I created four standing lists and add items whenever I think of them.
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Shopping List is for groceries. You can have your phone open while shopping and cross items off as you put them in your cart. The shopping list also organizes itself automatically by category—produce, baking, etc. You can create your own categories or change the category assigned to an item.
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Packing List is a standard list of items I might need to pack for a trip. This works well on both ends of a trip—it reminds me about my passport and dental floss on the way out, and equally important, it saves me from leaving my phone charger plugged in at the hotel when packing for the return trip.
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Errands List helps me organize a busy “car Saturday” so I don’t forget one of my errands. I also put non–time sensitive errands on it so that if I’m in a particular neighborhood, I don’t forget an errand I should run while I’m there.
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Menu is a list of meals I’ve shopped for. I use this to remind me what I’d planned to cook with all the weird stuff in the fridge.
OurGroceries recently added a “Recipes” category. This is handy to segregate a bunch of fancy ingredients for a recipe. Then when you’re shopping and the store is out of the one key ingredient you need, it’s easy to change course and put all the other ingredients back on the shelves.