Couponing at Whole Foods?!

OK, well I’ve never seen a brag in the Whole Foods section so I figured I might as well contribute today’s trip. For those unaware, Whole Foods accepts a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon per item. Picked up some peanut oil for my mom since it was on sale and it is really expensive normally:

Bought 1 Spectrum Peanut Oil on sale $6.99
– Used $2 Whole Foods coupon (Feb-May)
– Used $1 Manf. Coupon from Vitamin Angels
= $3.99!

Bought 1 Spectrum Canola Oil on sale $3.99
– Used $2 Whole Foods coupon (Feb-May)
– Used $1 Manf. Coupon from Vitamin Angels.
= 99 cents!

Bought 2 Imagine Soups on sale $1.99 each
– Used 2x $1 Whole Foods coupon (Feb-May)
– Used 2x $1 Manf. Coupon from Vitamin Angels
= $1.98 both or 99 cents each box!

Bought 6 Think Thin Crunch Bars for $1.79 each
– Used 6x $1 Whole Foods coupon (May-Jun)
– Used 6x $1 Think Thin Crunch from their website
= FREE + $1.26 overage in all

Original Total: $27.60
After Coupons: $5.50

For a total savings of 80%! Not too bad given how ridiculously expensive Whole Foods is. Just a couple things I want to note about this place:

– Unless you are gutsy and can stand it, it is very difficult to use multiple coupons here. In fact, for every type of coupon they must have someone come over to “key in” a coupon.

– Printed coupons never work here. I’ve never had a printed coupon ever work that did not need to be typed in, which I pity the cashiers. Also for every printed coupon, they must get it electronically stamped, so it’s quite a process.

– If you use more than one coupon of a certain type, that coupon must also be keyed in.

So in total, couponing is a real pain at Whole Foods and you really need to find a very nice cashier and hope that you don’t have people waiting… I angered a few people in line but kept a cool face.