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!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
Bakery items! and Annie’s pizza
Their 365 peanut butter is my favorite
I love the salad bar, it is amazing!
They have a KILLER cherry spread that I especially love on an english muffin, with turkey sausage & grapefruit on the side for breakfast! YUM!
I find that sticking to the ‘outer’ aisles at Whole Foods (fresh fruit and veggies, meat, dairy, etc.) actually doesn’t cost much more than your typical grocery store. Sometimes the inner aisles (non perishables, paper goods, etc.) are much more expensive, but I try to limit my prepackaged food buys anyway 🙂
I love the bulk section!!!
Whole Foods is my go to spot for mid-work lunches. In fact, I went there today! I grabbed a spicy tuna and avocado brown rice roll and a Dr.Aaaahs green juice on lots of ice….my fav!
normally canned foods (especially beans and soups) weird me out with all their additives but I love the Whole Foods brands because they’re cheap and simply delicious!
I love the bulk bins! Especially the chocolate covered almonds :))
Cashew butter, the new & improved (thicker) version of Brad’s kale chips and miscellaneous green juices are some of my favorite things to pick up at Whole Foods.
I love Justin’s pb and of course the hot bar!
Whole Paws pet food is a special treat for my cat! I also love the hot bar and the beer selection. Sometimes we use that as our date night and take our food and beer to the park near our Whole Foods!
mmm love my weekly WF trips, minus the cost 🙁 !! BluePrint juices, hot bar, and my newest fave find is the Go Raw Lasanga
I love the bulk bins at Whole Foods. When I am craving something salty and sweet, I get the yogurt covered pretzels. They are way better than any of the pre-packaged ones!
I love the hot bar, local produce, and the bulk bins!!
I love Whole Foods sushi and all of the nut butter options!
Whole Foods is the only place I can find kombucha. Their frozen meals are also really good.
I like 365 products at Whole Foods, also the grains from bulk bins.
The hot bar!
I wish we had a local whole foods as they have great coupons to die for bulk bins, and awesome products. The closest one is 1 hr and 30 mins away from me. Every few months I try to make a pilgrimage to stock up on almond milk yogurt, cheeses and specialty products.
I have lunch at least once/week at their hot bar. Love it!
i love shopping the bulk bins at whole foods, and shopping seasonal i think is key. sometimes i find that there are some organic fruits/veggies that are cheaper at whole foods than my regular grocery store. i must admit i will usually buy their organic fruit over the regular store even if it is a little bit more in price. basically i just love whole foods and eat at their hot bar probably 2 times a week. totally worth it!
I always find a new brand/flavor of yogurt to try 🙂
I love their freeze dried hummus! We take it with us every time we go backpacking and it is awesome!
I love their fresh ground nut butters.
I like anything from the bulk bins at Whole Foods.
I like their whole 30 friendly almond milk
It’s sad how excited I get over their bulk section. You’re right, it is always cheaper that route.
I love Whole Foods! The 365 pita chips, brown rice sushi, and peanut butter are some of my favorites!
They had a sale the other week – 2 Wink “Ice Cream” pints for $7. I was in Wink heaven! Thanks for the giveaway 🙂
The sprouted almond & mulberry mix from the bulk department (my fav dept).
Coconut water!! I dont know how I lived without it before!!
I love the hot bar options as well as their trail mix dispensers!
I love Whole Foods’ fresh produce section and ready-made salads and pizzas! Healthy and oh so delish! 🙂
I love their soups!
My fave thing at WF is their sushi grade fish. We love sushi in our house, but going out to a restaurant for it can be super pricey. We spent quite a few hours on youtube learning to make it ourselves and WF is the only place we can find to buy the proper fish. Love it!
I love the Greek yogurt section at Whole Foods! They always have a lot of great locally made varieties.
I love the white chocolate peanut butter by peanut butter and co that WF carries!
Whole Foods can be affordable if you know where to look! I always am impressed with the produce selection, and the prices are very reasonable.
I really love the 365 Creamy Peanut Butter that Whole Foods puts out. It actually is one of my top 5 nut butters, and every time I get a chance, I try to snag a jar (or two) to have in the nut butter rotation.
Hot Bar and Bulk Bins are my faves!!! 🙂
I love the organic produce, amazing salad bar and Uncle Eddie’s cookies!
I love whole foods raspberry oat bars that are from the bakery section. Im typically gravitate towards chocolate desserts, but when a employee offered it to me for free ( she said I HAD to try it because it was THAT good) I had to give it a shot. Now every trip to whole foods includes a trip to the bakery to get a delicious raspberry oat bar!
The only thing better than shopping at Whole Foods is doing it and saving money at the same time!! 🙂 I’m a huge meal planning nerd and love seeing how many different dishes I can use ingredients in while still keeping things interesting. My fave Whole Foods finds are the 365 frozen greens, 365 shelled edamame, the fun exotic produce that they sometimes have in stock, and pretty much any fish from the seafood counter (sustainably sourced, of course!)
I love their almond milk
Wow! I’m truly impressed at how under budget you were! My favorite thing to buy from WF is their organic almond milks 🙂
Great tips Julie! I like the Stevia Sweetdrops. They come in difference flavors (like grape and root beer) which I add to sparkling water. Homemade soda, yum.
Their freshly ground peanut and almond butter is phenominal, Gem Wraps in mango chipotle, Monte Bene spicy marinara, I could go on and on!
My favorite thing at Whole Foods is the Ramen Bar!
This is so awesome!! I would love to see the full list of all the things you got. Definitely convinces me to make a point to go to WF and get good deals on their great products!
My fave thing is their salad bar, but they also carry an Icelandic Chocolate bar that I love on days when I need a little pick me up. 🙂