Is there an app for keeping track of what's in fridge?

[Squishedpickle]

Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone knows any apps which enable you to keep track of the food that's in your cupboards and fridge? I'm always loosing track and it would be great for when I go shopping!

Thank you

When I write a list I write things I don’t need in brackets.

Thanks for that, 2bazookas. My psychiatrist would disagree with you on that. According to her, I managed to compensate for my ADHD for years due to my high intellect, and using adaptations such as notebooks and apps helps me to remember things rather than hindering me.

And I love the idea of a fridge app, but would also forget to scan things in and out, so it wouldn't really work. A very visual organisation system would probably work best, but my fridge isn't really big enough for everything to have a dedicated space.

I use a blackboard near the fridge. Then have a click and collect order each week and order from the previous week.

Wow I have a paper version of this and I am changing to an app

I am also considering the plastic boxes with the meal in - that would be amazing....I can see it working in our house as I plan then get out all the veg for the meal DH preps and cooks; but if I don't get the food out we can end up with unplanned meals. Meal planning saves so much money for us that these boxes (half cauli with roast on Sunday half with cheese on Thursday as I unpack the shopping will save so much time)

An app?

I thought all that was needed was to open the fridge and see for yourself...

Do you have Alexa OP? I wonder if you could add stuff to a list or lists, one for fridge, freezer, cupboard etc then you could view it in your phone in ‘oldest to newest’ order maybe?
I’m not great at this myself and end up wasting food as I struggle to cook a lot of the time, and I love Alexa just for keeping shopping lists.
I’m thinking of getting a whiteboard next to the fridge/freezer but would love an app too!

I tend to assume people who come onto threads like this just to make snarky comments are insecure about how much time they waste on MN, and feel better about themselves if they can look down their nose at someone else's use of tech.

I don't really get on with apps myself, but I have a magnetic whiteboard stuck to the fridge which I write things down on along with their use by dates. It makes it really easy to see what's going to go off soon, and because it's right there whenever I go to the fridge I don't forget to log stuff the way I would with an app. Whenever I finish something I just wipe it off, and I can edit the use hy date if necessary (e.g. if something says to consume within x days after opening). It's really helpful because I often can't remember on what day I made/used something, so if I don't write it down I can't tell whether it's still in date.

I would love something like this. Good thread, OP!

Lots of the online grocery shops you can create a basket without checking out or booking a slot. I think some of them allow you to make lists.
I was going to put whiteboards on the inside of my cupboards so I could write what was in there but never got round to it.
I do have a general whiteboard to put things we've run out on. Also the post it notes app on phones is handy for making checklists.
I have about 5 jars of curry powder because I kept remembering to buy one every time I went to the supermarket, but forgot I had already bought one.
I think the dreaded amazon groceries have an app linked to alexa too.
You can also get smart fridges which tell you when you're running out of things. They might scan barcodes as you put them in the fridge.

I use Alexa, the minute Ive finished something/nearly finished I add to shopping list, along with the staples and its great for when you are trying out a new recipe, you can just add the ingredients.

I have the app on my phone so can always see the list and any member of the family can add to the list.

🤨 FFS, are you serious? Do you need an app to brush your teeth or use the loo?!

I really want to be able to scan everything I put in my pantry and have it automatically grab the expiration date. Same for everything in the refrigerator. Then the family scans things as they are used up. Probably should be a device in the kitchen to make this easy. Then I want the app to remind me of things that I getting close to expiration so I can use that Can of coconut milk I bought on impulse instead of finding it in the back of a cabinet 5 years later. I’ve tried doing this manually and it’s just impossible to keep up. Ideally it would be completely automated with rfid tags, but scanning bar codes if they could embed the expiration info and having to manually enter the produce would work.

This system could help reduce food waste. Imagine an app that points out you have the following ingredients approaching the end of shelf life and possibly even suggests a way to utilize them together to make an appetizing dinner.

