22 Ways to Save Money at Whole Foods

Whole Foods is like Disneyland for foodies and organic-everything lovers. The only problem is, it’s so dang expensive! Or so I thought until I dug below the surface.

Don’t fret, here are ways to spend and save money at Whole Foods without feeling like you just blew your whole grocery budget on a jar of pickles. I’ll give you a hint: The only way to save a decent amount of money at this store is to sign up for Amazon Prime.

For great Whole Foods coupons and deals all year, make sure to check out The Krazy Coupon Lady Whole Foods page. But for now, here’s everything you need to know about saving at Whole Foods:

1. Download the Amazon Whole Foods app, scan your Prime Code at checkout, and save 10%.

When Amazon bought Whole Foods, one of their objectives was to make organic food cheaper for customers. They do this by offering an extra 10% off select sale items for Prime members.

To score the extra 10% savings, download the Whole Foods app and tap on the button where it says “Sign in with Amazon.” Once you sign in, your unique code will pop up. At checkout, just press “Prime Code” at the bottom left of the Whole Foods app and scan it to get your savings on sale prices for Prime members.

Unfortunately for wine lovers like myself, the extra 10% off doesn’t apply to alcohol.

2. Find yellow signs and get 10% off Whole Foods sale items for Prime members.

You can find these yellow signs in-store or look for them in the Whole Foods app in the “Products” section. If you tap on the yellow “Sales” icon, you’ll see all of the items on sale and available for the extra 10% off for Prime members.

Related: Tips for Shopping at Amazon & Whole Foods During Coronavirus

3. Blue signs indicate Whole Foods Prime savings on specific products.

While yellow signs offer a flat 10% off select sale items, blue signs indicate a special deal for Prime members. You can find these blue signs in-store or look for them in the Whole Foods app.

To find these deals in the app, just tap on the “Savings” icon, and you’ll see multiple items labeled with blue “Prime Member Deal” circles. Both in-app and in-store I’ve seen deals in the past, like:

• Baby back pork ribs, animal welfare rated, and no antibiotics, 1 pound: $4.99 (Save $5 per pound)
• Sockeye salmon, wild-caught Marine Stewardship Council-certified, 1 pound: $13.99 (Save $6 per pound)
• Organic red cherries, 1 pound: $3.99 (Save $2 per pound)
• Organic yellow peaches, 1 pound: $1.99 (Save $2 per pound)
• Bulk items (like nuts, granola, dried fruit and more): 25% off

4. Coupon order matters at Whole Foods Market.

Whole Foods’ coupon policy can be kind of tricky, especially when it comes to the order you use your coupons.

At checkout, make sure you hand over each coupon with the item you’d like to use them on. If you hand them over all at once, I’ve found the register can mix and match coupons, messing up the deals.

5. Save 25% or more during the week-long Whole Foods sale on beauty products.

Whole Foods annual Beauty Week is one of the best beauty sales of the year and a rare opportunity for shoppers to stock-up on clean beauty brands that rarely go on sale.

They held Beauty Week in 2020 on March 11 – 17, so if you missed it, make sure to follow Whole Foods on the KCL app to find out when it’s happening in 2021.

All shoppers will receive 25% off beauty products all week every year, no coupons or offers needed at checkout (and it even stacks with their weekly sale prices).

On top of those savings, Prime members will save an additional 10% on top of the sale. That’s 35% off!

6. Whole Foods delivery isn’t free anymore, but Whole Foods pickup is.

You can shop Whole Foods and opt for a pick-up order at your local store and your items will be ready within an hour. If you’re a Prime member, pickup is free as long as you order $35 or more worth of items ($1.99 for non-Prime members).

Or, you can let Whole Foods deliver your groceries for $10 per order.

TIP: Amazon Fresh’s pricing is comparable to Whole Foods’ pricing for their own brand, called “365 Everyday Value” items. If you have Amazon Fresh in your area, delivery is still free for Prime Members (and they might even bring you some Whole Foods groceries).

7. Start your Whole Foods career and get the 20 – 30% employee discount.

You can apply for a job at your local Whole Foods and earn 20% off all your favorite goodies. Plus, after six months, employees can increase their discount up to 30% off.

For those kinds of savings, you can sign me up!

8. Save on produce with organic Whole Foods coupons and rebate app offers.

Organic food coupons do exist!

Look for printables from organic brands like Simply Organic, Imagine, and Seeds of Change.

And you can get big savings when you use them with more than one rebate app offer. Combine offers from Ibotta, Checkout 51, and you could get your produce for a lot less.

Related: The Top 10 Grocery Stores in America (and How to Save at Them!)

