Whole Foods

How Smart Shoppers Will Save at Amazon's Whole Foods

Christa Avampato — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 09:00:06 +0000

Amazon is looking to repeat its e-commerce success in the grocery vertical. Its recent acquisition of Whole Foods brought sweeping and immediate changes to the notoriously pricey grocery chain by taking a page from Amazon's traditional playbook — slashing prices. Here are details on the price changes that were implemented, and how you can cash in while shopping.

Look for the signs

All over Whole Foods stores, you can now find tags and large signage that clearly explain the recent price drops that Amazon has implemented. The produce market of Whole Foods, opulent and historically expensive, is one of the hallmarks of the chain. It makes perfect sense that Amazon would begin there. Certain varieties of apples have dropped a full dollar per pound, from $2.99 to $1.99. Avocados, which have been extra pricey this summer due to crop shortages in California and Mexico, have dropped, too, from $2.50 a piece to $1.49. Bananas dropped from $0.79 to $0.49 per pound, and lean ground beef dropped from $10.99 per pound to $6.99.

Overall, prices have dropped an average of 43 percent on the store's most popular items. To find the best deals in-store, be on the lookout for these signs and tags.

Lock it up

One of the signature benefits of being an Amazon shopper is a relatively easy return policy on many items. Amazon will start placing Amazon lockers in select Whole Foods locations where you can drop off your packages for easy returns, and also pick up packages that you order if you don't want them shipped to your home. This makes it more convenient for people to shop both brands in one, while having a single location where returns can be managed. (Lockers are ideal for people who aren't home during the day and don't have a doorman to collect their packages. With Amazon Lockers, there is less of a chance of packages being lost or stolen off of your doorstep.)

Shop Whole Foods products from Amazon

Amazon is in the process of adding Whole Foods private label brand items to the website for ordering through Prime Pantry, Prime Fresh, and Prime Now delivery programs. The Whole Foods private label brands include 365 Everyday Value and Whole Foods Market. They have long been touted as the best deals in the store. Now Amazon is elevating them even higher by making them available online.

Become a Prime member

Amazon is crafting big plans to integrate Amazon Prime into the Whole Foods shopping experience to further enrich the Prime program. Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer, said in a recent statement that Amazon Prime will become the customer rewards program at Whole Foods and will trigger lower prices and other benefits for Prime members over time. Whole Foods created a pilot customer rewards program of its own in the Philadelphia and Dallas/Fort Worth areas, but it never took off nationwide. Amazon provides an opportunity to change that with a quick solution that already has a large and loyal user base. (See also: 7 Amazon Prime Perks You've Forgotten to Use)

We're in the early days of Amazon's ownership of Whole Foods. What's clear is that the two brands intend to continue co-inventing ways to improve the shopping experience, provide enhanced value to customers, and compete with innovation in a traditional market.

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This article is from Christa Avampato of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 Grocery Purchases That Will Be Cheaper in 2017

Damian Davila — Tue, 10 Jan 2017 10:00:13 +0000

In case you haven't noticed, 2017 is here and bringing a whole bunch of changes.

With a new president in the White House, a second hike in interest rates by the Fed since 2006, a long list of U.S. cities with higher minimum wages, and a broad range of changes coming to the states, consumers are still trying to figure out how all of these changes are going to affect them.

Cheer up, America! It looks like 2017 may also bring you some serious savings at the grocery store. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service keeps track of the average prices paid by urban Americans for a series of key consumer goods and services. The latest data from the USDA's Food Price Outlook is showing that you'll save on your grocery runs throughout 2017. Let's break down the six buys that will give you the most bang for your buck this year.

1. Eggs

Continuing their downward trend in prices throughout 2016, eggs are leading the forecast savings with an estimated drop of 3% to 4% in price for 2017. This means that the sightings of a dozen of eggs going for under a buck should become more common in cities across the nation. Even when adjusted for inflation, 2017 is poised to set a record for lowest price of eggs since 2000. (See also: 6 Ways to Make Perfectly Cooked Eggs)

2. Fats and Oils

Stay with me on this one; it's not as unhealthy as it sounds. In this category, the USDA goes beyond the usual suspects, such as butter and cooking oil, and includes several familiar food items, including peanut butter and salad dressing. A drop in the prices of fats and oils has a domino effect across prices in several grocery aisles.

Back in November 2016, the USDA reported that the prices of fats and oils fell 2.9% from the previous month and were down 2.4% from the previous year. For 2017, the USDA is projecting an additional 3% to 4% drop in prices for fats and oils.

