As grocery prices are steadily increasing, those weekly grocery shopping trips are costing more and more. That’s particularly challenging for retirees who are living on a fixed income. While there are plenty of standard ways to keep costs down, such as shopping for sales, buying in bulk and using coupons, the one grocery shopping hack below makes it easy to save $100 or more per month.
Also here are ways to save more money without changing your lifestyle.
Check Out: Amazon, Costco and 7 Other Stores With Perks That Retirees Should Cash In
For You: 4 Affordable Car Brands You Won't Regret Buying in 2025
The Hack That Retirees Can Use To Save Money
Retirees can turn to ChatGPT to save money on groceries every month. Putting together a meal plan and grocery list while staying within a budget can be time-consuming and frustrating, but ChatGPT can do it in seconds.
The prompt is: Give me a meal plan for [number of meals] with a [$budget] at [grocery store.]
For example, if retirees have a $80 weekly budget for food and like to shop at Costco, they would use the prompt, “Give me a meal plan for 7 meals with a $80 budget at Costco.”
From there, ChatGPT will create a list of meal suggestions, their ingredients and the estimated total cost of the ingredients while shopping at the specified store. Retirees can get even more specific with their prompts, asking ChatGPT to leave out certain ingredients they don’t like or are allergic to. Using this prompt can save a tremendous amount of time, plus it takes some of the stress out of meal planning and budgeting while saving money each month.
See Next: Costco, Walmart and Other Stores With Perks Retirees Need To Be Taking Advantage Of
My Results When Using the ChatGPT Grocery Hack
I tested ChatGPT using the prompt, “Give me a meal plan for five days with a $70 budget at Aldi.”
ChatGPT created a five-day meal plan including a sheet-pan chicken dinner, slow-cooker balsamic chicken with veggies, beef and bean tacos, vegetable stir-fry over rice and carnitas pork roast. The plan included estimated costs for each meal, ranging from $2.50 for the veggie stir-fry to $9 for the balsamic slow-cooker chicken. The ingredients for the meals totaled about $33.
The real value of this approach is in the fact that ChatGPT then included details on how to use the remaining $37 in the budget. By adding in eggs, oats, bread, peanut butter, deli meat, tortillas, cheese and rice, you can buy enough groceries for breakfasts and lunches, too. The plan gives you the flexibility to choose the extra ingredients that you prefer and that are on sale and it keeps the cost of the five days of dinners down low enough so that you still have plenty of money left over to buy those extra ingredients for breakfast and lunch.
Additional Ways To Save Even More With ChatGPT
ChatGPT offered recommendations, including tips, on how to stretch the plan to save more. For example, ground turkey or pork usually cost less than beef or chicken, so swapping out those ingredients can save money. You can use leftovers from a meal to create a salad for lunch the next day or you can just have those leftovers for your next dinner. Cooking in large batches and doubling recipes can help you stock up for future meals, plus you can take advantage of good sales on the main ingredients.
You can also get creative with prompt variations to tailor the recommendations to your needs. If you know an item, like chicken, is on sale, you can customize the prompt to request that a certain number of meals incorporate chicken.
It’s also very easy to customize the prompt to meet your budget. If you only have $50 to spend one week, you can adjust the prompt and shop to stay within that budget. If you have a bit more, ask for recommendations on budget meals that freeze well, so you can stock up your freezer with meals for weeks when money is tight.
If you want to save $100 per month, drop your weekly budget by $25 when you create the prompt and incorporate those extra money-saving tips that you’ll find at the end of the prompt. You can drop the budget even further to save more. Choose a retailer known for its affordable grocery prices, like Aldi, BJ’s or Costco and you’ll be well on your way to saving money on your groceries each month.
More From GOBankingRates
- 5 Little Luxuries To Buy at Dollar Tree This August
- 6 Summer Clothing Items You Should Buy at Costco Now
- 9 Downsizing Tips for the Middle Class To Save on Monthly Expenses
- 6 Big Shakeups Coming to Social Security in 2025
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: The ChatGPT Grocery Shopping Hack That Saves Retirees $100 or More per Month
