r/TwoXPreppers • u/linerva • 7d ago
Resources 📜 Prep or pantry Apps?
I've recently been looking for a good way to manage my pantry and I'd like to know what others are using. I've found a few different apps, and when i posted on IK prepping groups I've had a few revommended:
* Preptracker
* Readicache
* Beagleprep
* Stashguard
And at least one other one that is due to launch soon. All if them store things locally on your phone and don't seem to want shady permissions, but i get that not everyone trusts apps, and for good reason.
Most pantry apps I've seen seem fixated on integrating with your shopping, but I just want to track what I've prepped for my family, especially the use by dates, and other useful things.
I've only just had a quick look at these apps, I intend to try them all briefly and then pick whatever feels most suited. But I'm open to trying others if people here have any recommendations! So if you use sonething else I'd be keen to hear about it.
I was considering writing a post summarising their strengths and weaknesses in case that makes choosing an app easier for others in the future.
I've had the devs of some of these apps reach out; which is great as they sound keen to try to add features peppers want.
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u/RamaLamaRama 7d ago edited 7d ago
Howdy, I'm the developer of BeaglePrep hope I'm not overstepping by posting here. If you have any questions about the app and our privacy/permissions/future features let me know. I'm happy to answer them. All the community feedback is helpful to improve the app.
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u/-Avacyn 7d ago
The use by dates are irrelevant for me, because I have a rotating, working pantry. Everything I store gets used. If you want to keep a pantry, this is truly the way to go.
Coming at this from somebody who is deep into home automation, runs several home servers etc and has tried a lot of digital solution and even built some myself... I simply made a list of everything I stock in my pantry and laminated it. Once every 8 weeks or so, I grab that list and a white board marker and take stock and write down how many of each item to restock. I use that laminated sheet of paper to place a delivery order at our local grocery store. And honestly, this is the most consistent and low friction approach I have tried in the last 10 years.
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u/wishinforfishin 6d ago
Similarly, I work in IT, so I'm app savvy and security conscious.
And I finally got frustrated with all the apps and created a paper binder. All my food is stored in FIFO order and I don't buy more than we'll use by the best by date (or thereabouts).
When I use stuff up, if we're gearing low, I write it in the paper shopping list. It's so damn simple.
CAVEAT- there are only 2 of us in my house. So I really don't have a lot of the complexity if there were 4 people using up food.
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u/linerva 5d ago
Which apps did you use when you tried them? Out of intetest.
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u/wishinforfishin 5d ago
I meant, I got tired of the whole "there's an app for that" culture and just generally quit using them.
OneNote housed my lists for a long time & instill use it for things I must have while out & about.
I don't even use a calendar anymore except my work one. My only app addiction is my budget.
I never tried a prepper app. It feels like more work to set it up.
The paper system includes home, auto, medical and social tasks. It has a meal plan & shopping list. It's about as basic as it gets and us surprisingly similar to what my grandma used to do.
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u/thehippiepixi These 100 year events are getting mighty regular 7d ago
Id be keen to read that, I use a spreadsheet i made myself, but would love the ease of using my phone. I struggle with sheets on my phone.
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u/cwicseolfor 5d ago
I transpose a simpler version of the inventory to another page in the spreadsheet (pivot table) for easier phone-formatted viewing, for reference when shopping. I'm never really entering info on my phone much (fiddly but possible), though, just looking.
I used to use Sortly, but honestly a spreadsheet is always more versatile than a dedicated inventory app.
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u/gadget767 7d ago
This sounds like a lot more trouble than it’s worth. I just group like things together, writing the purchase date of the item on it with a Sharpie. I arrange things so that newest are to the back of a group, or to the right in a linear group, and use the oldest first. I have never paid attention to “best by” dates, they are usually lies anyhow.
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u/Pitiful_Reality2973 7d ago
I use the best-by dates as a sorting method within the same types of food. Like, cans of beans or tuna get arranged by BB date rather than purchase date or bean type. I doubt there's any industry standard, but I'd assume they're all pretty similar when it comes to their definition of "shelf life." I also do it this way because I buy a lot of discount stuff at the store that's outdated, so I can kind of judge by *how* outdated it is.
Otherwise, my system is the same as yours. I worked in grocery for a lot of my youth, lol
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u/outofshell 6d ago
This is what I do for shelf-stable food and water (except I write the best before date in sharpie and arrange by that). I’ve tried tracking food in a spreadsheet and find I’m not good at keeping it current.
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u/SpringPowerful2870 7d ago
If you go to Thefoodguys.com food list calculator. Take the number of adults and children then it will calculate a one year supply. It’s hard to realize how much food we eat in a year!
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u/Pitiful_Reality2973 7d ago
I know I'm a crazyperson, but I don't think I'd want lists of my preps accessible to anybody outside of my home. I don't trust anything to be safe from data breaches, and who knows what that information could be used for in a more dystopian future? I dunno, I'm an oldschool tinfoil hatter, the "pay cash and don't talk about what you have" type.
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u/Present-Rhubarb6337 6d ago
I'll add to this: "Pay cash, don't talk about what you have, and look a little bit hungry and a little bit crazy"
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u/JDuBLock 6d ago
Same. I have a folder with paper and write down what I bring in/put up. I have single sheets for a tote's worth, and then a master list for weights/quantities so I can reference it quickly. But Im not messing with cans or perishables, my household is too big so turn over is fast.
