Aide memoire for the grocery store
July 17, 2020 9:36 AM Subscribe
Does anyone have a good system or tool for keeping track of what brands you and your family like from the grocery store? I'm looking for something I can do on my phone. I'm not looking for grocery lists.
Periodically, I get something "new" at the grocery store only to discover it's something I've bought and disliked previously. I'd like to keep better track of products I've liked and disliked. Like many of us, I'm sure, 99% of what I buy is exactly the same from week to week. I occasionally hit it out of the park when I buy something new (Whole Foods push up popsicles, Firehook crackers) but usually it's a failure (any tortilla that isn't Mi Nina brand, the queen of tortilla chips around MA).
Do you keep track of this? If so, how? Google sheets seems too complicated and cumbersome on the phone; OneNote or Word seem too disordered (but though I haven't actually tried). I'd like to have some very basic organization (Snacks--Tortilla Chips--Brand We Don't Like) with a very minimal ability for a note ("Kid will not eat" "OK if nothing better on shelf").
Solution must be available offline, as I often have poor cell reception. I'm iOS, FWIW.
I don't want this to become a big project. But geez, I do not like these tortilla chips.
Thanks!
Periodically, I get something "new" at the grocery store only to discover it's something I've bought and disliked previously. I'd like to keep better track of products I've liked and disliked. Like many of us, I'm sure, 99% of what I buy is exactly the same from week to week. I occasionally hit it out of the park when I buy something new (Whole Foods push up popsicles, Firehook crackers) but usually it's a failure (any tortilla that isn't Mi Nina brand, the queen of tortilla chips around MA).
Do you keep track of this? If so, how? Google sheets seems too complicated and cumbersome on the phone; OneNote or Word seem too disordered (but though I haven't actually tried). I'd like to have some very basic organization (Snacks--Tortilla Chips--Brand We Don't Like) with a very minimal ability for a note ("Kid will not eat" "OK if nothing better on shelf").
Solution must be available offline, as I often have poor cell reception. I'm iOS, FWIW.
I don't want this to become a big project. But geez, I do not like these tortilla chips.
Thanks!
Missed this before, but notes can be available offline if you don't archive them.
posted by phunniemee at 9:55 AM on July 17, 2020
posted by phunniemee at 9:55 AM on July 17, 2020
I don't do this - but if I were going to, it would be with Lumen Trails Daily Tracker, which basically contains my whole life nowadays. It lets you create notes, checklists, number trackers etc. and organise them in directories, nested as deep as you want. No internet access required.
One word of warning - I'm grandfathered in, having paid a one-off fee for the premium version back in the day, but it's possible it's now gone to the subscription model. (I get why people do that, I just wish they'd make it clear upfront.)
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 9:57 AM on July 17, 2020
One word of warning - I'm grandfathered in, having paid a one-off fee for the premium version back in the day, but it's possible it's now gone to the subscription model. (I get why people do that, I just wish they'd make it clear upfront.)
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 9:57 AM on July 17, 2020
We have a google doc for family grocery lists that everyone can access, divided into sections like “Costco” “Trader Joe’s” “Regular Grocery Store”
If I did this (and I maybe should, because I am much more brand-sensitive about certain things than my husband is and that’s why HE had to eat all the Old El Paso refried beans he bought by himself), I’d add a section of preferred brands or never-buys to that doc.
posted by padraigin at 10:17 AM on July 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
If I did this (and I maybe should, because I am much more brand-sensitive about certain things than my husband is and that’s why HE had to eat all the Old El Paso refried beans he bought by himself), I’d add a section of preferred brands or never-buys to that doc.
posted by padraigin at 10:17 AM on July 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
If you're not talking about a huge number of items, could you go really low-tech and just keep an alphabetized list by brand? You wouldn't even need to divide it into categories. If you are wondering about those Green Mountain brand tortilla chips on the store shelf, you'd scroll down to the G section and see whether there's an entry with a + or – next to it.
posted by wisekaren at 10:29 AM on July 17, 2020
posted by wisekaren at 10:29 AM on July 17, 2020
I try to go simple for this sort of thing too; I certainly wouldn't pay for a new thing specifically for this. I used to use OneNote for my preferred-brands list and it was indeed too disordered-- too hard to remember that it was even there, let alone where. (I've since memorized the key names and become less picky about the rest!)
