hot bar and salad bars!
I’m a huge fan of their sustainable fish and Zevia soda. It’s hard to find beverages without chemicals and Whole Foods has so many options.
Thanks for this giveaway opportunity!
Do the bakery items count as favorites to buy at Whole Foods? 😉
I love whole foods!!! Top three picks for are 1, the fresh crisp apples, 2. The bulk bin veggie chips and 3, the whole foods hummus.
I like their produce; always can find what i like and need and they have a large variety to choose from.
jslbrown2009(at)aol(dot)com
I love buying the value packs of chicken from whole foods as well as raiding the hot bar 🙂
Right now I am addicted to salads with lacinato kale and (local) baby tomatoes!
Garlic herb bread! Guilty pleasure!
I love visiting the olive bar at Whole Foods! So Yummy!
I’m a big fan of Whole Foods. My favorites are the 365 brand crunchy almond butter, the amazing selection of protein bars, and of course the Hot Bar deliciousness!
I love Whole Foods. My favorite purchase there has to be either fish or the prepped chicken they have at the deli. I also love when my fiance and I go to Florida because they have the shrimp bar and we both loveee it!
Dried mango, juice from the juice bar & their raw mulberry cashew trail mix. so good!! And of course all that lovely produce!
This is both a money-saving tip and a favorite whole foods item. I LOVE fancy cheeses and trying new ones, and my whole foods has a ‘cheese orphans’ basket of tiny little pieces (like 1-2 oz) of cheeses left over when they are done cutting pieces. This is great because a) I live alone so I don’t need much cheese b) I can try lots, and if I don’t like it, its OK because I didn’t waste my money c) their cheeses are delicious, and the little orphans are like 1-2 dollars a piece! I also love the bulk bins.
I love their 365 cereal brand and it’s the only place I can find wheatberries!!
I love the Whole Foods make your own trail mix bar!