More in Meals & Cooking. Also fits: Money, Bills & Taxes.

Build a custom GPT that cuts about $100 a week off groceries (with a deli-meat miss)

PartialEvidence: Described by posterPosted Aug 13, 2025Last checked Nov 5, 2026

Ciana Abdollahian's ChatGPT custom GPT cut about $100 a week on groceries but once wrongly suggested sauteing deli meat.

Source checked Nov 5, 2026
Results shared
Limitations noted

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Replace anything in [CAPITAL LETTERS IN BRACKETS] with your own details.
Send it, then read the answer before acting on it.

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Prompt

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Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about the details below and wait for my answers. Once I've answered, confirm the plan in one line and run the whole task start to finish.

Goal: Build custom GPT instructions that turn a weekly grocery ad into a budget meal plan and list.

Questions to ask me first:
- What is your weekly grocery budget and main store?
- What dietary rules and household size apply?
- Which proteins and leftovers are allowed to repeat?

Inputs (fill in or confirm):
- Budget and store: [BUDGET / STORE]
- Diet rules: [LIST]
- Household size: [NUMBER]
- Ad text or photo notes: [AD]

Rules:
- Parse the weekly ad before inventing ingredients.
- Stick to the budget and diet rules.
- Return full recipes with portions.
- Don't repeat the same protein more than twice in five days.
- Never suggest cooking methods that don't fit the ingredient (for example, don't sauté deli meats).

Checkpoint: After the first test week, list misses and wait for my instruction updates.

If you get stuck: If the ad is unreadable, ask me to paste the sale items as text before planning.

Verify before you finish: Check every recipe ingredient against the ad or pantry list and flag anything not on sale or in stock.

Output: Custom GPT instruction block, then a sample 5-day plan and grocery list for one real ad.

Done when: I have instructions I can paste into a custom GPT and a verified sample week.

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Budget and store

e.g. 50 dollars

Diet rules

Household size

e.g. 2 adults and 1 child

Ad text or photo notes

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Your prompt

Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about the details below and wait for my answers. Once I've answered, confirm the plan in one line and run the whole task start to finish.

Goal: Build custom GPT instructions that turn a weekly grocery ad into a budget meal plan and list.

Questions to ask me first:
- What is your weekly grocery budget and main store?
- What dietary rules and household size apply?
- Which proteins and leftovers are allowed to repeat?

Inputs (fill in or confirm):
- Budget and store: [BUDGET / STORE]
- Diet rules: [LIST]
- Household size: [NUMBER]
- Ad text or photo notes: [AD]

Rules:
- Parse the weekly ad before inventing ingredients.
- Stick to the budget and diet rules.
- Return full recipes with portions.
- Don't repeat the same protein more than twice in five days.
- Never suggest cooking methods that don't fit the ingredient (for example, don't sauté deli meats).

Checkpoint: After the first test week, list misses and wait for my instruction updates.

If you get stuck: If the ad is unreadable, ask me to paste the sale items as text before planning.

Verify before you finish: Check every recipe ingredient against the ad or pantry list and flag anything not on sale or in stock.

Output: Custom GPT instruction block, then a sample 5-day plan and grocery list for one real ad.

Done when: I have instructions I can paste into a custom GPT and a verified sample week.

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ChatGPT Used in source Gemini Grok Claude

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The prompt they actually used

The exact prompt from the source.

I want to build a GPT that reads a weekly grocery ad, then creates a 5-day meal plan and grocery list based on my constraints.

AI tool

ChatGPT

Outcome

After a layoff, Ciana Abdollahian built a ChatGPT custom GPT to parse weekly grocery ads, stick to a budget and dietary restrictions, and generate a complete meal plan and grocery list. Abdollahian iterated the instructions, tested a real week with budget, store and dietary info, and updated rules such as returning full recipes with portions and not repeating the same protein more than twice. The setup saved about $100 a week and reduced daily dinner panic, but it was not perfect: one week the GPT suggested sautéing deli meats.

Evidence: Described by posterThe person describes what happened in words, without screenshots or video.

Known limitations

PartialThe source says it only partly worked, or had a significant problem a person had to deal with.

What went wrong: Saved about $100 a week, but one week the custom GPT suggested sautéing deli meats.

Source

Posted: Aug 13, 2025 by Ciana Abdollahian (LinkedIn)
Last checked: Nov 5, 2026
Method:: How we verify

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cianaabdollahian_true-story-ai-has-been-saving-me-a-100-activity-7361405726688182272-V1Jg

Context: Date estimated from the LinkedIn activity ID. Savings are self-reported. Custom GPT is a ChatGPT feature.