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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My favorite item from whole foods is the whole rotisserie chicken. For less than $8 you get an antibiotic free and delicious whole cooked chicken that can be used in so many quick night dinner meals and you can also make a delicious chicken broth/stock with all the bones once you are done. I also love the bulk bins. I get all of my pantry staples there for pretty cheap, and my local whole foods gives a 10% discount on bulk bin items if you bring your own mason jars other reusable containers.
Bulk bins!
Whole Foods is a tiny bit of heaven for me! My greatest Whole Food find (and one that saves money as you mentioned) is the bulk bins.. but, especially for spices! The pricing on organic spices in bulk to refill my jars once they are empty are so much cheaper than buying a new bottle. Love it!
Nice ideas for breakfast. Will definitely try it.
I love the bulk bin spices! It’s a great way to find exotic and delicious prices at an affordable price.
I love the bulk bins! It’s nice to have that as an option for dry goods. We actually just got a Whole Foods, and I am so excited to shop there!!!
Oh how I love Whole Foods, despite some of its pricey items. I love buying from the bulk bins though. I get my oats from the bulk bins for my daily breakfasts. I also have started to buy quinoa recently. I love how their produce just always looks fresher, I buy grapefruit there for my breakfasts as well. They also have the best dark chocolate, just purchased a bar of mint dark chocolate today from there.
I love their salad bar – was always a treat on my way home from babysitting senior year of college (:
I LOVE Whole Foods and this post!!! Great ideas!! ❤️
I love the 365 almond butter and anything bulk bin – I stock up on oats for overnight oats there
I love the Dill Tuna salad in the Deli counter. I also love their homemade pretzel rolls. I love the array of vitamins and supplements as well.
My favorite finds are the oatmeal bread, the 365 frozen entree bags (chinese themed are my favorite), and the 365 value brand olive oil.
My favorite Whole Foods items include the air chilled whole chicken which ends up being two meals for my family of four and four quarts of chicken stock made from the leftovers. With a few fresh vegetables and herbs, half of your weeks cooking is done and I may add that it’s the best chicken that you will ever eat!! You can use the stock on the other nights to make risotto with vegetables or turkey meatloaf with mashed cauliflower.
I like the 365 ketchup! I also love their soup fresh and frozen! Thanks for the chance.
i love all of their 365 brands!! 🙂
I love their all natural peanut butter– just peanuts and salt!
I love shopping at the Whole Foods in Dr. Phillips. I especially their organic smoothies, they make the perfect lunch.
I love the bulk bin section and grinding my own honey nut butter!
I love the bulk bins at whole foods!
I have never shopped at Whole Foods so I don’t have any favorites but I am moving to a new city with a store next month, so I’d love to try it out!
I am addicted to the seeduction bread!
I don’t shop at Whole Foods often, but I would love to explore it more! I honestly just love their hot bar so, so much! They have the best blueberry cornbread. Mmmm
Wow your meal plan sounds fantastic! When I go to Whole Foods, I love to pick out a few cuts of protein (tofu, meat, etc) and plan my meals around that.
Love their bulk bins and cheese selection!
All the nut butter options at Whole Foods blow my mind! I’m kind of a window shopper because things are so costly there. This is a great post!
Whole Foods has the best dates I have ever had. They taste like candy!! Their dairy selection is superb. The stores closest to mr can’t compare!!!
The Cajun sakmon burgers in the fresh fish department at my Whole Foods are super yummy. Love them!
I love Suja juice! I first found it at Whole Foods and it eventually inspired me to buy a juicer but I still love to buy them every once in a while. I also discovered chocolate brown cow yogurt at Whole Foods which I love for when I get a dessert craving but its a lot less calories than a brownie! Love Whole Foods!
Cranberries on sale for $4 a lb. in the bulk section! I mostly shop the produce and look for deals there.
I love the bulk bins. This is where I get most of my stuff.
Whole Foods just opened in Asheville and I’ve only been once. I had lunch from the hot bar and just browsed around but did not buy anything else. I think I was a little overwhelmed and not sure what to try. I loved reading everyone else’s favorites and will definitely try some of those.
I love Whole Food pre-grilled chicken breast! They are lemon rosemary and so easy for when you need a quick protein fix!
I always buy Zevia soda, Lily’s chocolate bars and anything from the hot/cold bar!
Anything from the 365 brand!
I love Whole Foods. Shopping there puts me in the best mood! I even considered getting a part time job there even though I have a full time career, just to be there more, ha! My favorite things to buy there are items from the produce department because everything is just so fresh and pretty, I also enjoy their salad bar and some of their 365 items (almond milk, organic frozen fruit for smoothies, sparkling mineral water). Whenever I travel, I always check to see if there is a Whole Foods so I can shop and eat healthy!
Their desserts and hot bar can’t be beat!
I went to Whole Foods last week to stock up for a road trip to see my in-laws. Ended up picking up some Green+ drink mixes (the equivalent of SEVEN servings of veggies) which were perfect when I couldn’t have my usual green smoothie! I also picked up one of their snack bars with chia seeds that was SO good. Love healthy road trip food!
I love the 365 brand and WF vinegars! Especially the balsamic!
I love their hummus wall, salad bar, unsweetened banana chips and kombucha!
Whole foods is one of my favorites! I love their trail mixes and all their kombucha offerings!
I love all the cheeses, sushi, & obviously the hot bar! Can’t wait to try the wheat berry soup this fall/winter 🙂
Two Sisters chocolate oatmeal is terrific!
I love walking the store aisles and “discovering” new foods. This weeks find: Way Better Pita-aah Chips.
I love the bulk bins!
Great post! Whole Foods is definitely a lot cheaper than people give them credit, if you utilize their generous coupon policy! I find my best deals at WF.
The greatest thing I have ever found at whole foods is their pre cut pineapple. I took some to work and made a coworker try it by saying,”This is the best pineapple you will ever eat in your life.” He ate a chunk and said, “This is the best pineapple I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
Love their bulk items and they have great organic coffee selections. Cant wait to try the soup recope.
Love their DIY fresh ground peanut butter in the bulk section!! 365 Organic frozen peas, corn, tri-color peppers are great, too! All the team members bend over backwards to be helpful. Great store!
While I was nursing my daughter, I had to go on a special diet, eliminating all dairy and soy. I had trouble finding foods at my regular grocery store that fit the bill. I finally made the 30 minute trip to Whole Foods and was so happy to find tons of foods that fit my needs!