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\")
I love Whole Foods fresh juices and their amazing fresh seafood selection! YUM!
I use Whole Foods as my main grocery store so this is a great post! I love their 365 line and their cheeses. My favorite thing though is their feta salsa with feta, olives, and fresh herbs and garlic. It’s so phenomenally delicious but sells out so fast 🙁
I love all the nut butters and the frozen sweet potato tots 🙂
I love everything about Whole Foods and could spend hours browsing! Unfortunately, with two little ones I have to be in and out in 15 minutes. I love their juice bar and pre made tuna salad – the best I’ve ever had!
I do a lot of my grocery shopping at Whole Foods. I buy a lot from the bulk bins and I buy a lot of 365 brand items, as well.
I’ve never been to a Whole Foods but always have wanted to check them out because of your posts! I would probably go right for the got/cold food bar because I like a variety of foods.
The bulk wall is my favorite spot in the entire store. I love getting exactly the amount I need.. and the yogurt covered pretzels are the best treat.
I’m a sucker for their locally made kombucha and ALL of the goodies they sell in their bulk bins!
Fresh produce and nut butters all the way!
LOVE their salad bar. I could eat there everyday for lunch and still not have the same salad twice 🙂
i absolutely love that they have small treats such as high-quality cut up fruits, really good animal crackers (not those gross cardboard ones!) and mini-bars in good flavors. There’s a whole foods near my office so I often go at lunch to get in a bit of a walk and a healthy treat! It is so nice to have a resource that has high quality foods that I can trust.
I haven’t actually done it, but I heard Whole Foods has a grind-your-own peanut butter station that I would love to try!
I love to get their freshly ground almond butter! I only eat a little bit at a time so it’s perfectly fresh each time I want it!
Do the samples count??? 😛 But seriously, the great buys on in-season produce…. If you really focus on in-season, you can get organic options for cheaper than other grocery stores in my area!
I love the WF bakery! If I don’t have time to make dessert or bake a birthday cake (which is pretty often)… WF cakes and mini desserts are my go to! They taste great and their cake vanilla frosting is actually butter, sugar and vanilla (which is what I would use if I had time to bake). YUM!
red lentils from the bulk bins!
I have always wanted to try out Whole Foods but have never taken the time to do so. Would love to win the gift card then I would definitely go and check it out!!
Their frozen fish options are always great and affordable, and I can never resist the hot bar- especially the Indian food!
I love Whole Foods bakery! Their fresh bread is the best!
Yum! I don’t get to Whole Foods often because I tend to think it is more expensive than Publix, but I’d love to try out some of your finds!
I love Whole Foods! My favorite section is probably the hot bar… but since that isn’t really a “find,” I would have to say that their nut butter selection is my favorite!
I LOVE whole foods! Thanks for the great tips!
I love the bulk bins! I also find it hard to resist the hot bar. Yum. I also like the 365 line.
I LOVE Whole Foods! Their fresh in-house made sandwich meats are one of my favorite things to purchase for easy lunches!
I consider the Whole Foods freshly ground honey roasted peanut butter to be the best find of the year! It has changed my life, I doubt I’ll ever go back to pre-packaged nut butter anytime soon!
My girlfriends and I enjoy grabbing dinner from the hot bar (they have options to please any palate!) and moving it over to the real bar for a seasonal beer for happy hour!
I can’t believe the deals you got, Julie!
Love the bulk bins and salad bar!
i love the hot bar- i get so many ideas from there and it is good way to get my kids to try a little of something new!
A whole foods just opened up near our house and we haven’t had the chance to check it out yet. Great giveaway – we’re looking forward to seeing what all the hype is about!
I always buy Justin’s Vanilla AB, the lemon/garlic olives and capers from the olive bar!
I love all of their different healthy bars and protein bars! Also their delicious peanut butters!
I love whole goods prepared section…it’s the best!
My husband gets lunch from the hot bar almost every day!!
The 365 brand tortilla chips with chia seeds are my favorite!!
I love their sushi!! and their bbq wings!
The bulk bin section is my favorite – I always find something yummy there! I also like their electrolyte water since it’s less expensive than the brand name type.
I love the bulk bins! So helpful to be able to buy what I want. They also have a great selection of full fat yogurt, which is hard to find at some other grocery stores.
Whole Foods Salad Bar. Enough said.
I love the hot bar at Whole Foods and their cheese selection!
I love the bulk bins! Especially the make your own granola. Even my 1 year old could not stop eating it!
I love the bulk aisle at whole foods! especially their “grind your own” peanut and almond butters- big savings there!
I love the hot bar for a quick easy lunch, but their nut butters are normally a good deal.
Every time I go to Whole Foods I discover a new type of tortilla chip. Also, in my Whole Foods they have a freezer up front with individually wrapped gelato bars. I think this is brilliant.
I love whole foods! We shop there very other week for our chicken and a few other staples. I especially love the cookie bar 😉
I don’t live near a Whole Foods, so I’m always blown away when I get to go. I’m still in awe that I can get freshly ground peanut butter and almond butter there. I always stock up on that!
I love the coconut milk lattes! So Delicious brand. Amazing!
I love the hot bar and all the fresh meats!
their fruit is the best, love their oranges!
My favorite find at whole foods is definitely their lemon hummus!
I recently blogged about the 28 day challenge that I did with my local Whole Foods and I found TONS of awesome new favorites – a couple of those: 365 peanut butter (only peanuts & salt) and the same price as any other peanut butter. Ezekial bread – my new favorite breakfast is the cinnamon raisin ezekial bread with peanut butter, sliced bananas, honey, and cinnamon! Delicious! I also tried Lara bars for the first time with the 28 day challenge and loved those as well. My absolutely FAVORITE thing from Whole Foods (not 28 day challenge approved) are the vegan double chocolate cookies… I could eat 12 in one sitting, but I don’t lol.
If we’re having lamb chops, I ALWAYS get them at Whole Foods.