Do you use an electronic shopping list at the store?

[radionut]

This isn't a newbie question but I thought this might be the best place for it. I used to have a Palm Pilot and I downloaded a program called Splash Shopper which managed my shopping lists, and I absolutely loved. Well the Palm recently died so I upgraded to a smartphone that also had this program. Splash Shopper has been upgraded since I originally got it and in my opinion, it was far inferior now. Plus I'm having sync issues and feel it is unreliable.

I am interested in what other people use. I know a lot just use a spreadsheet printed from the computer, but I have become accustomed to having all data with me at the store and am hoping to maintain that somehow. Please tell me there is a good alternative!

Thanks!

[Cin42382]

I personally make my own lists either by hand or in excel

[daisydog215]

I make my main list using the online version of my store's weekly ad. It also tracks my purchases so that if I need staples like milk, eggs, etc that aren't on sale, I can look at my past purchases and add them to the list. When I print it out, it lists everything by aisle, which is a tremendous time saver once I'm in the store.

[jenjenstepmom]

I personally make my own lists either by hand or in excel

Me too...but I would love to have an electronic list. That sounds way cool!

Jenny

[sillylilly]

Does anyone have any luck with their electronic shopping lists?
I would have to say I have a pda, and thinking about an ITOUCH however, I cant make up my mind if it would be beneficial time wise..Im a mom and a teacher and a masters student...what are your thoughts are there programs out there that just plug into word to my pda or what?

Alisha Richey
twitter: stolencharisma
facebook:alisha richey
yahoo:alisha_richey@yahoo.com

[couponwitch]

I use a palm pilot... the shopping program I use is Splash Shopper... I love it. I also use an excel spreadsheet program on my palm that is in the Docs to go program to carry a list of the ecoupons I have on my Smith's card. I am a bit of a geekette.... I have a program on my laptop called Living cookbook. IN that program I develop my recipes and Monthly menus, it then builds my shopping list. That shopping list is based on the menu and my inventory needs, I then download to my palm. I keep a inventory of my pantry, a list of my current coupons and multi store price list in the Living Cookbook I update with sale prices. My DH (King Geek) wrote a program to sync the Cookbook with my Splash Shopper program.... So when I leave the house I have a shopping list that tells me approx what I will spend, if I have a coupon for the item and how many/much of the item I need. I love shopping with my Palm.

[dieselqueen]

:encourage17:I am very jealous....That sounds like a really cool program. I personally write my own.

I use a palm pilot... the shopping program I use is Splash Shopper... I love it. I also use an excel spreadsheet program on my palm that is in the Docs to go program to carry a list of the ecoupons I have on my Smith's card. I am a bit of a geekette.... I have a program on my laptop called Living cookbook. IN that program I develop my recipes and Monthly menus, it then builds my shopping list. That shopping list is based on the menu and my inventory needs, I then download to my palm. I keep a inventory of my pantry, a list of my current coupons and multi store price list in the Living Cookbook I update with sale prices. My DH (King Geek) wrote a program to sync the Cookbook with my Splash Shopper program.... So when I leave the house I have a shopping list that tells me approx what I will spend, if I have a coupon for the item and how many/much of the item I need. I love shopping with my Palm.

[jaelyns_mommy]

I use a palm pilot... the shopping program I use is Splash Shopper... I love it. I also use an excel spreadsheet program on my palm that is in the Docs to go program to carry a list of the ecoupons I have on my Smith's card. I am a bit of a geekette.... I have a program on my laptop called Living cookbook. IN that program I develop my recipes and Monthly menus, it then builds my shopping list. That shopping list is based on the menu and my inventory needs, I then download to my palm. I keep a inventory of my pantry, a list of my current coupons and multi store price list in the Living Cookbook I update with sale prices. My DH (King Geek) wrote a program to sync the Cookbook with my Splash Shopper program.... So when I leave the house I have a shopping list that tells me approx what I will spend, if I have a coupon for the item and how many/much of the item I need. I love shopping with my Palm.

I have to admit that Living cookbook seems soooo cool. I want one :smile: The palm pilot stuff is awesome, I might have to buy one oh wait I have no money, oh well christmas is only 9 months away...lol

[couponwitch]

Living Cookbook is put out by Radium Technology. There are two versions... one is a straight cookbook/menu version. The Newer version has a diet tracking program in it. It allows you to set up your menus and it will track the daily calories in your menus and then allows you to post whatever else you have eaten to give you a complete caloric intake for the day. You can also post your exercise for the day and it will do calorie expended for the day. It tracks your weight loss, goals and inches loss per body part ie: thighs, waist, and yes boobs. Excellent, Excellent program.......