3. Beef and Veal

As forecast back in our guide to cheaper buys in 2016, prices of pork products dropped 3.25% to 4.25% throughout the year, according to USDA data. In 2017, the USDA isn't expecting pork prices to drop much, if at all. However, prices of beef and veal are poised to continue to drop an extra 1% to 2% across the nation this year.

Higher production outputs of carcasses, larger supplies of beef and veal held in cold storage, and lower prices of both feeder and fed cattle are all contributing to the lower prices of beef and veal. (See also: 25 Easy Ways to Make Cheap Cuts of Meat Taste Expensive)

4. Fresh Vegetables

With all these low prices, you may be having second thoughts about your New Year's resolution to lose weight. Fear not dear dieters, 2017 is also cutting down the prices of fresh veggies to keep you on track for success. While the previous year brought very little savings, the new one is expected to reduce the prices of fresh vegetables by 2% to 3%.

When looking for fresh produce in 2017, keep in mind that the prices of fresh fruits are on the rise. The USDA is forecasting an increase of 1% to 2% in the prices of fresh fruits for 2017. Another reason to stick with fresh veggies is that the prices of processed fruits and vegetables are expected to rise up to 1% this year.

5. Avocados

Speaking of fresh fruits, the price of an avocado is one that might be an exception to the USDA forecast for 2017. If you were paying attention at the store, you may have noticed that the prices of avocados were much higher than usual. For example, some stores in California were commanding as much as $3 per avocado. The same thing was taking place across several grocers here in Hawaii.

The culprit for these high prices was the interruption in harvesting caused by disputes between avocado growers and packers in Mexico. The disagreements resulted in a dramatic drop of exported Mexican avocados to the U.S. from a projected 40 million pounds to just 13.7 million in October 2016. Fortunately, an agreement was reached in November 2016 and Mexican harvesting of avocados is now back to normal. As more and more millions of Mexican avocados enter the market in the next couple of weeks, the prices of the green fruit are expected to drop.

Given the expected lower prices of avocado for 2017, you could start taking better advantage of all of the different uses of this nutrient-rich fruit. (See also: 6 Unexpected Uses for Avocados)

6. Whole Foods Products

Yes, there are actually buys that are cheaper at Whole Foods than most major food chains. And to continue to meet the high expectations of its shareholders, Whole Foods is rolling out two key initiatives in 2017 that will drive down the prices of many of its products.

First, Whole Foods has been offering its 365 Everyday Value brand at its regular stores for quite some time. Given that many of the products under the 365 brand are cheaper than those at major grocers, Whole Foods decided to open 365 by Whole Foods Market stores that only sell those products. Currently, there are only three 365 stores (Los Angeles, California; Lake Oswego, Oregon; and Bellevue, Washington), but there are 16 more scheduled to open in 2017 and beyond.

Second, Whole Foods has introduced a rewards program across 24 regular stores across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The rewards program offers a 10% discount on the first purchase and additional discounts as you continue to shop using the program. Also, all 365 by Whole Foods Market stores automatically participate in a separate rewards program that offers an instant 10% off on close to 120 items per week.

The Bottom Line: Eat at Home More Often in 2017

In 2017, it will be cheaper for you to eat in than to eat out. The USDA is expecting prices of food away from home to increase from 2% to 3%, while those of food at home to only increase from 0.5% to 1.5%. Shop smart and prep more home meals and you'll be able to pocket some extra cash this 2017.

This article is from Damian Davila of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Housing Values in Relationship to Proximity to Certain Stores

Kyle James — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 10:30:11 +0000

Finding a home in the right neighborhood can be a daunting task, especially if you're on a strict housing budget. But according to recent studies, you should also add the proximity to specific stores into consideration when looking for your next home. Having these stores in your neighborhood can actually boost your home's value.

Starbucks

According to Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate, ever since 1997, homes located within a quarter-mile of a Starbucks appreciated in value at an average rate of 21%, while homes within a half to quarter-mile rose in value by 17%. In contrast, homes located within the same distance of a Dunkin' Donuts, and not a Starbucks, only appreciated in value by 15%.

Zillow makes the argument that a Starbucks in the neighborhood isn't the result of higher home prices, but in fact, is the cause. Whether home buyers see a Starbucks as a sign of an up-and-coming neighborhood, or a testament to a sense of community where people meet and interact with each other, there's no arguing the data that shows a nearby Starbucks to be something to look for when house hunting.

Whole Foods

The proximity to a Whole Foods grocery store is another excellent thing to look for when shopping for a new home. Zillow discovered that between 1997 and 2014, a strange phenomenon occurred when a Whole Foods announced they were coming into a new neighborhood.

