One of the things that I feel hurts the most financially when grocery shopping is that I have a running list going up to payday and then I purchase those items only to find out I forgot something and have to go back which results in impulse buys on top of what I originally forgot.
I would love to find an app that I can use to feed in my kitchen/household inventory that will create a grocery list when it sees inventory drops below a certain level. (Bonus points if the app can actually be queued for meal planning).
Does anyone use something like this or similar to help minimize impulse buys on grocery day?
Question – does anyone use an app for groceries?
byu/thesecretlibrarian inFrugal
Posted by thesecretlibrarian
11 Comments
I just use the reminders app on my phone, it can be set up to share with others in your household.
Once a month I scan through the pantry to see what I’m low on but otherwise just add things as they run out throughout the month. If I want to get really fancy I’ll add a list of staples to the notes app and check that I have my usuals on hand.
To me it’s the opposite of frugal to buy some fancy app or software to manage what I can do with a basic list.
There is no app creator who didn’t engineer the thing to upsell you. Good luck finding one you can use this way
Take a step and just double check your grocery list before you leave the store imo
If you’re on an iPhone your “reminders” app makes for a great grocery list.
Open the app. , hit the square with a plus in the top right (not the one on the bottom right), name it “groceries” or what ever you want, and start adding groceries. You can even say “hey siri, add (grocery item) to the grocery list” and it will if Siri voice activation is on. Helps when your hands are full but you’re as forgetful as me.
No.
If I don’t physically write something down (like pen and paper) I don’t remember things.
I’m also so over apps at this point in time. No way in hell I use an app for brick and mortar shopping (and get added to their spam list).
you could just use the existing note app on your phone to make a grocery list and you can add it to the list when you notice you are running low on something. why have a special grocery app which is basically a note app?
i use the pen&paper app. hasn’t failed me in 40 years.
I use an app called any list but I’ve had it for ages so I’m not sure what is required to get it now. I’m not sure it will do exactly what you’re asking, but I find it very helpful. I’m constantly thinking of stuff during the week and I just pick up my phone and add it then forget about it again. I’m sure there’s probably other similar apps, keep looking. Edit: it doesn’t do that inventory stuff, you need to do that yourself.
We use Anylist. Free version. We share a login. Nothing fancy, though – just add stuff when we notice we’re low / out.
We do most of our grocery shopping when we’re out in other neighborhoods – but it helps a lot that we have a grocery store 2 blocks away for emergencies (my partner ran out for ingredients twice when I was making dinner a couple weeks ago🫣).
I put stuff in my Walmart cart as a running grocery list. Take stuff off, also save for later. Then I can just pay and pickup! But manual/human oversight on the physical part-checking the pantry. That’s about as techie as I get.
I use Todoist for my general to do list items and I have a task for grocery list. I add things to it throughout the week as I notice I’m low then also add my required items for my weekly meal prep and it’s perfect for my shopping. No need to have a dedicated app for that
I’ve used the Out of Milk app for years. It also has a pantry list which is separate from the shopping list and you can create other lists for different things.