The Magic Words At Whole Foods To Lower Your Grocery Bill

There is one lesser-known hack for saving money when shopping at Whole Foods Market that even devout shoppers may not know exists. If you're grabbing groceries at Whole Foods and you see that big beautiful boule of fresh artisan bread, a wedge of fancy aged cheese, an organic Atlantic salmon fillet, or a seedless watermelon, for example, but don't quite need the entire thing, ask a Whole Foods team member if you can have the item "cut to order." 

You'll get half the amount of the original item at essentially half the price. Not only is the lower price a benefit, but cutting items to order can also help reduce food waste by offering a smaller portion, whether you want to try something before committing to the whole size, an item has a short shelf life, or smaller households can't finish something before it goes bad.

As with most deals in life, the "cut to order" hack comes with a few caveats. Divisible items — those that aren't pre-packaged, like products from the meat, fish, bakery, and cheese counters or produce department — are eligible for shoppers to receive a smaller portion. A whole San Francisco sourdough boule from the bakery that costs around $6 can be reduced to about $3 when cut to order. As for pre-packaged foods, while butchers in the meat department can cube pre-packaged chicken breasts for your kabobs, purchasing only half of the pack is not part of the "cut to order" shopping offer.

Lower your grocery bill at Whole Foods even more by stacking eligible "cut to order" products with special Amazon Prime member discounts. On Tuesdays and Fridays, Amazon Prime members receive special deals at Whole Foods Market. One offer applicable with the "cut to order" hack is the buy one, get one 50% off promotion on half bakery bread loaves. This means you can ask for two of your favorite whole loaves to be cut to order, making it possible to enjoy a couple of fresh bakery breads at an even lower cost than purchasing a single whole loaf.

Additionally, every Wednesday, dozens of items at Whole Foods go on sale, with Amazon Prime members receiving the lowest prices, and many of those sale items are eligible as "cut to order." If organic papayas, for example, are on sale for $2.19 per pound, with an extra 20% off for Prime members, a 3-pound papaya cut to order can cost around $3.30 for regular shoppers, and around $2.60 for Amazon Prime members. The same sale pricing can apply to other eligible items that can be cut to order, making it possible to stack multiple discounts on a smaller portion for even greater savings at a store once nicknamed "Whole Paycheck" for its high prices.