At first, median home values within one mile of the future Whole Foods grew slower than other homes in the same city. But as the grand opening grew nearer, that trend started to reverse dramatically. Once the store opened, homes within one mile appreciated much faster than other homes in the area. While Zillow can't fully explain this phenomena, they point to an overall increase in a neighborhood's desirability as the root cause.

Trader Joe's

Similar to Whole Foods, the proximity to a Trader Joe's is an indicator of a neighborhood with growing home values. Whether it be the perception of a healthy lifestyle or a safer neighborhood, Zillow also found that homes within a mile of a Trader Joe's had appreciated by 10% more than other homes in the area during the two years after a location's grand opening.

According to Zillow CEO, Spencer Rascoff, "the grocery store phenomenon is about more than groceries, it says something about the way people want to live — in the type of neighborhood favored by the generations buying homes now. Today's homebuyers seek things in neighborhoods that weren't even in real estate agents' vocabularies a generation ago: walkability, community, new urbanism — and maybe we should add words like 'sustainable seafood' and 'organic pears.'"

When comparing homes near a Trader Joe's to those near a Whole Foods, TJ's appears to be the clear winner. According to a recent RealtyTrac study, which analyzed the values for 2.3 million homes, they found that houses near a Trader Joe's location "have a higher value on average: $592,339, 5% more than the $561,840 average value for homes near a Whole Foods." Also, homes near a Trader Joe's have appreciated by a whopping 40% on average, while similar homes near a Whole Foods have only appreciated by 34%.

While it should be pointed out that causation does not always imply correlation, I think it's safe to assume that looking for these stores in a neighborhood is worth adding to your arsenal of factors when shopping for a new home. This is especially true when you consider the amount of money and effort that these corporations put into scouting new neighborhoods for potential store locations that will be profitable.

Have you ever used the proximity to these stores as a way to determine the desirability of a neighborhood?

This article is from Kyle James of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

12 Ways to Save Money at Whole Foods

Andrea Cannon — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 18:01:04 +0000

Whole Foods has some of the best produce, organic finds, and gourmet treats. However, Whole Foods can also be very expensive, and you can easily spend way more than you bargained for. That's why we've come up with some of the easiest ways to save money at Whole Foods.

1. Shop on a Wednesday or Friday

While you can find special deals every day of the week (like $1 Taco Tuesday), you'll enjoy the greatest savings at Whole Foods on Wednesdays and Fridays. New weekly sales start on Wednesdays, and if you get there early in the day, you can get first dibs on the new items while still catching sales from the previous week. They also offer Friday-only sales.

2. Bring Your Own Reusable Bags and Jars

Sure, $0.10 per bag may not seem like a lot, but over time, forgetting to bring your reusable bags can really add up. Along with saving you money, bringing your own bags is also better for the environment. If you are planning on shopping the bulk bins, bring your own jars or containers, too. Customer service will weigh the jar before you go to the bulk section to subtract the weight from your total purchase.

3. Buy the 365 Brand

The 365 brand is Whole Foods' generic line of packaged items. They have all the basics you'll need, along with hundreds of organic products. Fortunately, the 365 brand items are actually really good. In fact, 365 has become so popular that plans are in motion to open smaller value stores called 365 by Whole Foods Market. They are set to open five locations in the second half of 2016.

4. Buy in Bulk

Whenever you are able to buy in bulk, you can save up to 10% on your purchase. Simply freeze any extra ingredients or items that won't be in season for long. If you are a wine drinker, purchasing six bottles of wine at a time will save you 10%. You can also look for the Three Wishes brand, which is Whole Foods' bargain store label (under $5 a bottle). Make sure to also visit the bulk bins, where you can save money on nuts, pasta, oats, dried fruit, herbs, spices, and even candy.

5. Don't Make Whole Foods Your Only Grocery Stop

Sure, organic, locally sourced food tastes better, but you shouldn't spend your whole food budget on it. For a quick rule of thumb, if you will be eating the skin, you should go organic. Otherwise, you'll likely find cheaper generic produce at your local farmer's market or grocery store. Shop at your regular grocery store for all of your staple items, too, and leave Whole Foods for specialty items like fancy cheese and prepared foods.

6. Make Returns When Necessary

If you've overspent or changed your mind about something, simply return it to the store. Whole Foods has a habit of hiding prices on certain specialty items, so don't be ashamed of making a return when you've accidentally spent too much.

7. Buy More Frozen Items

Frozen food is usually cheaper, and you won't have to sacrifice quality or selection. In fact, in many cases, frozen produce has the same or more benefits compared to fresh. Go for frozen fish and meat, too. You might think you are purchasing fresh fish at the seafood counter, but often it's actually been previously frozen — so you may as well buy frozen to begin with and save on cost. With Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) shrimp or chicken, thaw only what you need, and have cost-effective meals ready to go.

