With growing expenses at the forefront of our thoughts these days, the joke about the full Foods “whole paycheck” strikes a bit too close to home. Although food inflation has been compounding since 2020, it peaked in August 2022 at 11.4%, a 43-year high, and has subsequently fallen down to roughly 3% today. No matter where you buy, it’s making even tiny supermarket hauls a significant expenditure.
These days, purchasing supplies to cook at home and dining out are becoming more and more expensive, particularly if you’re preparing for just one or two people. Additionally, due to the high cost of groceries and our convenience-driven society, meal delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats have become a part of our hectic schedules.
AI may assist you in managing your food budget.
Let us examine the potential of artificial intelligence to alleviate the tension that comes with your monthly supermarket expenditure. AI must be able to plan how to conserve eggs if it can compose a script, right? I made the decision to experiment with the AI tool Copilot to see what it might do.
Two months after ChatGPT’s introduction, Microsoft’s Copilot was released in February 2023. I choose Copilot over rival generative AI chatbots ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini because it had a dedicated “cooking assistant” (GPT), which seemed like a solid indication to save money on groceries. You can read CNET’s hands-on evaluation of Copilot.
Similar to ChatGPT, Copilot comes with a free version and a subscription one with more capabilities. I’m hoping it will be my “everyday AI companion.” We’ll see.
The cooking assistant Microsoft Copilot
How to inquire about groceries with AI chatbots
I compiled a list of my food purchases and our typical household spending before I launched Copilot. What I included is as follows:
Coffee that is organic
Creamer for coffee
Apples
The banana
Bread made with sourdough
Eggs
Avocados
The mushroom
Arugula
Feta cheese
Yogurt
Granola
Vegetable pretzels or chips
Steak, salmon, and chicken
Both potatoes and rice
Broccoli with asparagus
Bars of ice cream
Chocolate
For just two of us, we spend between $100 and $150 a week.
I entered this data into Copilot and requested ideas for grocery budgeting.
Copilot groceries
Amanda Smith/Screenshot of Copilot Grocery 2
Although some of the suggestions were intriguing (such as include less expensive plant-based proteins), the majority of the advise wasn’t beneficial. I don’t think store-brand organic coffee is any less costly than matcha or mushroom coffee, and I’m not seeking for applesauce or another egg substitute for baking. I also don’t want to substitute cottage cheese for avocados or create my own sourdough.
2: “I like to eat a Mediterranean diet that includes fresh, organic fruit. The grocery shop closest to me is Whole Foods. How can I reduce the cost of the things on my list? I don’t want to change out or replace the things. Is it less expensive to purchase online at Whole Foods than in-store at ShopRite?
According to Copilot, ShopRite is more affordable and could be worth the additional ten minutes of driving. In response to my question about the ideal time and day to buy for groceries, it stated: “Weekend is often the greatest day to shop for groceries if you’re searching for bargains, according to a number of sites. You’ll get early access to the week’s discounts and promotions since many retailers begin their new sales week on Wednesday.
Additionally, it advised me to hold off on buying perishable goods like meat and fruit until late at night or just before the shop closes in order to take advantage of markdowns.
I’ve discovered three important lessons so far:
Include less expensive protein sources, including plant-based foods.
Choose ShopRite instead (it’s a 10-minute drive instead of a 7-minute walk).
Ask the business when sales often begin, or try to shop on Wednesdays after work.
I choose to test this in a different manner by asking for dinner suggestions while using AI recipes to purchase items.
3: “Plan five lunches and dinners for my spouse and myself using my shopping list. We like eating a Mediterranean diet that is organic, and tofu is an additional source of protein. Our weekly budget is $75.
I run it via Copilot Cooking Assistant as well as Copilot. The Cooking Assistant list was my favorite, although I thought it was a little too pretentious. On a Friday night, who has the energy to make bechamel-eggplant moussaka?
I told it that I didn’t want anything very elaborate, time-consuming, or costly, and I requested it to utilize additional things from my shopping list and include supper meals that included chicken, salmon, and steak in addition to lunch dishes that had eggs.
Recipe recommendations from the copilot
Recipes recommended by Copilot 2
Copilot is making me drool!
I requested a shopping list of the foods I would need for the week, keeping my budget within $75, once I was satisfied with the meal plan. My shopping list was broken down into categories for vegetables, proteins, dairy, carbohydrates, pantry, and “other.” It also provided me with the precise number of each item I would need.
Even while Copilot has internet connectivity, it probably doesn’t have the most recent pricing, particularly when it comes to daily discounts at your neighborhood supermarkets. Put otherwise, be skeptical of Copilot’s suggestions.
The strategy may need to be further customized based on local rates. When you actually arrive to the grocery store and observe which things are on sale or which have increased in price, you should expect to drop, replace, or swap up items depending on your budget.
Copilot excels at making it simple for you to create and organize a menu using your usual items so you can shop for groceries more strategically.