How AI Can Help You Save Money on Groceries
With rising grocery costs at the forefront of everyone’s mind, Whole Foods’ “full paycheck” joke hits a little too close to home these days. Food inflation hits 43-year high in August 2022 11.4%has gradually decreased since then, and is currently about 2.1%. But since 2020, inflation has increased, even leading to small inflation Grocery stores cost considerable moneyno matter where you shop.
These days, eating out costs almost the same as buying all the ingredients and cooking at home, especially if you’re only cooking for one or two people. Our convenience-driven culture has made food delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash a part of our busy daily lives, exacerbated by high grocery costs.
If your weekly grocery bill has become a source of stress, see what artificial intelligence can do. If AI can write scripts, surely it can strategize how to save eggs, right? I decided to give the AI tool Copilot a try and see what it could do.
Microsoft’s Copilot launched in February 2023, two months after ChatGPT debuted. You can read CNET’s First Officer’s Practical Reviewbut I chose it over competing generative AI chatbots Chat GPT and google Gemini Since it has a specific “Cooking Assistant” GPT, this feels like a good sign for saving money on groceries.
Like ChatGPT, Copilot has a free version or paid options for added features. It promises to be my “daily AI companion.” let’s see.
Prepare for the first tip
Before opening Copilot, I made a list of my groceries and how much our family typically spends. Here’s what I included:
- organic coffee
- coffee creamer
- apple
- banana
- yeast bread
- egg
- avocado
- mushroom
- arugula
- feta cheese
- yogurt
- Granola
- Vegetable slices or pretzels
- Chicken, salmon, steak
- rice and potatoes
- Asparagus and Broccoli
- ice cream bar
- chocolate
We only spend $100 to $150 a week for two people.
I entered this information into Copilot and asked for suggestions on how to save money on groceries.
While some of the suggestions are interesting (such as adding cheaper plant-based protein), these suggestions are not helpful in most cases. I suspect matcha or mushroom coffee is cheaper than store brand organic coffee, and I’m looking for a cheaper way to get eggs instead of a baking egg substitute like applesauce. I also don’t want to make my own sourdough or eat cottage cheese instead of avocado.
Tip 2: “I prefer eating organic, fresh produce and a Mediterranean diet. Whole Foods is my closest grocery store. How can I save money on the items on my list? I don’t want to replace or swap out these items. Do I? In-person at ShopRite Is it cheaper to buy in-store or online at Whole Foods?”
The co-pilot told me ShopRite was cheaper and worth the extra 10 minutes of driving. I asked what day and time was best to buy groceries and this told me: “The consensus from various sources is that Wednesday is generally the best day to buy groceries if you’re looking for deals. Many stores start new sales on Wednesdays, So you’ll be the first to get this week’s discounts and promotions.”
It also told me to wait until late at night or just before stores closed to get the reduced prices on perishable items, including meat and produce.
I’ve learned three valuable points so far:
- Add cheaper protein sources such as plant-based foods.
- Transfer to ShopRite (10 minutes drive, 7 minutes walk).
- Shop on a Wednesday, after get off work if possible—or ask the store when sales usually start.
Shop for groceries based on AI-suggested recipes
I decided to try something different and asked for meal recommendations.
Tip 3: “Use my shopping list to plan five lunches and dinners for my partner and I. We like to eat an organic Mediterranean diet, and you can add tofu as another protein source. Our budget is $75 per week.”
I run it through copilot and copilot cooking assistant. I prefer the Cooking Assistant list, but it’s a bit gimmicky for me. Who has the energy to cook eggplant moussaka with sauce on a Friday night?
I asked it to use more items from my shopping list and add chicken, salmon, and steak dinner dishes, as well as egg dishes for lunch, specifying that I didn’t want anything too fancy, time-consuming, or expensive.
The co-pilot has me drooling!
Once I was satisfied with my meal plan, I asked for a shopping list of ingredients I would need for the week, no more than $75. It gave me a shopping list with the quantities of each item I needed and divided it into produce, protein, dairy, carbs, pantry, and “other” sections.
A warning about artificial intelligence pricing knowledge
While Copilot does have Internet access, it’s unlikely to provide the most up-to-date prices, especially for daily sales at local grocery stores. In other words, take your copilot’s advice with a grain of salt.
You may want to further personalize the plan based on local pricing. When you actually get to the grocery store and see which items are on sale or which items have increased in price, expect to discard, change, or replace items based on your budget.
What Copilot excels at is helping you easily build and curate meal lists using standard ingredients so you can grocery shop more strategically.
For more ways to use AI, see here How to use Copilot to create notes for anything and How to use ChatGPT to find your dream job.
