Textbookless: Money Saving Tip Tuesday!

I think this week's Money Saving Tip Tuesday contains my most exciting discovery yet. I am beyond thrilled to share it with you.

I love to eat healthy. If I can get something "organic," I will. If I can get something "all-natural," I will. Well this is awesome and makes me "feel good," it also means that I'm often spending quite a bit of cash on food.

Don't get me started on how ironic it is that healthy food is more expensive than unhealthy food - clearly that won't be changing anytime soon. Instead I am pleased to share that I've found somewhere to get healthy food for a relatively cheap price (I think). And it doesn't involve making the trek Public Market at 7am on Saturday mornings.

I give you Trader Joe's.
First, let me back up a little. Over the weekend I went to visit my boyfriend who lives in Canada, where naturally everything is more expensive. To prepare for a home cooked meal, we visited Whole Foods.

If you've never been to Whole Foods before, I highly recommend doing so - if only for the experience. I don't necessarily encourage you to buy anything, because most of the items are ridiculously priced, but it is fun to visit.

For example, we pretty much only purchased shredded cheese, popcorn, and two Kombucha drinks for $40.

Yes ... it was painful. And honestly pretty annoying. I mean, if I want to be eating healthy WHY does it have to cost me so much money?!

Before visiting Trader Joe's I had assumed it was going to be the same. With literally only $27 dollars in my wallet last night, I decided to take a trip to Pittsford's newly-opened one. I knew Wegmans wasn't going to give me much for $27 dollars, so I figured what the heck.

I hadn't been home over the weekend to write down my weekly "food needs" for when my parents went grocery shopping - so I was in serious need of a few basic things.

Upon entering the store, I instantly walked over to the fresh fruits and vegetables. A bag of carrots quickly caught my eye - for $1.99.

No freaking way, I thought. This is a good start.

My trip continued and I easily got everything I "needed" plus some extra items.

I ended up with:

1 bag of whole organic carrots
3 Greek yogurts
2 packages of beets
2 bottles of sparkling water
1 box of cereal
1 box of granola bars
1 container of hummus
1 package of goat cheese

Ready for the best part?!

My total was $20.21!

Amazing, I know - I'm still kind of in shock.

I ended up with:

1 bag of whole organic carrots
3 Greek yogurts
2 packages of beets
2 bottles of sparkling water
1 box of cereal
1 box of granola bars
1 container of hummus
1 package of goat cheese

I was most suprised with the low cost of the goat cheese they had to offer. The one I picked was under $3. At Wegmans, I can't find goat cheese for under $4 (with tax). Here's the proof.

I usually get this one but was able to purchase one at TJ's for much less.

So my tip for this Tuesday?

Get to your nearest TJ's and get there fast. I literally cannot wait to get back. I also highly suggest only bringing a certain amount of money, I promise you can stay within a reasonable budget.

Here's a look of some of the stuff I purchased: