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 shopping in their bulk section!
My favorite whole foods finds (in no particular order)
365 unsweetened almond milk
365 lemon tahini dressing
365 refried pinto beans
365 frozen sockeye salmon filets
365 frozen broccoli
365 frozen cauliflower
black & white cookies from the bakery 🙂
I love their fresh fish!!
I love all of their stuff but the hot bar has to be my fave!!
I love their bulk dept. I buy the organic multi coloured popcorn kernels which has been my nightly snack lately. Yum!
Their bulk bin section is great!
l love their produce!
I love the frozen quinoa and brown rice!
I love the wholefood bulk bins and the salad bar for a healthy lunch during work a couple times a week!
I love their salsa and their salad bar!
I love the 365 brand granola! It is cheap, healthy and delicious. I also really love their fresh almond butter. Its cheaper than in regular grocery stores and really cool they grind the almonds right there.
I have never been to wholefoods! My town JUST opened one a few months ago and I need to go ASAP!
I love Whole Foods! I shop biweekly and their produce is the best (other than local organic farmers). We also love all the 365 organic brands.
Thanks for the tips! I love Whole Food’s selection of beer (amazing!) and the vegan chocolate chip cookies!
Whole Foods is one of the only places in my area where I can find GT’s Kombcha so I definitely enjoy that. But by far my favorite item there is their house blend PB. A coworker and I keep a container in a fridge at work to have with celery sticks or just straight up eat it by the spoon full. It’s amazing how fast we can finish a container.
I love their very fresh and beautiful produce!
Love their Whole365 brand! Specifically their Almond Milk, I find the consistency so much better then others I’ve tried.
i love whole foods chocolate milk after a long run!
I love the cereal and green juices at Whole Foods!
I love all the 365 products because they are affordable and high quality. I pretty much love everything, I could wander around in Whole Foods aimlessly all day long.
I love Whole Foods! They just opened up a new one near my parents house and it is without a doubt the most beautiful store I have ever seen. I love the produce and am excited to try the juice and coffee bar. I’ve never been able to try the juice until now!
I’ve actually never been to whole foods! There is not one near my home but there is one within walking distance from my work. I always hear and read great things. Id love to check it out!
I now live across the street from a Whole Foods, which is both a blessing and a curse – it enables my love for the store far too much. I love their hot food & salad bars and my boyfriend and I like to make bulk-bin mixes of sundrops (whole foods’ version of M&Ms), banana chips, dried fruit, and nuts before movies instead of buying candy at the theater. I would love to spend the giftcard on some fresh fish and herbs for a big dinner and stock up on some nut butters & frozen fruit for smoothies!
I love the antipasti bar Whole Foods! They have a great selection of olives, pickled vegetable, and cheeses which are perfect for an easy appetizer for dinner parties!
My absolute favorite go-to things at Whole Foods are the bulk bins (for quinoa, oats, raw almonds, chia seeds and flax seeds) and their frozen veggies! They have the best frozen butternut squash that I add to EVERYTHING! 🙂
I don’t shop there often due to cost, but I may have to reconsider. In the past, I’ve enjoyed selected items such as fresh salsa, olives and cheese spreads.
I love their fruit and veggies…always so fruit and delicious!!
I love their fresh seafood and the bulk bins, but their cookies are my favorite sweet treat! The peanut butter chocolate chip cookie is amazing!
Whole Foods has the best bulk bins. I love to experiment with different recipes, and using the bulk bins allows me to buy a little of an ingredient I might not use frequently.
Their chocolate covered ginger is one of my favorites!
Salad bar, bulk section (!!) and I LOVE Rip’s Big Bowl Banana Walnut cereal! Love this giveaway – thanks Julie!
I love any of their 365 products but LOVE their nut butters! yum!
Definitely the selection of grains in the bulk bins!
The bulk bins granola is the BEST at Whole Foods!!!
Wholefoods lemon hummus is my favorite. Their Greek hummus is a close second!
I love the bulk section! The figs, dried mangos and granola! 🙂
I always get fresh coffee beans and occasionally, talenti gelato (definitely a splurge item)!
At Whole Foods, I love their trail mix selections as well as their mango salsa!
Love their almond milk and bread!
I love Whole Foods! Especially their nut butters and salad bar!
I always thought Whole Foods was super expensive, too, until I recently started coupon clipping and buying in bulk to get the case discount. I also stay away from the juices and non-Whole Foods brand prepared foods, as they can be budget-busters. We are currently obsessed with all their different bacon flavors!
I absolutely LOVE their bulk aisle and their grind your own nut butter. The dark chocolate covered almonds are dangerous. Snacking while browsing the bulk aisle might happen occasionally, shhhh don’t tell 😉
I’ve actually never shopped at Whole Foods. Would love to win the gift card so I could use it to go see what they have!
That is amazing that you were able to get all that to last 2 weeks a day for a week!! Great job and super creative meals!!
I love the 365 line for sure, and cannot wait to take advantage of the bulk when we move to Orlando!!
their pre-made veggie burgers are AMAZING (and a huge portion size). I put it in a fry pan for a few minutes on each time and top it with avocado and hot sauce. delicious and easy.
I love the dark chocolate covered cherries in the bulk section! They are the best way to end a delicious salad bar lunch!
I love the Whole Foods butcher counter, it allows me to buy higher quality meat since I only pay for the exact amount I need.
Love the salad bar, love that I can get everything I need there.
I love their bulk bins! My favorite item is the Thompson raisins.
I love that lots of the produce is LOCAL! 🙂 I buy Kimchi and Sauerkraut there to help my digestive system. I also love their clean, wild fish!