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 their pistachio gelato and sparkling water!
I love to get my avocados from Whole Foods. Yum!
I love whole foods except I am a college student…… I have so many favorite food/drink items. The dark chocolate yogurt covered pretzels, this almond coffee drink, ahi tuna jerky, and sushi just to name a few!
WF is amazing, especially their salad bar! Some other favs are Carol’s cookies, Justin’s nut butter, 365 trail mix and of course all of the great produce and fish counter!
I love Whole Foods produce, especially their homemade salsas. My Whole Foods actually has a taco food truck on the roof and it is my favorite place to dine al fresco!
I LOVE Whole Foods. I work right down the street for one, so I go very often. I love their hot bar, as well as their chicken burgers!
Love their bulk bin and pre-made trail mixes! The WF prepared foods bar is also yummy!
To be honest I’ve only had their guac, which I loved! But I would love even more to experiment with other products of theirs!
I head to Whole Foods and splurge on liquid stevia. My favorite at the moment: english toffee. Mmmmm….
It’s hard to go to Whole Foods and pass up the hot bar! By far my fav, and the #1 reason I go. But I do love their frozen treats section that offers such a variety of non-dairy (like coconut!) options.
Also their guac… LOVE their guac.
I LOVE Whole Foods! Some of my favorite foods are their hot bar, prepared foods, bakery, and bulk bin! The Whole Foods by me has the best pre-prepared quinoa salad with black beans, red pepper, and onion. They also have amazing chocolate chip cookies in the bakery section! 🙂 YUM!
I do all my shopping at Whole Foods and love it. I love their huge selection of affordable frozen fruit!
Thanks for the tips. I use the bulk bins a lot!
We have so many “go-to” items from Whole foods, but our newest finds are 365 brand breakfast bars and local milk (Snowville Creamery).
Whole Foods is my Mecca for the salad bar alone (the quinoa salad…the little falafel..the toppings oh my gosh – the best) but I also find it to be a great place to get quality nut butters, produce, and delicious desserts you’d think came from a standalone bakery. Clearly I’m in love…
WF bulk bins and hot bar are the best!!
The entire 365 brand is awesome, especially pasta and canned beans. I always buy my barley, popcorn and nutritional yeast from the bulk section too
I love the 365 cocoa rice crisps- great for treats, protein balls or on top of smoothies and nice cream for crunch! Also, hard to stop at one of the mint fudge mini ice cream sandwiches 🙂
Great tips for saving money! My favorite things at Whole Foods include their fresh veggies and meats. No better place to buy organic!
I love Using their bulk bins!
As another BIG fan of PB, I have to say the 365 brand is my favorite. The chunky kind with the blue lid. Just peanuts and salt. I could eat a family size jar in one sitting, probably!
Their house-made sausages at the meat counter are also excellent. My other local grocery store does not even come close.
I love their super greens already made salad from the salad bar. It is yummy!!
I love pretty much everything at WF, but I especially love their $3 & under cheese bin.
I am obsessed with this stuff called Tru Whip at Whole Foods, it’s like whipped cream, but a healthier version and really difficult to find anywhere else! It’s so yummy in hot teas, coffee and hot cocoa!
Some things I love from Whole Foods: all bulk items, especially dried fruit & nuts; 365 organic ketchup; all the prepared meat and fish items (that you take home and cook); their hot bar! I must say, though, it can be tough to get out of there with a week’s worth of groceries for under $125.
I love Whole Foods fruit section! I could eat every fruit and veggie they have!
Super random – but I found my first blender bottle at one a Whole Foods. It’s awesome for protein shakes, Spark drinks, any powder drink! Those little whisk balls really do the trick!
I love their tasty drinks, like Synergy Kombucha and Kevita probiotic drinks.
The “massaged” Kale salad in the to-go cup. Awesome-delicious. I’ve tried imitating it at home but can’t get to taste as good. I usually buy two because I end up eating one in my car in the parking lot 🙂 I’m learning how to cook for one since hubby died in Dec. and the cup salads are perfect. I also reuse the cups.
I love anything from the 365 brand!
I LOVE the garlicky kale at the salad/hot food bar. I can’t get enough! I also love Whole Good’s massive selection of Larabars and Luna Bars.
Anything from the 365 brand
WF sells the most delicious Vermont Creamery cheese – yummmm!
ive never been but i wanna go and try it out!!
I u’ve lots of WF faves. My most favorite is the seaside smoked cheddar…but haven’t been able to find it my last couple visits. I’m obsessed with Quinoa lately…the 365 brand is much cheaper than Harris Teeter…and last longer. Frozen or fresh salmon or mahi mahi is also always on the list. And my moms b.day request was a whole foods b.day cake…double chocolate….delicious!
Some of my recents favorites: Tazo Giant Peach Tea, Stone Coffee Milk Stout, Evol Truffle Mac & Cheese, MiDel Ginger Snaps, Bellwether Farms Cheese and whatever produce is in season.
I love buying protein bars and natural peanut butter and also stopping by the hot foods bar and salad bar!!
I love both their fresh ground pork and turkey Italian sausages. If you can handle some spice the spicy version is great too. Pair it with Tinkyada gluten free pasta and Muir Glen tomato sauce for an easy weeknight dinner.
New to the Whole Foods ‘hood, and learning my way around the store. Thanks for the tips! Writer and readers alike.
Whole Foods is my go-to-THERAPY-shopping store!!! I love the Power Energy Greens, everything in the bulk section (the chocolate covered pistachios in the “Specialty” chocolate department are to die for delicious!), and the Coconut Macademia encrusted Mahi Mahi fresh from the seafood department is mouthwathering 🙂 !! The Zevia soda and the Dang! coconut chips also deserve a mention, and despite the fact that I could ramble on forever just by going through each department, I will spare everyone! Case in point, Whole Foods is the best grocery store and I think it is great that you are promoting them on your blog.
There’s a really good bean dip I can only find at WF – I think the brand is Oasis – anywways it’s a black bean dip with only 11 cals per 2T!!
I love grabbing a Kombucha when I feel for an extra kick! Or mac and cheese from the hot bar.
They have really fresh, good-looking fish.
I love getting harder to find ethnic items at Whole Foods, such as Asian or Thai condiments.
Their turkey meatloaf from the hot bar is sooo good. I bought some granola from the bulk section which was glorious on Greek yogurt
Love all their produce naturally. Always into their nut butter selections, fresh cheeses, bulk items, and fancy sodas sweetened w stevia!
I love the peanut butter!
I try to stock up on meat when they have a great sale. Also, depending on when you shop, you can basically get a free meal from all their samples. 😉
My favorite whole foods finds are the individual Justin almond butters to bring in my lunch and I love their freeze dried blueberries. They also have great juices for cleanses!
I just love everything about the whole foods market. The lack of poison, the abundance of nongmo and organic food, the modern appearance, and the variety of food selection. Just fantastic. Thank you Jesus for the Whole Foods Market!
My favorite Whole Foods find is their salad bar!!! I especially love going to Whole Foods while on a road trip or when I travel to different cities. I know I can always find a quick, healthy meal there 🙂
-Libby