How to share a shopping list with your household
A ShopLister guide.
Two people, one fridge, and somehow three bottles of ketchup. Or none at all. When more than one person does the shopping, the list has to be shared, and the way it is shared makes a real difference.
The usual options
- A paper list on the fridge. Everyone can add to it, but it is only useful to whoever remembers to take it, and nobody else knows what has been bought.
- A family group chat. Quick to type into, but the list ends up scattered between photos and plans, and there is no way to tick anything off.
- A shared note. Free and simple, but two people editing at once can overwrite each other, and a note is not built for ticking things off in a shop.
- A shared list app. Built for exactly this: everyone sees the same list, and a tick on one phone shows up on the others.
What makes a shared list work
- One list everyone adds to, rather than several half-lists.
- Ticks that show up for everyone, so the person at home can see the milk is already in the trolley.
- It keeps working with no signal, because supermarkets are often where phones lose it, and changes catch up afterwards.
- Your other lists stay private. Sharing the weekly shop should not mean sharing everything.
Habits that help
- Agree on one list per shop, so everyone knows where to add things.
- Add an item as soon as it runs out, by whoever notices.
- Tick items off in the shop, not afterwards, so the others can see progress live.
- If you are about to go shopping, say so: it saves two people buying the same things.
Sharing with ShopLister
With ShopLister Plus you can share a list with the people you shop with. The people you share it with join free: only the person who shares the list needs ShopLister Plus. Anything either of you adds or ticks off shows up on the other's phone, and your other lists, your history and what ShopLister has learned stay private to you.
See how ShopLister works · Coming soon to the App Store, iPhone first, with Android to follow.