8. Stick to Your List

Take inventory of what you have at home before you head to Whole Foods. Make a list of what you need and stick to it. Items at the checkout line are meant to attract your attention and entice you to buy them, so try to ignore them. Getting free samples throughout the store is great, but only if you are able to bypass the temptation to buy.

9. Look for Deals

Clipping or downloading coupons is also a great way to save at Whole Foods. You could also be more direct, and keep an eye out for yellow and red discount tags in the store or check Whole Foods' website, weekly circular, and social media pages to find up-to-date sales. While you're shopping, ask the butcher, deli, bakery, or any store associate about which special one-day sales are available. (See also: Save $100s Next Month With These 10 Grocery Shopping Tips)

10. Take Advantage of Budget-Friendly Recipes

Whole Foods offers helpful tips and solutions for their budget-minded shoppers. For instance, you can take advantage of their budget-friendly recipes and servings calculator to figure out how much food you need for big events and dinner parties.

11. Get a Supplement Punch Card

With a supplement punch card, you can enjoy savings and cash back after spending a certain amount of money on 365 Everyday Value brand supplements. The 365 Everyday Value supplements are more affordable, but can provide the same ingredients and results as big name brands.

12. Use Caution at the Salad Bar

Whole Foods has an impressive salad bar. However, the price is determined by weight, so it can be easy to get carried away with heavier items.

On the other hand, if you need a small amount of a particular side dish, you'll save money by buying a small amount of that dish at the salad bar. For instance, buying a small container of prepared potato salad can be cheaper than buying all the ingredients required to make several servings of potato salad that you can't finish.

Do you know of other ways to save money at Whole Foods? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

This article is from Andrea Cannon of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The 7 Most Outrageously Expensive Whole Foods Products

Damian Davila — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 11:00:57 +0000

When it rains, it pours.

Not only is Whole Foods losing ground to other major grocery chains with cheaper organic and socially conscious offerings, but Whole Foods has also been slammed twice (first by California authorities and then by New York authorities) for overcharging its customers.

The CEOs of Whole Foods have openly admitted that some of their stores overcharged their customers in New York City and California for certain items. So to help you avoid spending your "Whole Paycheck," here are seven of the most outrageously expensive Whole Foods products to be wary of next time you're strolling their aisles.

1. Chicken Tenders

You may be thinking, "Come on, good ol' chicken tenders are neither exotic nor fancy! How can they be that expensive at Whole Foods?" And at $9.99 per pound of chicken tenders, this Whole Food product may seem harmless.

However, an investigation of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) in New York City found that customers were overcharged by $4.13, on average. From its sample, one package of chicken tenders was overpriced by $4.85. Now that's some expensive "air!"

2. Air Plants

Air can be very expensive indeed at Whole Foods. Take for example, these air plants that cost $69.99 each at their store in Atlanta, Georgia. The main selling point of these southeast succulents is that they are grown locally. However, you could find similar local plants at a nearby Pike Nursery for just a few dollars.

3. Morel Mushrooms

Let's talk about the Cadillac of mushrooms. Morel mushrooms command a premium because they are hard to cultivate (only grow on decaying organic material, mostly in forests after a fire), to pick (some states require a permit to pick morel mushrooms in national forests), and to distribute (very perishable).

There are premiums and there is the Whole Foods premium. Depending on type of morel mushroom, availability, location, and quality, you could expect to pay between $249.99 per pound and $421.99 per pound of morel mushrooms at Whole Foods! For example, this cook found morel mushrooms at $320 per pound at Whole Foods Del Mar in San Diego.

4. Emu Eggs

If you think that the most expensive type of egg that you can you find at Whole Foods is the one laid by a free-range chicken that has access to a pasture environment, eats organic feed, receives a diet supplement with omega-3 essential fatty acids, and is raised with roosters… then you haven't heard of emu eggs.

Local emu eggs to be more exact. Shoppers have spotted these green, prehistoric-looking eggs at Whole Foods starting at $29.99 per unit and reaching $34.99 per unit.

5. Saffron

At $65 for the highest quality crop, saffron can demand a higher price than that for gold. Some Iranian saffron producers report prices of $2,000 per kilo (roughly 2.2 pounds).

At some Whole Foods stores, you can find this expensive spice at $3,196 per pound. This means that $7.99 would get you only 0.0025 pounds of saffron!

6. Anything With Kale

People often taunt Whole Foods about its ridiculous products. The most cited example is anything that is born out of the kale craze. While fresh kale has an average retail price of $2.81 per pound, anything kale-ified at Whole Foods gets a hefty premium.