"Snacks--Tortilla Chips--Brands We Don't Like" is probably too much organization. I've tried Google Sheets on my phone for exactly that sort of thing; never again.
Are there going to be so many brands that make this list that they need to be subdivided by "food genre"? I think I'd just go alphabetical by brand name--or product type if it was an "only this one" variety. E.g.:
DON'T BUY
Gain laundry detergent
hot dogs that aren't Ball Park
Mug Root Beer
tortilla chips that aren't Mi Nina
Seems to me the goal is quick access and being able to scroll and spot a name quickly--and also to make adding a name non-labor-intensive, so you're not compelled to put it off and subsequently forget.
Simple is also better because that way a family member other than yourself will be able to readily find and parse it when they, not you, are making purchasing decisions!
My closest current analog is a list of hotel chains that I refuse to patronize, along with the reasons why. (It's just a Google Doc, one chain per line.) You mentioned Word, so I assume you have Office 365 or something akin to it on your phone? Should be simple enough, and plus you get cloud backup, which I wouldn't want to do without.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 11:07 AM on July 17, 2020
"Snacks--Tortilla Chips--Brands We Don't Like" is probably too much organization. I've tried Google Sheets on my phone for exactly that sort of thing; never again.
Are there going to be so many brands that make this list that they need to be subdivided by "food genre"? I think I'd just go alphabetical by brand name--or product type if it was an "only this one" variety. E.g.:
DON'T BUY
Gain laundry detergent
hot dogs that aren't Ball Park
Mug Root Beer
tortilla chips that aren't Mi Nina
Seems to me the goal is quick access and being able to scroll and spot a name quickly--and also to make adding a name non-labor-intensive, so you're not compelled to put it off and subsequently forget.
Simple is also better because that way a family member other than yourself will be able to readily find and parse it when they, not you, are making purchasing decisions!
My closest current analog is a list of hotel chains that I refuse to patronize, along with the reasons why. (It's just a Google Doc, one chain per line.) You mentioned Word, so I assume you have Office 365 or something akin to it on your phone? Should be simple enough, and plus you get cloud backup, which I wouldn't want to do without.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 11:07 AM on July 17, 2020
Google sheets seems too complicated and cumbersome on the phone; OneNote or Word seem too disordered
Seconding Google Keep, though I would just keep one list and alphabetize it by brand name instead of one note for each item.
posted by soelo at 11:09 AM on July 17, 2020
Seconding Google Keep, though I would just keep one list and alphabetize it by brand name instead of one note for each item.
posted by soelo at 11:09 AM on July 17, 2020
I take photos of packages and have separate folders on my phone for things to buy/not buy. I find that a quick flip through pictures is a decently easy way to search but that will depend on how many pictures you have.
posted by corey flood at 11:43 AM on July 17, 2020
posted by corey flood at 11:43 AM on July 17, 2020
Siri can add items to a reminder list: "Hey Siri, add tortillas to my grocery list" If you have an apple watch, you can do this from your watch, which I find very handy in two ways: While cooking, I rarely have my phone, but I always have my watch on me. Then for COVID-era shopping trips, it's super handy to have a checklist on the watch itself.
Your needs ares different, but you could easily set up a second list of foods you don't like: "Hey Siri, add brand X chips to my BadFood list".
Then later, while shopping if you can't remember an item, just click over to your BadFood list and see if it's there.
I'm not sure if you can ask siri to check items on a list - I just tried "Siri, are Apples on my grocery list" and it got added instead.
You can share remidner lists with others.
posted by soylent00FF00 at 1:07 PM on July 17, 2020
Your needs ares different, but you could easily set up a second list of foods you don't like: "Hey Siri, add brand X chips to my BadFood list".
Then later, while shopping if you can't remember an item, just click over to your BadFood list and see if it's there.
I'm not sure if you can ask siri to check items on a list - I just tried "Siri, are Apples on my grocery list" and it got added instead.