Sure, this is something we all could be doing g ourselves, but we aren’t. Most of us are busy, balancing work and family demands and barely managing the shopping and meal prep as it is.

@Almostmenopausal
I think you can drop the “Almost.”

I think you're coming at this from the wrong angle - why do you buy things which you don't have a need for? What I mean is, why not just plan what you need to buy ie what you're actually going to cook and eat? That way you don't end up with multiple tins of chickpeas - you only buy chickpeas when you're going to make something which uses chickpeas.
Standard things you buy regularly you have a running shopping list for, so as soon as you take the last one out (milk, bread, butter or whatever) it goes onto the list so you know you need to buy it.

@LeaveYourHatOn I suspect (me included) that the people that struggle to remember what’s in their cupboard etc may also struggle with meal planning.

But the system that's being suggested sounds way more complicated than deciding what you're going to eat for the next few days, surely?

@Almostmenopausal

🤨 FFS, are you serious? Do you need an app to brush your teeth or use the loo?!

Yes actually I think some people do need reminders to do those things and their lives are significantly improved by having access to such technology.

Aren't we lucky to have this available?

I looked into this as we have a big fridge and it’s easy for stuff to get lost at the back. To cut down food waster we have a sheet of paper and a pen to hand as we unpack our weekly online shop where we make a note of eat by dates. Only perishable items go on the list under “dinner”, “lunch stuff” and any short dated fruit or veg. Listing it allows you to meal plan in eat by date order, something you can’t control with deliveries. If we find eat by dates are bunching at the start of the week we freeze some of it and defrost items later in the week. The list is on the fridge door and we cross items off as we go. It has cut down our food waste loads. It may not be not high tech, but it works for us.

Not convinced an app wouldn’t take longer and be more hassle than looking through fridge/cupboards.

I have a shopping list on the wall, anything we run out of or fancy goes on the list. I always check the fridge and cupboards before ordering.

There’s no substitute for regularly checking stores.

@Almostmenopausal

🤨 FFS, are you serious? Do you need an app to brush your teeth or use the loo?!

Yes, actually, I do. Or for someone to remind me. Or to have a routine where it just follows on automatically after doing something else. Without those things, I'll often forget to eat or drink or go to the loo or go to bed until long after I should have done.

Ooo and could your online shop could automatically be uploaded and you just say where you want to store it (fridge/freezer/cupboard)

Then, you just have to add the bits from odd shops/farmers markets etc manually

@1forAll74

Good heavens, just open the door, and memorise things. How do some people live without APPS..? It's good to have a nice notebook, and a nice pen, to write lists of things,!

This.

In all seriousness, when you outsource your memories to an external source, you actually hardwire your brain to think that that is the source of information. For example, in married couples, brain scans show that if you, say, ask a husband "what is Aunt Muriel's birthday", the bit of the brain that means "wife" lights up instead of the bit that remembers birthdays. (N.B. I might have simplified this a bit...)

But yeah, just remember. My method for writing a shopping list is to have the FULL list of everything we ever buy. I expect my brain to remember if I've used the last of something as I read it to add to the online order.

God people can be dicks. An app like this would be amazing for me too OP as not only do I have ADHD but also a brain tumour which both massively affect my memory and planning, and shockingly enough, my eyes don’t have stalks long enough to double check what’s in my cupboards/fridge freezer when I’m actually in the supermarket

A few app suggestions so far so will have a look! Great thread idea OP, don’t be put off by the perfect people who clearly have no difficulty doing anything ever.

This thread makes me worry more than ever about all of our neurodiverse children. People clearly have no idea that they grow up. Into neurodiverse adults. Who deserve to have a tidy fucking fridge!

@parrotonmyshoulder

This thread makes me worry more than ever about all of our neurodiverse children. People clearly have no idea that they grow up. Into neurodiverse adults. Who deserve to have a tidy fucking fridge!

Yes, as a neurodiverse single parent to a neurodiverse child, anything that helps with day to day life is a bonus!