The Whole Foods Harbor East store in Baltimore (courtesy of www.600block.com)
If you read this blog regularly, you may have noticed that I talk about Whole Foods a lot. When I lived in Queens, I was within walking distance of several natural food stores, but in Baltimore, I don’t have as many options. Whole Foods is now my grocery store of choice.
When I first started shopping there in August, I was surprised to find some great prices. My top three deals are natural peanut butter, tofu, and chocolate chips, all of which cost less than $2, cheaper than other grocery stores in my area.
I also recently discovered that the Whole Foods Harbor East store also has an active calendar of events. On Monday, they had a “Shopping on a Shoestring” tour; those who attended would get $10 of 365 products plus a reusable shopping bag. I love a good deal and a good food tour, so I went.
I also learned these five ways to save money at Whole Foods:
1. Use coupons from The Whole Deal. Yes, Whole Foods has a newsletter. It has recipes, meal planning ideas, and coupons. As a recent coupon convert – I spent an exciting Sunday afternoon cutting them out of The Baltimore Sun – I recommend grabbing The Whole Deal when you enter the store. Just make sure the coupons don’t entice you to buy a bunch of products you don’t need.
2. Don’t buy prepared foods. OK, this tip isn’t revolutionary. We all know you pay a premium for fruits and vegetables that have been cut and packaged for you. But did you know how big of a premium you pay? Well, one plastic container of pineapple costs as much as 2 ½ whole pineapples. Grab a knife and start cutting at home to save.
Stay away from prepared foods when you're looking to save.
3. If you do buy prepared foods, broccoli is a good deal. You pay for broccoli by weight and the stem is the heaviest part. If you aren’t going to eat the broccoli stems or use them for stock, you could save money by going with the pre-cut broccoli florets.
4. Buy the whole fish. A whole fish looks intimidating, but it’s cheaper than buying individual fillets. A Whole Foods team member will scale and cut the fish for you (how did I never realize this?), or explain how you can cook the fish whole.
Buying a whole fish is cheaper. Ask a team member to scale and cut it for you.
5. Try products before you buy them. If you can’t decide what type of chips to buy, a team member will open the bags so you can sample them first. I’m not sure if they’d do the same for every product, but you should be safe asking to sample chips. At Harbor East, just tell them the “Shopping on a Shoestring” tour leader said it was ok.
Unsure what kind of chips to buy? Ask a team member if you can sample them first.
What are your favorite grocery stores? What budget food shopping tips do you have?
That’s some great info. I usually won’t shop at Whole Foods, b/c it’s so expensive. I love Trader Joes though!
@Ninette: I love Trader Joe’s! They have some great deals, and really good products too. Thanks for reading!
hello… Great blog
In texas wholefoods is the most common natural food source.
If you don’t know what to buy the toll can be quit high.
I would add to your List
BULKS
- buy what you need. avoid storing items you don’t use often
- get to try some stuff like candies
- if its an item i havent tried . i buy a small amount and test it. if it doesn’t work its not a waste
GENERIC BRANDS
I tried to get the WHOLE FOODS brands. unless there is a namebrand on sale
CASES
they usually provide discount for pkg like Soy Milk on tetrapack, mineral water, granola bars, etc. etc. It works for items you know they don’t spoil and you know you’ll use them for sure.
In my hometown we recently had a new Natural market that was supposedly a lot cheaper.. and yes the Organic Produce was definitely 30% cheaper, but all the other stuff was a lot pricier
for my normal grocery list i ended up spending about 40 more ( but i saved 30% on produce )
@karlac: Great tips! I love the bulk section for trying things out (I’m a sucker for the trail mixes that have lots of chocolate, so I like your point about being able to try candies!). I guess the nice things about natural foods markets are that you’re supporting a local business. But I know what you mean about the expensive prices. The natural food store near my parents in Maryland is much more expensive than Whole Foods.
Thanks for reading!