How the math works

• 50 popular U.S. chains. Item names (never prices) were checked against each chain's current menu on the date shown under the picker. If your spot isn't listed, "Local spot" has generic items, and you can suggest the chain.
• Your order maps to the closest home recipe. Fries become oven fries, a McChicken becomes crispy chicken sandwiches, and so on. When one recipe covers everything you picked (a burger + fries is "cheeseburgers + oven fries"), that's your home version. Otherwise it's based on your main item, the one you got the most of, and the rest are listed with their own recipes.
• The big number is what one serving costs at home. It counts only what the recipe uses, like ½ lb of rice at the BLS price per pound, so it stays the same whether you feed 1 or 6.
• The store trip is what you actually pay at the register. Groceries are bought in whole pounds, dozens or gallons (the BLS price units), enough batches to feed everyone, and the trip shows how many servings that makes. Leftover is your bill minus the store trip.
• Not priced: BLS doesn't track things like buns, tortillas, onions, mozzarella or sauces. They add $0 to the per-serving number, and the store-trip total names them ("plus corn flakes, not priced"). Optional extras like dips and pickles are listed separately and never counted. Add a ZIP to see them live at a nearby Kroger-family store. Only true pantry staples (oil, salt, pepper, dried spices) are left off the list.
• Live store prices stay in the shopping list. They are looked up when you ask and are never saved, averaged, or put on a share image.
• Tax: your bill may include tax; grocery prices here are before tax.
• Prices vary by region and store. With a ZIP, the shopping list uses BLS regional averages where BLS publishes them.