You can share remidner lists with others.
posted by soylent00FF00 at 1:07 PM on July 17, 2020
I use Cinnamon as a grocery shopping app. It has a Notes section you can attach to inventory items where you could conceivably list out Banned Brands. Unfortunately, Android only and I guess the author isn't particularly happy with it, and judging from reviews last week, sync died (never used that myself).
So that sucks, but maybe we can theory craft a bit. It's basically a Kanban where food moves in a cycle, from Pantry to Shopping List to Cart to Pantry, with a lot of metadata. So I think you can replicate this with Trello plus the custom fields plugin, if you don't mind the UI being quite as good. Here's a demo board I put together. It would probably benefit from a calendar based Butler to move cards from cart to pantry, but that's a paid feature, so I made a button instead. I think what helps here is that the data ends up being structured in a way that works for you -- you don't have to go full text searching your entire database of notes, the data is right there on your list.
If you want other data, like prices or base quantity, that's a thing you can add.
posted by pwnguin at 5:19 PM on July 17, 2020
So that sucks, but maybe we can theory craft a bit. It's basically a Kanban where food moves in a cycle, from Pantry to Shopping List to Cart to Pantry, with a lot of metadata. So I think you can replicate this with Trello plus the custom fields plugin, if you don't mind the UI being quite as good. Here's a demo board I put together. It would probably benefit from a calendar based Butler to move cards from cart to pantry, but that's a paid feature, so I made a button instead. I think what helps here is that the data ends up being structured in a way that works for you -- you don't have to go full text searching your entire database of notes, the data is right there on your list.
If you want other data, like prices or base quantity, that's a thing you can add.
posted by pwnguin at 5:19 PM on July 17, 2020
I use ColorNote on my phone. It has 'text' notes which I think would be good for what you want; I find it easy to use, and it ties in with the Android keyboard app so you can press the microphone icon and do speech-to-text with it. You can choose different colors for different notes.
Other functions you didn't necessarily ask for.
It also does checklists which I use for groceries (and I love that you just touch an item and it crosses it off (strikethrough font) and when the list is done it crosses out the name of the list in your list of lists). It has a calendar if you want to put a text note or checklist on a particular day. You can use different "themes" (regular, soft, dark ). You can sort in several ways.
posted by TimHare at 6:18 PM on July 17, 2020
Other functions you didn't necessarily ask for.
It also does checklists which I use for groceries (and I love that you just touch an item and it crosses it off (strikethrough font) and when the list is done it crosses out the name of the list in your list of lists). It has a calendar if you want to put a text note or checklist on a particular day. You can use different "themes" (regular, soft, dark ). You can sort in several ways.
posted by TimHare at 6:18 PM on July 17, 2020
I use list Ease. You enter all the stuff you usually buy, add a brand, note a brand you hate. Click into the list as you think of what you need and the item(s) drop into a shopping list at the bottom. As you go thru the store and put the item in your cart you uncheck the item, which makes it easy to see what is left to buy.
They have just added something for tracking receipts. I don't need that.
It's free, no ads that I have noticed (but my eye just glides over those things anyway). Available offline.
No emails, but the very occasional popup asking me to rate the app, or upgrade -- I click no.
Been using this for years on my old but upgraded iPhone. Works fine, simple, maybe meets your needs too.
posted by alwayson_slightlyoff at 12:30 AM on July 18, 2020
They have just added something for tracking receipts. I don't need that.
It's free, no ads that I have noticed (but my eye just glides over those things anyway). Available offline.
No emails, but the very occasional popup asking me to rate the app, or upgrade -- I click no.
Been using this for years on my old but upgraded iPhone. Works fine, simple, maybe meets your needs too.
posted by alwayson_slightlyoff at 12:30 AM on July 18, 2020
« Older Budding Kid Gamer: the best laptop for work and... | What are your favorite snacks available to order... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
You could dedicate one note color solely for grocery stuff. Let's say orange. Take a photo of the product, put write "tortilla chips - kid will not eat" in the note text, set the note color to orange.
When you're shopping, pull up all the orange notes. You can scroll through all the pictures as you're shopping, or just search "tortilla" in the subset of orange notes--see all the tortilla chips you've ever cataloged.
posted by phunniemee at 9:53 AM on July 17, 2020 [2 favorites]