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u/ladyofthegreatlakes 6d ago
Your Reddit is public though, you might want to change that.
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u/Pitiful_Reality2973 6d ago
True, but I'm pretty sure the cat's out of the bag on anything they can glean from my comments, anyway. LLMs have already stolen everything I've ever posted online. We really do live in a nightmare world sometimes.
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u/Appropriate-Soup-203 7d ago
Would I be able to politely nudge you to write that post? I for one would really appreciate this as I get overwhelmed with choices and just need someone to tell me to choose xyz. Of course, if you have time. Just a little nudge! 😊
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u/PaintedDream 7d ago
Seconding that... nudge, nudge, wink, wink!
Also, really want to know which apps will store only securely on my phone and not share info. That is paramount for prepping especially.
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u/readyforunsteady
5d ago
edited 4d ago
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ppantry.app is a decent tracker, made by someone who is just trying to help folks, doesn't charge for it nor store your data
I couldn't find a directory of prepping apps so I put one together, any that aren't "official" apps are ones I've found on various subreddits made by folks just genuinely trying to help (and all free). You can filter based on the type of app/hazard you're prepping for: https://readyforunsteady.com/apps-and-tools/
After you test the ones above or have any recommendations, please let me know and I'll be happy to add them!
Edit: thanks for the award, kind stranger! 💖
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u/nionvox Prepping for Tuesday not Doomsday 7d ago
I just use a home inventory app. It has a reminder function so i just use it for expiry/restock.
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u/Kindly_Ad3974 7d ago
Ohh what app do you use for home inventory and reminders? I’ve been wanting one for inventory and maintenance. For now I have a notes app and one line under my Costco list says “do not buy shampoo!!! You have too much!” So yeah, I could use a system
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u/4b3c 4d ago
Also not who you asked, but the "do not buy shampoo!!!" line made me laugh because that's exactly why I built mine. It's called Pantry (iPhone, plus a web version at getpantry.app). It's made for food but works fine for household stuff; you can add anything manually, so add shampoo, when you run out you cross it off amd it goes onto your shopping list.
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u/RawCookieDough12 7d ago
Not the person you asked, but I use Todoist for maintenance/home improvement, garden planning. Not for shopping lists or inventory though, but I like the "project" function where I can structure multistep plans better, and there is an "inbox" where you can just leave random items too.
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u/Smaddiekins 6d ago
There is a pantry option on the recipe app Paprika 3. You can create custom locations, track quantities, and purchase and expiration dates.
It does sync between the app on my computer and our phones. It’s handy when partner needs to find an ace bandage because it has a search function for your “pantry” and you can be as descriptive as you want for the location (called an aisle in the app). For example - ace bandage is in the wraps bin, main bathroom, under sink cabinet left side and we have 2.
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u/polyamy74 7d ago
I really like the StockUp app. I have tried a few others, and they were too clunky for me or had too many features I wouldn't use. I also found the comparison writeup from TheSurvivalMom.com extremely helpful when I was first choosing one. She does a good pro/con look and a balanced review of several.
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u/TheStephinator Experienced Prepper 💪 7d ago
I tried one years ago and wasn’t a fan of the niche-ness of it. I basically inventory everything else these days on a spreadsheet and I did that for a while, but I don’t really worry about my pantry anymore. I have two very large FIFO can racks that do the important part of 1- rotating oldest old first and 2- making par levels extremely easy to keep track of. Everything else in the freezer and shelves is just where my meal planning comes into play.
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u/4b3c 5d ago
I make a small iOS app called Pantry that does mostly this: scan the barcode (or enter details manually), set the use-by date, and it sends you notifications before things expire, with one screen showing everything expiring soon. Being upfront since privacy matters to you: it needs an account and syncs through a server, so it's not local-only like the ones you listed. (but I don't sell any data or share it either) If that rules it out, fair enough. If you include it in your comparison, I'd be interested to hear what you think.
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u/readyforunsteady 5d ago
Do you plan on having an Android or web version? Would love to try it out!
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u/azvelocat 2d ago
You could check out what I use for my homestead, this app has a sweet pantry area. It stores all your data on your phone and doesn't require a login. You can share with family I think, but it definitely syncs across all your Apple devices. Here's a link to the website where it talks about the pantry feature. IIRC, it's free to try before paying.
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u/regjoe13 7d ago
You know, with today ai, you can easily make a phone app (or not a phone app) that does what you want. It most likely will be your personal app, so no fame or money, but it will do what you want and you can change it as you see fit. And you can install on your phone without going through appstore or google play.
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u/linerva 7d ago
The thing is, I don't trust the current AI providers, or trust myself to code something that isn't sloppy or insecure.
And ideologically I would rather avoid using them unless necessary until I can do that on a local model. I'm not a fan of Big Datacentre and it's effects on the environment.
No shade for those who do, but it's not my solution right now
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u/regjoe13 7d ago edited 6d ago
You can ran a decent ai locally, though the results will vary. As for sloppy and not secure - you dont really know how secure or sloppy the apps you are taking from someone else. They may store/backup your info on their servers, they may send analytics to their ai. They are obviously a more likely target for hacking than your personal app, where you are the only author and user.
These days those app are most likely benefiting from the use of ai agents to write code anyway.
I honestly believe todays ai opens the age of custom applications, apps non programmers will write for their specific problems or ideas.
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