Here are some examples of Kale-steins that are 100% real:

Chicken lemon kale sausage at $6.59 per pound;
California ornamental kale at $5.99 per bunch; and
Kaleamole at $7.99 per pound.

7. Asparagus Water

A cartoon about a probiotic asparagus at $17.99 per bunch may have been too prophetic. In a true case of life imitating art, a Whole Foods store in California recently came up with "asparagus water" (three stalks of asparagus in a bottle of water) and decided to charge $5.99 per 16 fl. oz. bottle.

People on social media were quick to call out Whole Foods about this outrageous idea, and a spokesperson explained that the product was made incorrectly and has since been pulled from shelves.

Now to be fair: certain foods are actually cheaper at Whole Foods. Just make sure you're not washing them down with asparagus water.

What outrageously priced products from Whole Foods have you spotted?

This article is from Damian Davila of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 Foods That Are Actually Cheaper At Whole Foods

Damian Davila — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 15:00:16 +0000

Whole Foods is working hard to shake off its reputation as "Whole Paycheck."

And now that more and more major chains are increasing their offering of organic and socially responsible food items, Whole Foods is lowering its prices to prove that it doesn't cost an arm or leg to shop at its stores.

Here are the six things that are actually cheaper at Whole Foods than most major food chains.

1. Canned Organic Black Beans

Food bloggers started noting that a can of organic black beans was cheaper at Whole Food as early as 2008. Additional price comparisons in subsequent years have continued to confirm the lower price of canned organic black beans at Whole Foods than at major grocery chains. For example, in July 2015 at a Whole Foods store in Honolulu, I found a 15 oz. can of 365 Organic Black Beans for $1.99, which was 40 cents cheaper than a 15 oz. can of Safeway's Organics Black Beans at a nearby location.

2. Vegetarian Sausage Links

Deals site Cheapism compared the prices of items at a Whole Foods on Long Island, New York against those with a nearby ShopRite. One of the items that stands out is a 14-ounce pack of Tofurkey vegan sausage links.

The price of the 14 oz. pack of Tofurky vegan sausage links was just $2.99 at the Whole Foods store, while the price for the same product at the ShopRite store was a whopping $5.49. That's savings of almost 40 cents per ounce, or $2.50 per pack!

I couldn't find the 14 oz. pack of Tofurky vegan sausage links at the Safeway store, so I wasn't able to do an apples-to-apples comparison with my local Whole Foods. However, the store was running specials on this item ranging from two-for-$7 to two-for-$9.

3. Organic Milk

As a Hawaii resident, this is one price I had to check out. A comparison of prices in the Seattle area between a Whole Foods (365 Everyday Value brand) and a nearby Safeway (O Organics brand) revealed that a gallon of organic milk costs 30 cents less at Whole Foods.

Another price comparison in Nashville, Tennessee put Whole Food's price of a gallon of organic milk at a much lower $3.69, beating Harris Teeter, Kroger, Trader Joe's, and even Walmart by at least $1. Surprisingly, Walmart had the highest price for a gallon of organic milk at $6.48.

Neither Safeway nor Whole Foods carry gallons of organic milk in Honolulu. At the Whole Foods in Honolulu, I found a half gallon of Organic Valley organic milk for $6.99. On the other hand, the same half gallon cost $8.29 at the nearby Safeway. Also, I found that a half gallon of Horizon Organic organic milk was cheaper at Whole Foods ($6.29) than at Safeway ($7.99).

Given the lower prices of milk in 2015, you may be able to score even cheaper organic milk prices at your local Whole Foods. (See also: 8 Buys That Will Be Cheaper in 2015)

4. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Here's an item that is guaranteed to provide big savings.

No matter whether it's organic or conventional extra virgin oil (cold processed), Whole Foods olive oil is cheaper.

A 33.8 oz. bottle of organic extra virgin oil (cold processed) was $4 cheaper at a Whole Foods store ($12.99) in Seattle than a nearby Safeway store ($16.99).
A 33.8 oz. bottle of conventional extra virgin oil (cold processed) was also $4 cheaper at the same Whole Foods store ($7.99) than at the nearby Safeway store ($7.99).
In Nashville, Tennessee, the 33.88 oz. bottle of conventional olive oil was also several dollars cheaper than at Harris, Teeter, Kroger, and Walmart.
In Honolulu, a 33.8 oz. bottle of organic extra virgin oil (cold processed) was $4 cheaper at Whole Foods ($11.99) than at nearby Safeway ($15.99).

5. Almonds

Pound for pound, almonds are the savings winner at Whole Foods.

