Buy Whole Foods: Tip-of-the-Day #198

WHOLE FOODS CAN SAVE YOU WHOLE DOLLARS

Buying whole foods (and no, not the super expensive chain of organic grocers) is a rule that will save you money each and every time. There’s nothing unclear about it - when you have to laboriously cut up and package your food yourself, you save because you’re not tapping someone else’s time and energy (someone being paid by the hour by a supermarket or deli). It’s kind of like how Ikea can extend better prices on furniture because they’re having YOU assemble it!

The more times a food is “handled,” the more it will cost, plain and simple. In the printing industry it’s actually called a “touch cost.” Chopped veggies cost more than whole veggies, grated cheese is pricier than a block of cheese, and boneless skinless chicken breasts will cost a lot more than a whole chicken because someone had to painstakingly get that chicken prepared for you.

If you need a rule to live by, live by the rule that whole foods are better.

Here’s an example from Safeway.com:

A Foster Farms Whole Fresh Chicken is $3.47/lb. Meanwhile, Foster Farms Boneless Skinless Fresh Chicken Breasts are $6.49/lb. That’s nearly double!

And from the veggie aisle…
A 10 pound bag of whole fresh carrots is $3.99, and an 8 oz bag of peeled, pre-packed carrots is $3.99. Same price for a fraction of the goods!

For some people (um, me!) there is a willingness to pay a few extra bucks from time to time to have the work done for you. But, if you're trying to save a few bucks, buy the whole foods and work ‘em over yourself.