I have been asked to take part in a Whole Foods Market Meal Plan Challenge. I have been given $200 to spend at Whole Foods Market (in Cincinnati) for one week’s worth of meals for my family of six. I am a huge fan of Whole Foods Market, I love to make healthy meals for my family AND I love to menu plan, so this Challenge is right up my alley! The Challenge began with a Budget Tour of Whole Foods Market in Cincinnati. This was not my first tour, I took another one earlier this year. You can read about that tour and more about my love for Whole Foods Market in this post. Whole Foods offers many tours, I highly encourage folks to check out their calendar of events, you might see a tour you’d like to take!
The Budget Tour was to help arm us with useful money-saving tips for our Meal Plan Challenge. I had never realized how many ways there are to save at Whole Foods! This tour was a real eye opener, and a huge help for a Mom feeding four kids on a budget! They have coupons, foods sold in bulk (oh how I adore the bulk foods section!), and they have every day specials, extreme values, and everyone’s favorite, the Friday Deals (I always get notified about the Friday Deals on Facebook).
I want to share a few things I learned on my tour with you. First of all, whenever you shop at While Foods Market, grab one of their circulars “The Whole Deal”. In it you will find coupons, recipes, tips and more.
Another tip is to check out the end-caps of aisles, because they often display discounted foods on the end-caps.
Look for sale tags all over the store…some are blue tags, some are yellow. They really have great prices on organic fruits and veggies.
When you see the giant red signs saying “Extreme Value” you will want to stop and check it out! Salad for $1.99 a bag?!?! YES PLEASE!
When you get to Whole Foods Market make this table at the front of the store your first stop, you can grab a copy of The Whole Deal, or a FREE Thanksgiving book, or some tasty recipes.
I absolutely love that you can find soooo many local foods at Whole Foods Market! Look for the red tag that says LOCAL on it.
You are probably wondering why I have a picture of this empty Trail Mix bag…well, because I fell in love with this trail mix and want to remember it for next time I go for a treat…it was delish!
Another tip is to look for the 365 brand. It’s the Whole Foods Market brand, and the items with this label are often very reasonably priced. And my final tip for shopping at Whole Foods is to talk to people! Take a tour or just stop one of the employees in the aisle and ask questions! The folks there are so wise when it comes to helping you find healthy foods and good deals!
Also, follow Whole Foods Market, Cincinnati on Facebook, they are constantly sharing deals & specials on there! And check out their website, where you can learn more about cooking classes for kids, wine tastings and more!
I cannot wait to continue this journey with Whole Foods Market, please stay tuned in the coming weeks for more details about my challenge!
Disclosure: Whole Foods Market in Cincinnati provided me with gift cards to spend on groceries for my Whole Foods Market Meal Plan Challenge. They also gave me a $100 gift card to give away to one random reader (more details to come). I’ll be sharing my culinary adventures here on the blog.
