Where would one start on something like that? Getting local updated pricing information would seem to be a big missing link. Perhaps crowd sourcing? That would need a critical mass to make it useful. Maybe trying to focus on specific cities first might make it easier.
I think general approximation could work. I'm not looking for something that can get me to $3 exactly... Really if someone could make an application that gave me a list of menus (that I could swap out) for the week and the corresponding grocery list, I'd use that all the time.
General approximation is what I was going to use. I don't care if it's exactly some set price. Reasonably close is good enough for me.
A bit of magic in the system would be nice, as well. For example: I'm picking the menu(s) the items that I would like to eat next week. While "chicken burrito" may not normally cost me too much, it just so happens that none of the ingredients for the chicken burrito are shared amongst the ingredients for the other 5 or 6 days. This may push my week's allowance too high. Finding things with like/shared-staple ingredients would be nice. Obviously, we wouldn't want a Taco Bell scenario where everything uses the same five or six ingredients, but watching your overall supply/intake could help.
I suppose, additionally, being able to specify some things that you have on hand could help with the process.
I've thought about this off and on enough that I fear I may be over complicating it at this point.
Anyway, if you get around to working on this sometime this fall then feel free to hit me up as I hope to have some free time by then.