9. Stack manufacturer coupons and rebate app offers on Whole Foods products.

KCL will even do the deal-finding work for you. Check out KCL’s Whole Foods Coupons page for some killer deals like these:

Related: Your Ultimate Guide to Rebate Apps

10. Spend $10 at Whole Foods, get $10 for Amazon Prime Day!

In 2019, Amazon Prime Day got even sweeter. You got $10 to spend on Amazon during Prime day just by scanning your Prime Code or using your Prime Now membership at checkout on an in-store or online Whole Foods purchase of $10 or more.

Amazon postponed Prime Day 2020 in the U.S. until sometime in October, so keep an eye out for these Whole Foods/Amazon deals when they do have the event.

11. Share your Amazon Prime Whole Foods benefits with your family.

If you’re a Prime member, you can extend your Whole Foods savings to your Amazon Household, including one other adult and up to four teens.

You can share your Prime benefits with another adult by linking accounts through Amazon Household and agreeing to share payment methods. To share with your teen(s), just head to “Your Account” and add them to your Amazon Household.

12. Shop Whole Foods wine on Wednesdays and you can get 20% off six bottles.

Whole Foods runs “Wine Down Wednesday” which means you’ll receive a 10% discount on up to five bottles of wine and an additional 10% off when you buy six or more.

13. Let the butcher season, divide, and prepare your Whole Foods meat any way you like.

For example, if you want to buy the whole fryer chicken that’s on sale but you’re hesitant because you aren’t too crazy about breaking down a whole chicken, ask a Whole Foods butcher. They’ll do it for you for free.

14. Receive a free medical face mask when you shop Whole Foods.

via LA Times

Whole Foods Market requires all of their employees and shoppers to wear masks while in-store, so they’re giving out free masks to customers who don’t have one.

Related: Whole Foods is Giving Shoppers Free Masks

15. Skip the checkout line at some stores — just walk out.

Amazon has had their “Just Walk Out” technology available at their Amazon Go stores, as well as some of their Amazon Fresh grocery stores, but now they’re adding the technology to Whole Foods stores.

They’re starting with two soon-to-be-opened stores in Washington, D.C. and Sherman Oaks, Calif., where there won’t be any traditional checkout lanes. They’ll just have Just Walk Out checkout lanes and self-checkout lanes.

No word yet regarding when the cashierless tech will spread to other Whole Foods.

16. If you have Prime, Whole Foods will hold your packages in your Amazon Locker.

If you know you’re not going to be home in time to receive a Prime package, or you’re going out of town while receiving a package, just opt to ship it to the Amazon Locker at your local Whole Foods.

17. Sampling the best Whole Foods snacks is normally encouraged — but not during COVID.

Interested in a new product but aren’t sure you want to buy it because it might be awful? Ask an employee about sampling the product. Whole Foods usually is all about providing customers with delicious samples — even packaged products like chocolate.

Sadly during the Coronavirus pandemic, all food and product sampling at Whole Foods have been suspended. I guess that means no chocolate for me on my next visit.

18. Ask the Whole Foods deli worker to slice or divide any loaf of cheese for no additional cost.

Pre-pandemic, you could also sample any cheese you wanted. Those were the days. But for now, you can get your cheese deli-sliced for perfect sandwiches.

19. Use a Whole Foods gift card in the store, but not online.

Whole Foods offers gift cards, but you can only use them when you’re paying in person, inside the store. You can’t use them on a Whole Foods Delivery or Pickup order. Also, you can’t use an Amazon gift card for a Whole Foods purchase.

20. Does Whole Foods accept EBT?

via MPR News

Yes! You can use EBT benefits at Whole Foods to buy anything you could buy at another grocery store. Exclusions are the same as well — so no alcohol, pet food toiletries, etc.

21. Satisfy grumpy kids with free Whole Foods snacks from their Kids Club.

Whole Foods makes it a little easier to shop with kids. The Whole Kids Club offers free snacks like bananas, pretzels, nuts, and bottled water at every store.

However, during the Coronavirus pandemic, all food and demos at Whole Foods have been suspended.

22. Bring your reusable Whole Foods bags and get a $0.10 credit each.

Whole Foods makes it a little easier to be environmentally friendly. You can buy reusable grocery bags there, or you can bring your own and save.

However, during the Coronavirus pandemic, you can’t use reusable bags in states like California. In others, you can use reusable bags, but only if you bag your own groceries. It’s sort of a hassle, but well worth it if you don’t like using plastic bags.

Don’t Scroll Up! Here are the link’s I mentioned:

Tips for Shopping at Amazon & Whole Foods During Coronavirus

Whole Foods is Giving Shoppers Free Masks

Top Grocery Delivery Subscription Services

Your Ultimate Guide to Rebate Apps

Tips for Shopping at Amazon & Whole Foods During Coronavirus

The Top 10 Grocery Stores in America (and How to Save at Them!)

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