[spitfire1]

I'm a Palm Techie & have not used Spash Shopper, but so glad you mentioned it. I'm always on the lookout to find another way to use my Palm. It is difficult to find good reviews of software for Palm. I use Docs To Go, but have not used the Excel component. I had a Palm TX, which has a large screen, which permitted a good "view" of any doc. I,too, upgraded to a Treo & since screen is smaller, I have not been using my Docs to Go as much.

I'm going to look into Splash Shopper....Thanx again!

[lbc]

I have an iphone and have started using an app on the phone. Its called Grocery G. There were alot of apps that do different things about 10 that involve shopping.

This one lets me make a list for each store. When I enter the item I put in the category and the price. In the comments section I can note how much the coupon is what paper its from if it is a mega deal if it has a catalina or anything special I want to know about it. It also lets me take a picture of the item or coupon. I usually take a picture of the coupon so I dont have to dig thru my cpn book while I am in the store to make sure it doesnt say trial size or something.

When I have entered in all of my items from the sales list, stuff I need to pick up, and any coupons I want to use because they are expiring or are a good deal it sorts them by category such as produce, meat, soups, cereal, etc. At the bottom of the list tells me how much my total will be with tax. This is great for budgeting.

As I am going through the store everything on the list that has a coupon has a little yellow tag by it. So as I go through the store I check off what I put in the cart or if I change my mind I can remove it from the list. As I get to an item with a coupon I can click on it in the list and it shows me the details I entered earlier plus a pic of my coupon.

When I get to the end of the list and I have everything in my cart it tells me how much with tax I have in my cart. By looking through the list at the little yellow tags it tells me which coupons to pull out of my book. I usually stop in the back of the store and pull mycpns or if I am having a good day i pull the ones i need before i get there and just check them over after I fill my cart. That way I can take out the ones i couldnt use. So when I get to the register I know exactly what my total will be and exactly which coupons to give the cashier.

You always have to start shopping on the same side of the store. I usually start in produce and try to end in frozen food. That way the list will be in order. When I entered the categories I entered them like this A produce B bread C coffee that way when it sorted the list the aisles would be lined up exactly to that store.

You can also email the list from your phone to other people. And if you and your spouse have the program on your phone you can share it between them. It does other things too but this is just what I have been using it for.

I have also made my other shopping lists on here too not just groceries but I am currently running the christmas list. Its also a great way to keep up with the walgreens forum that has the ad in weeks in advance. I can set up the list when it hits hcw and keep it on my phone for when that week comes. It also helps when I need to order coupons for the sales I can just go through and look at the yellow tags.

Another thing this has helped me with tremendously is not buying stuff I dont need. I go in the store and the list being aisle by aisle keeps me focused on exactly what I need. There is no oh i forgot this lets run back to the other side of the store. Or browsing down the aisle looking at every product by having a specific list I check off as I go it has helped me alot. Or the kids are squabling with each other and I cant remember what I am there for LOL.

You have to take the time to enter the items and get the layout of the store but once you have done that the item automatically pulls up the next time you need it.

There are other programs that compare the price you last paid for an item to the new price. There are ones that track your purchases. There are ones that scan the bar code and tell you what other stores have it at other prices. They have alot of apps for this stuff. I really wanted one that gave me a running total and I could easily track my coupons when I get to the register. Sometimes that it is the hardest part when you get to the register and your kids are rowdy and the cashier is mean and you dont have time to figure out what went wrong and then go back for the money.
Like the mega event I know exactly how many i have in the cart and how much it is going to be.

I love this app and hope anyone with an iphone or itouch finds this useful. These apps at the most cost 4.99 some are 1.99 and they have some of them that are free. They dont give you the whole program for the ones that are free but enough to test it out.

Happy Shopping!:smile:

[AmyinDM]

Ungh I love gadgets and apps and all that. Thanks for that idea lbc. I did see an iphone app for a pricebook that looked super cool.

I have an LG Versa that functions much like an iphone. I haven't dug around for grocery apps. Right now I'm pretty low tech. I make a spreadsheet at home and then print it out. It would be nice to save some ink and paper though.

I already use my phone at the store for the calculator feature. An app makes complete sense to me!