A pound of whole almonds were at least $2 cheaper than at Harris Teeter, Kroger, and Walmart.
$5.99 would get you just nine ounces of Snack Artist-brand almonds at Safeway, but a full 16 ounces of 365 Everyday Value almonds at Whole Foods.

Several sites report that you can obtain similar savings with most types of nuts, such as cashews.

(Disclaimer: the Safeway store that I visited in July 2015 didn't have almonds available on that day, so I couldn't compare its prices to Whole Foods.)

6. Taco Tuesday

Besides its wide selection of natural and organic items, one of the main draws to Whole Foods is the selection of yummy prepared foods. If you're looking for one of the cheapest prepared food options at a major grocery chain, then look no further than Whole Foods $1 Taco Tuesday.

Several locations, such as Pasadena and Thousand Oaks in California, and Kahala in Hawaii, have offered or continue to offer soft tortilla, street style tacos at $1 each on Tuesdays.

At Kahala, you can choose your main filling from hormone and antibiotic-free chicken, pork, or veggies, and you can pick pico de gallo, raw onions, cilantro, and hot sauce toppings. You get two small corn tortillas per taco, which are quite loaded. This writer reports that three of these soft tacos are enough to satisfy your Mexican food fix.

These six items show that, if you look carefully, your buck can go a longer way at Whole Foods than at other major chains.

What are other things that are actually cheaper at Whole Foods than most major chains?

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This article is from Damian Davila of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Shopping at Whole Foods: 12 Smart Ways to Save

Ashley Marcin — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 20:11:17 +0000

A while back, I gave you a list of 25 frugal items for your vegan grocery list. As you know, writing the list is only half the battle. A lot depends on where you shop. At Whole Foods, for example, it's easy to get carried away — at least for me it is! The inviting atmosphere with bright, warm colors highlights all those goodies that just weren't in the original plan. (See also: Best Credit Cards for Groceries)

If you're strategic, though, you can get the healthy foods at Whole Foods for a great price. Here are some suggestions for before, during, and after your shopping trip. As always, we'd love to hear your budget-friendly tips, too — so be sure to leave them in the comments!

1. Clip Your Coupons

Before you grab your bags and head to the store, check out The Whole Deal, a value guide specifically written by and for Whole Foods. The website and in-store paper booklet are full of coupons to save you some major cash at the checkout. While you're writing up your grocery list for the week, try to incorporate these items for the most savings.

2. Mark Your Calendar

Along with keeping up with the latest store news and coupons, be sure to check out store events that might provide unique opportunities for savings. Many, if not all, locations offer "Value Tours" that are around an hour in length. These events cover various topics from using coupons to your advantage to sussing out the best deals to figuring out the best days to visit the market. (See also: 20+ Ways to Lower Your Grocery Bill)

3. Learn Your Colors

Bright yellow tags indicate big sales, especially in the produce section. Smaller red tags indicate everyday deals. Be sure to scan the store for those cheery signs and consider making some swaps if there are like-items on your grocery list. Stores differ from location to location, but most have bi-weekly sales and Friday sales. So, choose your shopping days wisely to preserve your food funds.

4. Shop Seasonally

Along these same lines, the fruits and veggies often on sale are the ones that are in season. Whether it's local farmers who had a great yield or whatever else, you should stock up on these fresh ingredients in bulk while you can. You can always freeze, can, or otherwise preserve them for later consumption. (Here's some handy info on popular preservation techniques.)

5. Bring Your Bags

It can be hard to remember, at least for me, but bringing your own cloth grocery bags will save you around 10 cents/bag each shopping trip. It might not sound like a lot, but if you use 5 bags per trip, once each week, that adds up to $26 a year. It's something!

6. Be Social

Find your local Whole Foods on Twitter or Facebook to stay abreast of the latest insider deals. Many of these same specials can be found in The Whole Deal guide, but if you have trouble remembering to check there, like me, a little tweet might be all you need to get those mind gears going. (See also: Use Social Media to Get Coupons)

7. Shop the Perimeter

This tip isn't new or exclusive to Whole Foods, but avoid heading into those middle aisles of the store with the boxed goods. A healthy diet is made up of fruits, veggies, dairy, meat, fish, etc. — and even if it's touted as "healthy," packaged foods still involve more processing. And dollars. If you just have to get your fix, consider buying the 365 brand, which is the WF generic line of many packaged items.

8. Cook in Bulk

If you're planning to make up healthy foods to freeze for two weeks, a month, or more, be sure to contact your local Whole Foods. You can purchase cases of items, like fruits and vegetables, and earn at 10% off discount for doing so. How's that for bang for your buck?

