Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I shop at Whole Foods almost 4 times a week for lunch. It is a nice little get away from the office and I go through the buffet almost each time. I love to have a little bite of everything, but my "habit" is costing me. I am spending over $150 there a week. Help me!!!!!

why? every time i get their food I find it to be blah. Everytihng tastes the same and I always wonder why the hell i spent $8/lb for blah food. Seriouly thir food looks good but it have no flavor. Lots of other places i would rather eat for a lot less.

I agree -- I love grocery shopping at WF but I find their salad bar and prepared-food section to be mediocre/blah!

Are you sure it's not $150 a month, OP?

Anonymous wrote:I shop at Whole Foods almost 4 times a week for lunch. It is a nice little get away from the office and I go through the buffet almost each time. I love to have a little bite of everything, but my "habit" is costing me. I am spending over $150 there a week. Help me!!!!!

why? every time i get their food I find it to be blah. Everytihng tastes the same and I always wonder why the hell i spent $8/lb for blah food. Seriouly thir food looks good but it have no flavor. Lots of other places i would rather eat for a lot less.

Why on earth are you paying salad bar prices for cauliflower and olives? You do realize these are the same items you can buy in the store?

Go to WF on Monday, buy a week's worth from the produce section (probably paying less than one day's salad bar run). Then eat at your desk.

Problem solved.

OMG I went to the salad bar at Balducci's the other day and spent $13. Which is way too much money, but it was really good. I don't know how you can get $37 worth of food though. Wow.

OP you are totally nuts.

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the obsession with Whole Foods, especially for conventional items. A lot of their produce is the same brand I can get a Wegmans for a better price.

Yes, but the whole world doesn't have access to Wegman's.

I don't get the obsession with Whole Foods, especially for conventional items. A lot of their produce is the same brand I can get a Wegmans for a better price.

Huh? The food is certainly not from China- at least not most of it. The thing that annoys me though is that i always used to assume certified organic if I bought it there - seems they do carry a few items that aren't, so you have to check.

I thought they bring in unregulated "organic" food from China??

I like it because it has a lot of "fun" healthier options and choices. I'm also a big believer in eating organic whenever possible.

Is WH food really that much better? Or is it like bottled water--package it and they will come and splurge?

Listen, we all have our indulgences ... I love Whole Foods too. And Starbucks. For a 6-month period when I was stressed at work I bought a venti latte and oatmeal every weekday morning. I was spending $50 per week just on breakfast ..not to mention the calories in those ventis add up. I still love my latte's but regard it as a treat now and go once per week. I bought myself yummy coffee to brew myself the rest of the days, and found an instant oatmeal that I enjoy. Try to find less expensive ways to substitute for the items you're buying yourself at Whole Foods so you still feel like you're enjoying yourself.. and cut the Whole Foods trips down to once per week.

I'm working on this myself. I do our grocery shopping at Whole Foods and find myself wanting to try everything. I'm especially into the raw kale chips and goji berries ...well, the kale chips are $8 for a tiny tin of them and goji berries are something similarly ridiculous. It adds up

I live 2 blocks away. I am there 6 days a week. Trader's opens tomorrow so maybe I will mix it up. However, I LOVE Whole Foods. I only like TJs for packaged stuff and dairy-not fresh stuff.

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I weigh 130. It's just that I load up on all kinds of veggies on the salad bar- I love cauliflower and that's probably the heaviest thing. But I also buy the unusual drinks they sell in the cooler, and maybe some olives to munch on. It's insane, I know!

OK, I don't know what you are spending your $$$ on and how much food you are getting from the salad bar, but that is insane. I get a salad twice a week from the WF salad bar at Foggy Bottom and it costs me $6.50 per trip. I drink water from the cooler in my office (I don't buy bottled drinks, but even if you do, that would set you back $2-3?). Nix the olives. I include broccoli, beets, carrots, tofu, greens, sesame sticks, walnuts, bleu cheese, balsamic vinegar dressing, and a hard boiled egg on the side. Seriously, can you break down the cost of one of your lunches for us?