Whole Foods on a Budget - Is It Possible?

I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine last week.  She recently decided to start following the "17-day Diet" (Yes, I know...another fad diet.  At least it's touting whole foods....).  She knows my diet (protein / veggies / fruit / fat) is somewhat similar so she asked me, "How do you afford all of the meat, fruits and vegetables?"

My reply included the following points:

• I review the grocery ad fliers ever week and buy only those items that are on sale.
• I rarely ever buy fruit that is over $1/lb - and yes, that means we eat a lot of apples and pears during the winter.
• I don't do Organics - they're too expensive for my budget right now.
• I buy a lot of frozen vegetables (usually at Target where they're around $1/lb).
• We eat a lot of eggs - they're cheap protein that everyone in this household is willing to eat.
• I'm not picky when it comes to protein - the harder-to-cook cuts and parts (like liver, skin-on leg quarters, well-marbled beef, etc) are usually the cheapest so I've learned to cook them well. 
• We rarely eat fish - it's just too expensive and it seems to not have a lot of "staying power" with my body.  I'm usually hungry an hour after I eat fish.
• I shop around at different stores and keep a Price Book so I can easily compare sale prices to regular prices at other stores.
• I buy those items I know will keep (condiments, peanut butter, protein and frozen vegetables) in bulk when they're on super sale.
• I don't mind doing some prep work on the weekends (like precooking a lot of chicken at one time) to make weekday dinner time easier.
• Waste not, want not - I make broth with chicken and beef bones, I save vegetable trimmings in a bag in the freezer and make vegetable broth when the bag is full (yum!), bacon grease is saved for cooking (best stuff ever to fry eggs in), fruits that are becoming over-ripe are frozen for later baking or smoothies, dinner leftovers are eaten for lunch the next day, and larger pots of soup or stews are bagged and frozen in lunch-size portions for later consumption.  Nothing goes to waste here....

Do you have any great ideas on eating whole foods while on a budget?  Comment below....