Guides › Food & Home
Plan a week of family dinners on a set budget
Get seven dinners that fit your weekly food budget, reuse ingredients across meals and come with one shopping list.
When to use it
Once a week before you shop
Step by step
Note your budget and household
Jot down how much you want to spend on dinners this week, how many people you're feeding and any allergies or dislikes.
Ask for a budget meal plan
Open ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and paste this prompt with your details filled in.
Prompt to copyPlan 7 dinners for [number] people (including [ages of children, if any]) with a total food budget of about [amount] for the week. We shop at [supermarket type, e.g. a big supermarket or a discount store]. Avoid [allergies and dislikes]. Reuse ingredients across meals so nothing is wasted, include at least 2 meat-free dinners, and keep weeknight meals under [30] minutes. Give me: 1) a table with day, dinner, main ingredients and rough cost; 2) one shopping list grouped by aisle with quantities; 3) which leftovers to save for the next day.Check it against what you have
Cross off anything already in your cupboards, then ask the assistant to recalculate the list without those items.
Save the plan and list
Copy the plan into your notes app and stick the shopping list somewhere the whole household can see it.
What you get
Mon: Lentil & sweet potato curry (about 4.20). Tue: Leftover curry wraps with salad. Wed: Sausage & bean one-pot... Shopping: Veg - 2 onions, 1kg sweet potato, garlic. Tins - 2 chopped tomatoes, 1 coconut milk. Leftovers: save half the rice for Thursday's egg fried rice.
Tips
- Prices are estimates, so treat the costs as a rough guide and check your supermarket's app for current prices.
- Tell it which meals were a hit so next week's plan repeats the favourites.