Anyone have a system for tracking and managing their groceries? I am trying to get our food situation figured out as the wife forgets we have things and then buys duplicates. What do you all use? I found this and it seems pretty cool.
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I don’t use anything to manage my groceries. I think that trying to do that would drag me into a rabbit hole of searches for the perfect solution, have me hyperfixate for months, trying to use what I worked so hard for and drop the ball shortly after because of whatever reason.
But what this had me think of is something as hands off as possible. Something like the Amazon all automated stores, with some computer vision model trained to record what I put in the fridge/pantry, what goes back in and what doesn’t return.
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I never bothered before. But now that I am living with another person I am finding that it might be something to look into.
Thank you for finding this
here are some things I tried before(to make this post easier to find):
Itemtopia
I used to track pantry stuff with spreadsheets too but kept forgetting to update them. Ended up repurposing a simple inventory tracking flow inspired by https://acupowererp.com/acumatica/manufacturing-edition for our homebrew setup—definitely overkill, but it gave me the idea to barcode stuff and scan it in/out, which has made it way easier to keep track of what’s actually on hand versus what I think is there.
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MetalizeYourBrain’s warning about hyperfixation is painfully accurate, since half the fun is building the system and none of it is maintaining it. Grocy works if you actually scan things, which nobody does after week three. A simple whiteboard on the fridge door probably beats most apps. Low-tech, but it survives.
A pen and a piece of paper. When I use up something (a box of cereal for instance) I write it down on the paper. Then I bring the paper to the store so that I know what to buy, and start on a new piece of paper at home. Simple!
It also allows me to have a multiple items (boxes of cereal or whatever) in storage and keep the number approximately constant.
And of course, if I’m shopping to cook some specific food, I write down any missing ingredients on the list before I go shopping. Yes, this means that I sometimes have to check if I have enough milk or whatever at home, but it’s really not difficult.