whole foods in seattle (but not the one we shop at)

Indeed, it is possible to walk out of Whole Foods and spend less than $25. We successfully did it this morning. Generally a Sunday morning shopping trip to WF would go something like this:

The husband would decide that he needs X (fresh fish, chicken sausage, garbanzo beans, etc) and I would tag along. He would pick up what he needs … maybe a few yogurts, a nice beer, oven-baked french fries. Meanwhile, I would decide, hey, I’d like some Clif Bars. I also think I’ll have a latte. While we’re here, let’s get some hot breakfast. And oh, look, they have those samosas that we like so much. Before you know it, we’re out of the store and we’ve spent $50. Ho ho ho, we chuckle, you can’t leave that store without spending $50.

Enter a new era. One we like to call a recession, one where we’ve decided to take a look at what we buy, and not buy the things we don’t need. So, today’s Sunday trip to WF came about because I wanted to buy some oatmeal in bulk. The husband bought some fresh cod for tonight’s dinner, and some frozen bison for two future dinners. Add in a few yogurts, and my favorite tofu that happens to be cheapest at WF (compared to PCC, QFC and MM) and a few other necessities. We spent about three minutes in the chips aisle debating whether to buy pretzels or not (the outcome: yes, we’ll buy).

The other aisles we toured but just toured. No single serving apple pies. No nice bottles of beer. No fru-fru cold drinks and no carb-heavy hot breakfasts. We toured and looked and laughed at what we weren’t going to buy. Got in line at the register and spent a whole whopping $24.89.

Of course, we could have spent $0 and gone to Safeway instead. But we’ve made the decision to save money by cutting out the unnecessary stuff, not by sacrificing taste and quality. So, goodbye (for the most part) to chips, cookies (specifically those big single ones), lattes, beers (unless it’s in a can and says MGD) … hello bulk oatmeal and tubs of yogurt. So far, so good.

Oh, this is just week one. Check in with me a few weeks from now, and see how we’re doing.