Here’s How You Can Cut Your Grocery Costs and Have A Week of Meals Planned in Under 3 Minutes

It’s no secret that one of the biggest household expenses is groceries.

With that being said, if the idea of budgeting, meal planning and making a grocery list is a daunting task, I’ve found a way you can do all of that in under 3 minutes!

Yes, you can cut your grocery costs, stay within your budget, create a week’s worth of meals and have a grocery list done in under 3 minutes!

By the way, make sure you check out my post on Grocery Shopping at Dollar Tree and Shopping Online on Amazon!

Here’s How You Can Cut Your Grocery Costs and Have A Week of Meals Planned in Under 3 Minutes

Before we get started, I need you to have 3 things handy:

• Your ideal budget for groceries for 1 week (if you don’t have this, estimate on the high-end or go through your bank statements to see what life would be like if you could save by only spending $xxx amount a week).
• Any dietary restrictions (for us, we are a nut-free household)
• Your location (for example, I live in Sandy, UT)

Okay, so once you have that info ready, I want you to go over to the ChatGPT website.

Now, if you’ve never used this website before, it is an AI software that can do all sorts of things for you.

This time, we are going to have it make you a full meal plan for 7 days while staying within your budget and we will even ask it to make a grocery shopping list for you.

Oh and it will do this all in under 3 minutes!

Okay, so once you are on the website, you will see a box that looks like this:

In that box, write the prompt:

make me a meal plan for 7 days that includes no (insert dietary restrictions here), will feed a family of (how many are in your family) and keep it under the budget of (your budget $xxx). I live in (your location) for reference

I also rewrote mine to include making it kid-friendly recipes.

So, mine looked liked this:

Then hit ENTER or click the little arrow symbol.

It will then spit out something like this:

Here is a 7-day meal plan for a family of 5 in Sandy, UT that does not include nut ingredients, includes kid-friendly food, and stays within a budget of $500:

Day 1:

• Breakfast: Pancakes with fresh fruit and syrup
• Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
• Dinner: Baked chicken thighs with roasted vegetables (carrots, potatoes, and broccoli)

Day 2:

• Breakfast: Cereal with milk and fresh fruit
• Lunch: Pita pockets filled with hummus, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes
• Dinner: Spaghetti with marinara sauce and garlic bread

Day 3:

• Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with whole wheat toast and orange slices
• Lunch: Turkey and cheese sandwiches with carrot sticks and ranch dressing
• Dinner: Homemade pizzas with pepperoni, olives, and bell peppers

Day 4:

• Breakfast: Yogurt with granola and fresh fruit
• Lunch: Tuna salad on crackers with apple slices
• Dinner: Beef and vegetable stir-fry with brown rice

Day 5:

• Breakfast: French toast sticks with syrup and strawberries
• Lunch: Grilled chicken strips with honey mustard sauce and sweet potato fries
• Dinner: Baked salmon with roasted asparagus and quinoa

Day 6:

• Breakfast: Bagels with cream cheese and jam, and fresh fruit
• Lunch: Chicken quesadillas with salsa and guacamole
• Dinner: Beef tacos with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and sour cream

Day 7:

• Breakfast: Oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, and apple slices
• Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with banana slices
• Dinner: Meatball subs with green salad

Then (without refreshing the page) write this prompt:

now write me a shopping list to match

And it will spit out something like this:

Great! Here is a shopping list for the 7-day meal plan for a family of 5 in Sandy, UT that does not include nut ingredients, includes kid-friendly food, and stays within a budget of $500:

Produce:

• Apples
• Asparagus
• Bananas
• Bell peppers (assorted colors)
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Garlic
• Lettuce
• Onions
• Oranges
• Potatoes
• Strawberries

Dairy:

• Cheese (cheddar and mozzarella)
• Eggs
• Milk
• Plain yogurt
• Sour cream
• Unsalted butter
• Whole wheat bread
• Whole wheat tortillas

Meat and Seafood:

• Chicken thighs
• Ground beef
• Pork chops
• Salmon fillets
• Turkey breast
• Turkey pepperoni

Pantry:

• Brown rice
• Cereal
• Cornbread mix
• Dried pasta (spaghetti and ziti)
• Garlic bread
• Hummus
• Marinara sauce
• Oatmeal
• Peanut butter and jelly
• Pita bread
• Quinoa
• Salsa
• Spaghetti sauce
• Syrup
• Tuna
• Whole wheat crackers

Frozen:

• French toast sticks
• Meatballs
• Sweet potato fries

Miscellaneous:

• Olive oil
• Ranch dressing
• Soy sauce

Now, of course this won’t be entirely perfect and you can go in and add things/remove things or even update your shopping list to include things you need or remove things you already have.

However, overall, this does a pretty good job at giving meal ideas for a week for a family. Especially, if you struggle with coming up with new meal ideas.

It can give you back so much time and help you stay within your budget, create new meal ideas for your family and take the stress of groceries off your table.

So, head over the ChatGPT website and give it a try. I am curious how this will work for you!