9. Visit the Bins

For anything from nuts to dried fruit to spices to loose leaf tea, the bulk bins are where it's at to find the healthiest, cheapest foods. Not only will you save money, you'll save packaging from ending up in a landfill. While you're at it, consider bringing your own bulk containers — glass or plastic — to reuse again and again. (See also: Where to Find Free Mason Jars)

10. Fill Your Wine Cellar

If you enjoy a little vino (OK — or more than a little), you're in luck! Whole Foods boasts an impressive collection of organic wines for reasonable prices. What's better? If you buy six or more bottles at a time, you get an extra 10% discount.

11. Ask When in Doubt

Whole Foods staff are ready and waiting to help you with your experience. I've always found team members really helpful and great resources for anything from finding particular ingredients to helping find the best deals. While you're at it, ask about the Try it Out program, you can get samples and even take home certain foods for free!

12. Keep Your Receipts

The best way to track your spending and optimize savings is to read your grocery receipts. Look at them from time to time to observe trends or find particular foods/ingredients that stick out as being more costly than others. You can make a running list of these items to hold off on purchasing until you find the specials or deals through the methods listed above. And you can always ask a sales associate for a heads up on when these foods might be on sale.

Are you a regular at "Whole Paycheck"? What are your favorite saving tips?

This article is from Ashley Marcin of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Is "Health Food" Worse for You than Junk Food?

Paul Michael — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:00:03 +0000

I've written about the evils of junk food in the past. I have jumped on that bandwagon that is happy to demonize the fast food industry. But after watching a 30-minute TV show on Showtime last week, I'm having something of a paradigm shift. Maybe I've been too hasty.

The Showtime show Bullsh*t! (the real title is not edited) takes a new subject every week and exposes lies, misconceptions, and propaganda on everything from sex and psychics to recycling and yoga.

The episode I happened upon was all about fast food. "This should be good" I thought, "how can they really tell us fast food is good for us?"

Well, they didn't. Not really. But what they did reveal made me shift uncomfortably in my seat. I have been one of those bloggers who was quite happy to attack McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, KFC and all those other household names in the fast food biz.

But when it comes down to it, what exactly have they done wrong?

Ok, let's look at this rationally for a second. The fast food giants make food that is not good for us. That's a fact. They usually don't deny that either, it's not easy to say that a double quarter-pounder with cheese and a pound of French fries is something your body needs. It's a treat. It should be viewed that way. (See also: Fast Food, Slow Food, and Your Dollars at Work)

However, as a treat, what's wrong with it? It's very tasty, it's cheap, there's a lot of it for your money, and you can get it quickly almost any time you want! It seems to me that the fast food industry has given us everything we have asked for as a nation, and we're now telling them off for it.

If a Big Mac cost $10, we'd complain. It's too expensive. If BK made healthy burgers from soy, we'd complain. We want meat, we want taste. If KFC refused to sell fried chicken, and only stocked grilled, we'd complain. We want to make choices, even if they're bad for us. And when we want to make those bad choices, fast food is there.

In a previous article, a long time ago now, I talked about Mindless Eating, a great book by Dr. Brian Wansink. He spends his days conducting experiments that reveal our true relationship with food, and he had some eye-opening things to say about fast food.

In one experiment, Dr. Wansink's lab was set up to resemble a restaurant, and he invited people to come in and try some food. In this case, a delicious chicken corn chowder. Oh, how the participants loved it. So delicious, so home-made, so succulent. They had no clue that the whole meal was made using ingredients from a KFC meal. One person actually quipped, and I'm paraphrasing a little "you can't get something like that from a fast food restaurant." Well, you can. Maybe not as a soup, but it's all exactly the same stuff.

Wansink noted that we have expectations of fast food and the establishments that serve it. Especially the big hitters like KFC and McDonald's. We actually believe that what they're serving is rotten, but it's cheap and it's quick.

But these corporations have spent billions of dollars making food that's tasty. They excel in it. If it wasn't tasty, no one would buy the food and the franchise would die. Yes, it contains salt, sugar, and fat. Yes, it contains preservatives. But it's tasty, it's designed that way.

In another experiment, to test these perceptions again, Wansink brought in two taco salads to two different groups. The first received the salad on a black plastic fast food tray, and were told that it came from a fast food restaurant.

The feedback was not good. The food was fatty and greasy. The dressing was too sweet. It was generally a cheap suckfest of a meal.

Next up, the exact same salad was served on a pristine white plate, along with an accompanying menu from the California Garden Café. The feedback took a huge turn. Now, the food was fresh and delicious. The dressing was lovely. The whole meal was heaven on a platter. But it was the same meal. All that had changed was the perception of the food. And it was enough to make people feel completely different about the meal.

