Whole Foods Budget Blaster
Posted by Jay on August 27th, 2008
I broke one of my budget rules today — I went shopping at Whole Foods. It’s amazing what I end up buying there, and even more amazing what it ends up costing. I bought about 2 days’ worth of groceries & spent over $100. Salad stuff, bread, a couple delicious specialty cheeses, some Acai juice (a Brazilian berry which is hard to find in the US), some freshly ground almond butter, a couple of organic chicken breasts, a pound of coffee, and a package of oatmeal raisin cookies that cost five dollars. Five dollars! Yeah, they were delicious, but I have eaten good lunches in Manhattan that cost less than five dollars (it is possible to do, even today).
I like to eat organic, and will often buy my week’s meat at Whole Foods, but I avoid them for other things. Their vegetables (usually conventional) are outrageously priced, and I always end up buying things there that I hadn’t intended to buy. What a marketing operation they have! I usually buy my vegetables at our local farmer’s market — cheaper and better than Whole Foods vegetables, and I put everything else I need on a list throughout the week and shop at my local grocery store. This seems to work for me, although my weekly grocery bill is still a bit high.
Well, I’m saving money in other ways. I’m on vacation from my day job, and am at my parent’s house in Connecticut. They have a condominium by the water where they spend the Summer, and they like when someone stays in their house while they’re away. I had thought about doing a big trip for my vacation but, with M. out of the country and me trying to save money, I figured Connecticut would be a good budget friendly trip. I probably saved more on one night’s accommodations than what I spent today at Whole Foods!
I spent the week up until this afternoon in Brooklyn, and did lots of book hunting, but the pickings were slim. I guess most people are out of town for these two weeks, and not thinking about donating or selling personal things. I did sell a lot, which kept me pretty busy packing books. In fact, I’ve sold out of a good chunk of my inventory. I’m realizing that I need to concentrate on finding new sources over the next few weeks.
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August 28th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
A vacation sounds about perfect right now. Remember there’s nothing wrong with low cost vacation.
Depending on the store you can either spend a small fortune or wonder why you were in the store. We used to have a medium/upper scale grocery store across the street and I’m totally missing it now even though I spent more money I knew exactly what I could get when I stepped in. I’m still playing detective in the new neighborhood.
What about trying tome of the stores in Conn. for books?
August 28th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
There is a reason why some people call it Whole Paycheck. I buy from my local Co-op
August 29th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Whole Paycheck is right….
We have a food coop in Brooklyn and I’ve been thinking about joining it. It’s a couple miles away so not the easiest place to get to for me, but I would save a lot of money by shopping there. Think I’ll give it a try…..
August 29th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
One thing to try when you shop at a grocery store. Bring a list of what you will buy and maybe give yourself the luxury of buying one thing that isn’t on the list. Grocery stores are experts at luring you to make impulse buys. If you bring a list, it can help. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to the store to buy a single item plus whatever catches my eye (expecting to spend less than $10) and end up spending $40 or $50.