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 love Whole Foods salad bar!
I am a sucker for the salad bar- I usually make a huge salad that lasts for 2 days with all the delicious and fresh ingredients! On the flip side, my Fiancee is obsessed with Whole Foods pizza:)
Fomu! It might just be local, but it’s a coconut based faux ice cream and it’s amazing.
I love to buy chia seeds, organic brown sugar, sesame seeds, organic milks, and chocolate at whole foods!!
I buy a case of 0% plain Fage yogurt every two weeks for breakfasts. The price is really competitive on the cases at Whole Foods!
I love buying goat cheese at Whole Foods! It’s way cheaper than at the regular grocery store!
We are finally just getting a Whole Foods in Flagstaff, so I don’t know any favorites yet. I’m willing to bet I’ll like the sushi, which probably isn’t on the “saving money at Whole Foods” list 🙂
I love Whole Foods’ cheese selections, the fresh fig jam, and their frozen fruits (for smoothies in the morning)! Your budget ideas are great ones too. I am bookmarking this post for sure.
I love the prepared chipotle sweet potato wedges from Whole Foods
I love hitting the salad bar at Whole Foods by my office! It is such a great option when you need a healthy and delicious lunch!
I love Whole Foods hot food bar and sandwich station! Plus their baked goods are fantastic! And of course I always love their fresh organic produce!
I personally LOVE the WF brand peanut butter. It is truly the best natural peanut butter (just roasted peanuts and salt are the only two ingredients) I have ever had, and it comes at a GREAT price. Large container of it, for a VERY reasonable price. Everywhere else you go for natural peanut butter the price is jacked up for a small container. But at WF it’s such a great deal!
always shop the bulk bins
I love the salad bar and hot bar! I work near a Whole foods and just love to go for lunch and see all the healthy options I can choose from. I have hooked so many coworkers on WF food bar!!
I love their sea salt caramels! And the penguin food cart at my local store in Chapel Hill!
Whole Foods has the best selection of vitamins! I’m also a sucker for their chicken curry salad and vegan chocolate mousse! 🙂
I love their sesame tofu and kale salad! yum!
I haven’t been it no a Whole Foods in over 10 years do I have no idea what’s good!
I LIVE for Whole Foods! Being in Austin, I’m only a few miles away from the flagship store, where I can spend hours!
I love that Whole Foods has exclusive flavors of my favorite skyr/yogurt, Siggi’s. I also love pretty much anything from the bakery. ; )
Thanks for this post – the lentil soup looks great!
I just got a Whole Foods near my house! It opened last week so I haven’t been able to go yet, but I CAN NOT wait to check it out!
I love Whole Foods and everything I get there. I love the variety of organic frozen fruits and veggies, love the hot bar and salad bar and love the variety of lotions and soaps they have there. They are always good for you and your skin brands which I adore!
Whole Foods was a lifesaver when I had to be on an MSPI elimination diet for my daughter! Lots of dairy free alternatives for all my favorite foods!
There’s so much to love about Whole Foods! One of my favorite things is the great selection of organic produce. It’s so much better than other stores!
I love that they have chia seeds, gogi berries and organic nuts in the bulk bins. Saves so much money than buying them pre-packaged!!
Wow, i didn’t realize you could purchase only the amount you needed of vegetables, cheese, etc. That is great to know! I love everything at Whole Foods, but I especially love their yogurt selection and of course the salad bar!
I love the desserts at Whole Foods. And their pre made hamburger patties. And the cheese samples, oh the cheese samples!
the fact that they carry Quest bars!! and all of their bulk foods (nuts, trail mixes).
I don’t have a whole foods close enough to shop regularly at but whenever I do get close to one I always make sure to hit up the bulk bins and hot bar. I also love their whole wheat tortillas!
I am a fan of WF honey roasted peanut butter, olive oil bar, salad and hot food bar.
They have awesome pecan crusted chicken breasts you can just throw in the oven, bake, add a big salad and dinner is ready!
I love their frozen sushi grade salmon and tuna!
noosa yogurt at whole foods! I love that stuff!
I love going to Whole Foods on Saturday morning and picking up breakfast tacos. We have one within walking distance of our place, so it’s a nice way to start the weekend with my hubby 🙂
I love the salad bar!!
I love their 365 multigrain tortilla chips, garlic hummus and oatmeal bread!
Coconut butter is to die for!
I love the salad bar and the produce section!
I love buying products that I can only find at Whole Foods, that other chain grocery stores just don’t carry! Whole Foods is great and so is your blog…thanks for this giveaway : )
My favorite item at Whole Foods is chocolate covered mangos in their bulk section! YUM!!!
I love making homemade nut butters from Whole Foods!
Whole food’s brand has some great products for any budget! I love their whole wheat tortillas and I love purchasing everything I can in their bulk bins! They always have what I’m looking for!
I love their salad bar and have been wanting to experiment with nutritional yeast lately!
i love their salad bar. the roasted beets and sweets get me every time.
The Sundried Tomato Chicken Salad is my very favorite thing from whole foods
Vanilla bean paste! It’s the best for baking!
I love whole foods fresh ground peanut butter. I don’t know what it is but it is the best peanut butter around!
The salad bar is fantastic. Not to mention all the options for great peanut butter!!
I love the cotton candy grapes I find at whole foods!
My favorite thing at whole foods is the granola bricks you can buy in the baked goods section. They are amazingly chewy and are the perfect treat for dessert.
our whole foods just opened last week and it made me so happy! their bulk bins are my favorite