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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Grocery shopping at WF is one of my favorite times of the week! Have you tried the 365 Brand ketchup? Surprisingly, we like it more than Heinz!
Whole foods has surprisingly good beauty products in my experience.
I’m a huge fan of their prepared food section!! In particular, I love their vegetarian options such as the tofu asian salad and the vegetarian General Tso’s “chicken” – so good!! And, the meatless monday sale that allows for a salad bar container for only $8 is a great way to go vegetarian for the day!
I went to Whole food last week and I love stocking up on raw nuts that I can make my own coffee cream with. It’s hard finding unsalted macadamia nuts in the regular store. And of course the beer selection is outstanding, not to mention the cheese!
I love their selection of organic produce, and their delicious vegan chocolate chip cookies from the bakery 🙂
love the whole foods bulk bins—granola and nuts are a must! and obviously the lunch bars are hard to walk by..
Case wine sale!! We used it for our wedding. Saved so much money!
I love the trail mix bar and the wallaby greek yogurt (lemon flavored) at whole foods. Thanks!
I love their seduction bread or any item from their bakery department for that matter! Delicious!!
I love their bulks bins and frozen food sections!
I only get to visit Whole Foods when we go to visit family but we stock up like crazy people! I love that they let you buy half a loaf of bread, etc. Fantastic for people who have small families or low willpower. 🙂
oh man i LOVE the hot bar at my whole foods. i dream about their GF falafel.
Whole Foods just came to Albany, NY so I haven’t really had too much of an opportunity to shop there yet. I have checked out their salad/meal bar and I really enjoyed that though.
bulk bins!
Love the salad and hot bars!
love the bulk bin trail mixes! can’t get enough of them!
I am finally blessed with having a Whole Foods to shop at here in DC! I spend hours wondering the aisles, haha! I’ve found way to many good things I want to try 😛
I love getting different nuts and seeds from the bulk bins to put in homemade granola!
I really, really love their hot foods bar 🙂
I am obsessed with their build your own burgers! My husband loves them!!
The coconut butter! I’m addicted to it! It’s a little pricey though so I don’t buy it as often as I want to.
I like the bulk bins for nuts and other snack items.
I like the 365 brand (store brand). Especially the canned beans – so cheap!
I had a delicious roasted pepper soup once at the Whole Foods in Boulder, CO. These meals look really good!
Kelp noodles! Don’t diss them till you try them 🙂 Also, the granola is awesome!
Favorite thing at Whole Foods is Kombucha or their local yogurts!
I love shopping in their Bulk Bins! Such good value and the best snacks. Also love their 365 line- quality and afforadable.
I really love the produce at Whole Foods. Besides going to the Farmer’s Market, it’s really the best place for local, organic, and seasonal produce!
I love the sushi from Whole Foods and they also have these amazing oatmeal and dark chocolate bites!
I love Tessamae’s salad dressings and condiments! I have found them at other grocery stores lately, but definitely not the variety that Whole Foods carries.
Wow what an awesome giveaway! I love the pre-made chicken kebobs at Whole Foods – perfect for 2 people because you can buy only what you need and they are already seasoned to throw on the grill. I also love their selection of fresh coffee – so many choices!
I love their eggs! The dozen and a half is the best deal. They also have fantastic coffee and it’s $10.99 for a huge thing of it.
The bulk bins at whole foods are my favorite!
I love the peanut butter that you can get right out of the grinder! So yummy!
I love the chocolate and yogurt covered almonds from the bulk bins!
I love the soup starters I’ve found in the vegan fridge section! At home pho is so easy!
My favorite Whole Foods find is ANY and everything in their bakery. Specifically their macarons and marzipan! Their pastry chefs are true artists!
I love the Everyday Value line, especially their Herbs de Provence salad dressing. It’s affordable AND organic!
Quark yogurt!
the bulk bin and the cheese rind ends are my favorite part of shopping at whole foods
I LOVE Whole Foods produce (so perfect!) and their bulk bins… 🙂
Their pre-cut veggies (like the butternut squash) has helped me tremendously cut down on my meal prep time! Life-saver! 🙂
My favorite whole foods finds are Beyond Meat (vegetarian that tastes just like chicken with NO soy!!), goat yogurt, and produce that aren’t available at my normal grocery stores like Kabocha!
Great giveaway.
Love Whole Foods and their Aronia berries in the freezer fruit section
for the healthiest smoothies ever.
I love the 365 line! I always end up with their cereal and tea. I am also a big fan of their bulk bins. It is fun to try new things without buying a whole package.
I love the fresh peanut butter from the grinder!
I love all of the different nut butters at Whole Foods- you definitely cannot find that variety at a regular grocery store!
What a great giveaway!! Off the healthy aspects of Whole Foods, I love the bakery at Whole Foods. They have the best Pumpkin Cheesecake muffins ever!!!!
the local produce
I love the local chocolate milk! Such a treat after a run or workout!