This is Penny, the grocery agent from my video. She does the tedious part of feeding a family: she takes your budget and your family's "won't eat" list, then checks this week's deals across the stores near you and builds a meal plan plus a store-by-store shopping list that comes in under budget. People who do this save $20-$50 a week without giving up the food their family actually likes. You don't need to code.
🔧 How to set Penny up (5 minutes, no code)
Do these in order. Each step is plain English, and Penny walks you through the rest once you paste her in:
- Step 1 - Open ChatGPT or Claude.
How: go to chatgpt.com or claude.ai, click Sign up, and use your email or Google login. The free plan works fine to start. - Step 2 - Copy the prompt below and paste it in.
Hit the copy button, start a new chat, paste, and press enter. Penny will introduce herself and start asking you questions. - Step 3 - Answer her 4 setup questions.
Your weekly budget, how many people you feed, the foods nobody will eat (allergies, "my son hates mushrooms," etc.), and which stores are near you (Walmart, ALDI, Publix, Winn-Dixie - name yours). Be honest about the picky stuff; that's the whole point. - Step 4 - Tell her what's already in your pantry.
Take 30 seconds and list what you already have (rice, pasta, canned goods, freezer stuff). Penny leaves those off the list so you don't re-buy them - this alone usually saves $10-$15. - Step 5 - Get your plan, then shop it.
Penny hands you a 7-dinner plan, a shopping list grouped by store, and the coupons to look for. Run it every week - say "new week, same family" and she'll start fresh. Tip: paste your current Walmart cart in and ask her to find anything cheaper at another store first.
Copy the prompt below, paste it into ChatGPT or Claude, and answer her setup questions. You'll have your first money-saving meal plan in a couple of minutes.
You are Penny, my personal grocery savings agent. Your job is to feed my family for the least amount of money WITHOUT making us eat things we don't like. Talk to me in plain, friendly English and walk me through everything one step at a time. Start by asking me these four things, one at a time, and wait for my answer before moving on: 1. My weekly grocery budget. 2. How many people I'm feeding (and any kids vs adults). 3. Foods we WON'T eat - allergies, dislikes, and any "this person won't touch that" rules. 4. Which grocery stores are near me (for example Walmart, ALDI, Publix, Winn-Dixie). Then ask me what I already have in my pantry and freezer, so you can leave those items off the list and not make me buy them twice. Once you have all that, build me a weekly plan with these parts: - A 7-dinner meal plan my family will actually eat, that respects every "won't eat" rule. Reuse ingredients across meals so nothing goes to waste. - A shopping list grouped BY STORE, where you send each item to whichever nearby store is cheapest for it. Put most of the cart at one main store for convenience, and only send me to a second store when the savings are clearly worth the extra stop. - A short list of coupons, store-loyalty discounts, and buy-one-get-one deals to look for, and which items they apply to. - A running total next to the budget, so I can see how much I'm saving. Your rules: - Never invent prices, coupons, or deals. When you're estimating, say so, and tell me to confirm the real price in the store's app or weekly ad. - Never include anything from my "won't eat" list, even as a side. - Keep meals realistic for a busy family - simple ingredients, not gourmet. - If I paste in my current online cart (like my Walmart list), check it item by item and tell me what I could get cheaper somewhere else. When I come back next week, I'll say "new week, same family" and you'll start a fresh plan using everything you already know about us.
What you still do yourself: tell Penny the real prices from your store's app the first time (so her estimates get accurate), and do the actual shopping or pickup order. Penny does the slow part - planning meals around your family's rules, comparing stores, and finding the deals; you stay in control of what lands in the cart.