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’m definitely going to have to try that soup recipe! I have found the nutritional yeast in their bulk bins is a pretty good deal, as well as their 365 frozen spinach which we use in all sorts of dishes throughout the week.
Whole Foods salad bar gets me EVERYTIME!
Not exactly a healthy find, but our family loves their cowgirl cookies! They taste half baked and are delicious! We also love their hot bar! Their salad bar ROCKS!
I love the salad bar! So many choices…
I love their wide range of nut butters – anything you could ever want! The bulk bins have everything you could ever want, too.
Besides the free samples? 🙂 I love their nut butter selection! I love to try new types and textures of nut butter, and Whole Foods often has brands I can’t find in other stores.
The individual packets of Justin’s almond butter and chocolate hazelnut butter are definitely a favorite! Perfectly portioned and ready for on the go snacking!
love the make your own nut butter
Their salad/hot bar. So good when you don’t have time to cook, as well as their sushi and cookies!
I love the bulk bins for the variety of grains, nuts, and dried fruit! I also like how you can buy small pieces of speciality cheese. It makes me feel really fancy and I stretch them out for awhile 🙂
I’d love to win 🙂
I recently discovered the vegan chocolate chip cookies near the bakery and they are so good. You can buy one at a time for a special treat 🙂
I love their veggies chips and the hot bar!!
Best thing about Whole Foods is the salad bar!
I love WF sundried tomatoes. They are always right next to the chunks of Parm cheese, so often I end up getting some of that, too!
I’d love to use the GC to get lunch at the salad or hot bar.
I get into trouble at Whole Foods! I love their variety of nut butters and fancy chocolates!
The yummy salad and hot food bar at Whole Foods!!
I like to buy all my baking supplies from there! Flour, sugar, etc. I especially like their cane sugar as before I didn’t realize that white sugar has actually been bleached to be white! Gross!
The hot bar at Whole foods saves me when I’ve had a long day at work and don’t feel like making dinner.
I love the salad bar. I pick up items there to add to meals that are healthy but cut down on cooking time!
Steaks from Whole Foods have been a weekly favorite of mine lately!
Love Whole Foods…I always shop their sale items and buy the meats they have on sale…their boneless skinless chicken thighs are awesome on the grill!
I love all the fun things in the bulk section!
Love whole foods! hummus (eat it everyday), pb2, frozen chopped sweet potatoes, Enrico’s brand no salt sauce – my list can go on and on!
I love their salad and hot bar!
Bulk bins, definitely! Love trying new things from it.
I do not shop at Whole Foods very often, because it is so expensive. I only go there if I need something very specific.
But, when I am there, I LOVE their salad bar, hot food bar, hot soups, etc. Delicious!
Whole foods is one of my favorite stores! i love going in knowing that many of the produce products are local. The hot bar and salad bar are definitely my favorites, especially the Asian tofu salad. (Sounds gross but taste delicious).
I love buying new things from the bulk bins. I only take however much or little I want!
My family loves making our own peanut butter at Whole Foods!
Absolutely in love with their salad bar! It really is the best. Also, their Tropical Green Smoothie is my Saturday morning tradition after a hike – it is so refreshing, I feel like I’m in Hawaii. Also really like the 365 protein and fiber crunch – great for topping yogurt.
I love the bulk bins and the chocolate selection! thanks!!
don’t have a whole foods but one is opening here (Ottawa, Ontario) in november so this gift card would be amazing! would i spend it all at the hot food bar…?
My favorite thing is the dried mango in the bulk section!
This post has been so helpful, thanks! I’m a big fan of the 365 brand raw honey for my morning lemon water. I also love all 365 trail mixes. Whole foods usually has the best sales on Kind bars, which I can never have enough of. It’s so easy to throw them in your bag and easy to rely on. I’m definitely going to try that soup recipe, might add a protein to it like beef cubes.
I LOVE the French Vanilla Granola in the bulk section. Also love the wallaby yogurt.
I recently moved and there’s a Whole Foods about a mile away from my house! I want to go there out of convenience, but I’m always deterred by the prices. My friends call it “Whole Wallet” 🙂 Your post inspires me to give it a try and prove them wrong!
I love the gelato selection at Whole Foods!
They have the BEST coffee and bulk section! I love just about everything at Whole Foods.
I love the hot bar and the hummus!
I love the Whole Foods salad bar!
I love their salad/fresh food bar! They do tofu right. :0)
I love treating myself to lunch at the salad and/or hot bar. Also, their 365 tortillas and pasta sauce are a few favorites!
i like picking up the chicken teriyaki bowl when i’m shopping after work. helps keep the cravings at bay.
I love the bulk nuts section!! It’s so easy to create your own trail mix for so much cheaper than store bought!
Great post Julie! I <3 Whole Foods! Some of my favorite things are their seafood–they have the best salmon & oysters, the bulk granola bar and any and all cookies from their bakery 🙂 Thanks for posting!!
i love the produce- it’s not notably pricier but so much better tasting than other places!
does the salad bar and hot foods bar count? ha! i think a lot of their 365 products are great.
I love trying their cool drinks (kombucha, kevita, etc.) and love finding snacks I can’t find anywhere else!