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See where your food money really goes each month
Photograph supermarket receipts and build a simple spreadsheet showing your monthly spend by category and shop.
When to use it
After each big shop, reviewed monthly
Step by step
Make a food spending sheet
Create a Google Sheets or Excel file with columns: Date, Shop, Category, Item, Amount.
Snap each receipt
After a shop, take a flat, well-lit photo of the receipt before it fades or gets lost.
Turn the receipt into rows
Attach the photo to your AI assistant with this prompt, then paste the result into your sheet.
Prompt to copyRead this supermarket receipt and turn it into a table I can paste into a spreadsheet, with columns: Date, Shop, Category, Item, Amount. Use these categories only: [fresh produce, meat and fish, dairy, bakery, store cupboard, snacks and drinks, ready meals, household, baby and pets, alcohol]. Apply any discounts to the right items. Leave out card numbers and loyalty numbers. Show the receipt total at the end so I can check it matches.Review once a month
At the end of the month, paste your rows back into the assistant and ask: 'Summarise my food spend by category, compare it with last month and suggest 3 realistic ways to cut 10%.'
What you get
October: 412 total. Fresh produce 88, Meat & fish 96, Snacks & drinks 71 (up 18 on Sept), Ready meals 44... Ideas: swap two ready meals a week for batch-cooked portions, buy snacks in multipacks, use the loyalty app's weekly offers.
Tips
- Always check the total matches the receipt, as faded print can be misread.
- Never paste bank statements with full account numbers into an AI tool.