More dangerous than all of that, though, was when they asked the two sets of diners what they thought the calorie count was of the salad. The first group guessed right, with very accurate guesses coming in at the 980-1000 calorie range. Spot on.

But when asked to estimate the meal from the Café, the calorie count dropped. And boy, did it drop. Guesses were around the 450-500 calorie mark, one person said 200! And that's the real danger here.

When we go to a fast food joint, our guard is up. We're primed — the calorie count of the meals is often displayed now — and we generally know that what we're eating is bad for us. When we eat somewhere else, like a "healthy café" or fancy restaurant, we believe we're getting better food and less fat. Not so. Not at all. As they said in the show, you don't see people trying to ban French and Italian restaurants, and yet they serve very fattening meals topped with creams, cheeses, and lots of butter and oil.

The problem here is that we have been selective with our criticism. We have targeted the fast food giants and warned everyone "hey, this stuff sucks, don't eat it!" But that's not going to stop people eating it, or making bad choices. However, we're at least educated about fast food. We know the calories, and the risks. Wansink says that in his experience, people underestimate the calories of a meal at a healthy restaurant by half. The fancy name equates to better food, and better food means less calories. How wrong can we all be?

So, take this as a warning. Fast food is still bad for you in excess, but as an occasional meal it's nothing to be afraid of. What you really need to look out for are the calories you're consuming from places like Whole Foods, Sprouts, and other health food stores and restaurants. The food could be just as bad for you, but you may end up eating twice as much. In effect, you're blinded by the presentation. Calories are calories and saturated fat is saturated fat. Not even a 3-star Michelin restaurant can change that.

This article is from Paul Michael of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

How to Recycle your Clothes, Shoes, Electronics, and More

Nora Dunn — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:34:30 +0000

We have so much stuff. Clothes that don’t fit (either our bodies or the current fashion) any more. Cell phones that don’t work any more. Batteries that won’t charge any more. Shoes that have holes in them. The list goes on.

We don’t want to throw this old stuff away; some of it might even still be good – just not to us. Other items are too harmful to the environment to chuck in the waste bin. We would like to reuse some of it, but cannot figure out how it can reasonably be used (I mean, truly – what do you do with an old smelly running shoe).

The solution? Find other people who can use what you don’t need any more. By giving it away, you can breathe new life into your old stuff.

Here are some places you can donate those hard-to-dispose-of things you probably have lying around:

Shoes

Gently used shoes can go to Soles 4 Souls, where they are given to victims of disaster, such as the Asian Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.

Nike has a “reuse-a-shoe” program which accepts not only Nike but all brands of athletic shoes which are recycled into sports surfaces. Visit http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/ to locate the nearest drop-off location.

And used Crocs are perfect for playground padding. Mail them to 1510 Nelson Road, Longmont CO, 80501, and make sure the outside of your box is clearly marked “recycle”.

SolesUnited is affiliated with Crocs and is another place to reputedly recycle your crocs (they recycle the material to make new ones for those who don’t have shoes), however when I visited their website, they currently seemed only to want pledges of money.

Electronics

Gazelle is one of the more popular buyback sites for used electronics.

USell accepts mobile phones, tablets, computers, and more.

E-cycling Central is a great resource for recycling programs across the States.

Hewlett-Packard will accept trade-ins on any brand of electronics, and Apple accepts trade-ins of phones and offers free recycling of any computer and monitor with the purchase of a new one.

Whole Foods Market will take your non-recyclable batteries.

Verizon Wireless collects cell phones and equipment (from any service provider, not just Verizon) for the HopeLine project, which uses them as support for victims of domestic abuse.

Women's Clothing

Send your suits to Dress For Success, which helps disadvantaged women suit up for job interviews, giving them a chance at a better life.

Old prom dresses can be donated to either the Princess Project for the Bay Area or The Glass Slipper Project for the Chicago area, so a girl who can’t afford a dress can still be the belle of the ball.

And if you aren’t too attached to your bridal gown, give it to the Brides Against Breast Cancer Foundation. Here it will be auctioned off, with the proceeds helping breast cancer survivors and patients.

For old maternity clothing, call around to local young parent and teen parent organizations and see who is accepting donations.

Men's Clothing

Although I was disappointed not to find as many opportunities to donate men’s clothing (a Dress For Success type of program for men would be nice), we need not forget about Goodwill and the Salvation Army for this and any other clothing that doesn’t fit into the above specialty categories.

You may also want to look locally for opportunities to recycle your old duds and help at the same time. Clothing drives held by various community groups and local businesses are always around to be discovered.

Everything Else

The Internet Consumer Recycling Guidecontains many more resources for where to recycle something you probably have in your house but don’t know what to do with.

This article is from Nora Dunn of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: