MealBudget
Recipe organising, meal prepping and grocery shopping, fun and affordable again. Set what the week should cost, pick the dinners your family actually wants, and get the whole list in seconds.
Alex Antoniou, builder of MealBudget
On the App Store in 11 countries🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦🇦🇺🇳🇿🇩🇪🇦🇹🇪🇸🇲🇽🇬🇷🇪🇬
Fresh food. Less waste. Same budget.
Cook fresh all week, on one grocery list that cuts food waste.
Healthy eating for your family means fresh ingredients, and fresh is what your budget notices. Set your budget, pick the meals you want, and MealBudget builds one list that reuses ingredients across the week, so packages get finished instead of binned.
Free · No signup required
Read off the shelf
Real prices from real shops, not guesses.
Most planners estimate. We read supermarket shelves and record the chain and the date, so you can check any number we show you. These came from Morrisons and Sainsbury's, last read 27 Sept.
Covered so far
| Item | Price | Read at |
|---|---|---|
| Boneless chicken breast1.1 kg tray | £9.89 | Morrisons, Sainsbury's10 Sept |
| Whole milk3.8 L | £5.02 | Morrisons, Sainsbury's27 Sept |
| Large eggs1 dozen | £4.38 | Morrisons, Sainsbury's27 Sept |
| Long grain white rice2.3 kg bag | £2.54 | Sainsbury's9 Sept |
| Unsalted butter450 g (4 sticks) | £3.36 | Sainsbury's27 Sept |
Same basket, different shop
We know which shop is cheaper, because we priced both.
The same everyday staples, priced at each chain from shelves we read ourselves. We only make the comparison where both shops priced enough of the basket for the difference to mean anything.
United Kingdom
£3.80 cheaper at Sainsbury's
The same 9 staples cost £28.91 at Sainsbury's, against Morrisons down the road.
9 of 12 items priced at both shops.
See the United Kingdom pricesAustralia
$7.96 cheaper at Woolworths
The same 8 staples cost $54.82 at Woolworths, against Harris Farm Markets down the road.
8 of 12 items priced at both shops. Readings taken more than a week apart.
See the Australia pricesEvery ingredient counts.
MealBudget does not plan five separate dinners. It plans one grocery cart.
10 ingredients across five dinners become 5 things to buy. Illustrative, using the same package math as your own week.
How it works
Step 1
Set your budget
Step 2
Tap what you like
Step 3
One list. Done.
- 01Set your budget
- 02Tap the meals you like
- 03MealBudget optimises your grocery list
- 04Shop one list that cuts food waste and saves on food cost
A real week. Family of four, $100.
Your $100 week
About $74
5 dinners · 22 items · feeds a family of four
Left in your budget
$26
The week
- MondayClassic Ground Beef Tacos
- TuesdayCheese and Green Chile Enchiladas
- WednesdayBlack Bean and Cheese Quesadillas
- ThursdayHuevos Rancheros
- FridayChicken Enchilada Casserole
One grocery list · duplicates combined
Produce
- Yellow onions
- Iceberg lettuce
- Roma tomatoes
- Garlic
Meat & seafood
- Rotisserie chicken
- Ground beef (80/20)
Dairy
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Shredded Mexican cheese blend
- Shredded Monterey Jack
- Large eggs
Bakery
- Flour tortillas (burrito size)
- Flour tortillas (taco size)
- Corn tortillas
Frozen
- Frozen sweet corn
Pantry
- Canned red enchilada sauce
- Vegetable oil
- Canned black beans
- Ground cumin
- Chili powder
- Canned diced tomatoes with green chiles
- Canned diced green chiles
- Taco seasoning packet
A real plan generated by MealBudget. Costs are average estimates from hundreds of multi-chain grocery stores, plus contributions from shoppers in local shops.
Now do it for your budget.
Free · No signup required
Why we built this
We are a family of five who were spending $2,500 a month on groceries and binning about a third of it — then fixing it by hand at the kitchen table every weekend.
MealBudget is that kitchen table, in seconds.
Pricing
Costs less than what you scrape into the bin
$15 a month
One week free, unlimited planning. Cancel any time from your iPhone settings.
- See meals by cost to make
- Share ingredients among meals to lower cost
- Feel good reducing food waste!
- Share your grocery lists with your shopping buddy
- Every cuisine and budget
- Plan one, two or three meals a day
- Your weeks saved by date
- Ingredients in 19 languages
- No adverts, ever
The website stays free. A subscription covers the iPhone app, where your weeks are saved and your lists can be shared.
Wasted food figure: ReFED estimates $762 per person a year of food goes uneaten, about $3,048 for a household of four. MealBudget reduces waste by reusing ingredients across meals. We do not claim to recover the full amount.
Questions people ask
- What is MealBudget?
- A grocery list in seconds.
- Why use it?
- Save on groceries.
- How does it save?
- Meals share ingredients, so you buy less and waste less.
- How do I start?
- Set your budget. Pick your meals. Get your list.
The detail
- Which countries can download the app?
- The iPhone app is on the App Store in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Spain, Mexico, Greece and Egypt. More countries join as we finish checking their shops.
- How are grocery prices estimated?
- Costs are average estimates from hundreds of multi-chain grocery stores, plus contributions from shoppers in local shops. Totals are built by whole packages, the way stores actually sell food, rather than by the exact tablespoon a recipe calls for — so a total is shown rounded, for example "About $74".
- Does MealBudget use prices from my local store?
- In 11 countries, including United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Austria, you get real shelf prices read from named supermarkets, with the date we read them. Everywhere else you get national average estimates, and every price you contribute from your own shop makes the next shopper's list sharper.
- Can I exclude ingredients I cannot eat?
- Yes. List anything to exclude: allergies, dislikes or dietary restrictions. Any meal containing them is removed before planning begins, so an exclusion is never traded away to hit a budget. MealBudget is a planning tool, not an allergy-safety tool: if you have a food allergy, always check ingredient labels on packaged foods before purchasing.
- What does MealBudget cost?
- Your first week is free. After that MealBudget is $15 a month or $100 a year, priced lower in many countries. Both plans cover unlimited planning, saved weeks and shareable lists. For context, a US household of four throws away roughly $3,048 of food a year.
- Do I need an account?
- Yes. Sign in with Apple, Google or your email, and your weeks are saved to your account. Signing in starts your free week, and no card is needed.
See how far your grocery budget can go
Pick a number. We’ll build the week.
Free · No signup required
Coming to your phone
The MealBudget app is on its way
Saved households, one-tap weekly lists, and reminders before your grocery run. Leave your email and you’ll be first to know.