Most people come to I Forgot the List because they are tired of forgetting things at the grocery store. That is fair. It says so on the label. But once they start using it, they tend to realize it works really well for a bunch of other things too.

Here are ten ways people actually use it. Some will probably feel familiar.

1. Weekly grocery shopping (obviously)

The main one. You keep a running list throughout the week, add things as you notice them, share it with your household, and by the time you are ready to shop it is already built. The automated coupon matching means you are also likely saving money on the things you were already going to buy, without having to think about it.

This is the core use case, and it works well because the list is always with you (phone, browser, AI assistant) wherever you are when you think of something.

2. Meal planning

Decide what you are cooking this week, then add the ingredients you need. The Chrome extension is particularly useful here. Browse recipes, click the extension, and ingredients go straight to your list without copying anything by hand.

Some people do this on Sunday evenings and show up to the store on Monday with a completely ready list. The “what are we eating this week?” conversation and the grocery list become one workflow instead of two.

3. Holiday and gift shopping

This one catches people off guard. A shared list is also a great way to coordinate holiday shopping when multiple people are buying gifts. Someone adds something they saw for a family member. Another person marks it as claimed. Nobody duplicates. Nobody is out of the loop.

It is also useful as a running wish list. Add things throughout the year as you come across them, so when someone asks what you want for your birthday you actually have an answer.

4. Hardware store and home improvement runs

This one lives in many households as a sticky note on the fridge that always gets left at home. A hardware list that lives on your phone solves that problem immediately. Notice the bathroom caulking is cracking? Add it. Realize you need longer screws for the shelf project? Add it. By the time you actually make the hardware store trip, the list has been building for two weeks and you get everything in one visit.

5. Costco and bulk shopping trips

Warehouse stores need their own list. The things you buy there are different from your regular grocery run, and you only go occasionally, so it is easy to forget what you meant to pick up. A dedicated list for bulk shopping, restocked as you run out of things, means you show up prepared and leave with everything you needed.

6. School supply season

End of August, every parent knows the chaos. The school sends a supply list, two parents are trying to split the shopping, and nobody is sure who is getting what. Shared lists solve this completely. One person enters the school list, the other person can see what is checked off, and there are no duplicates or gaps.

Works the same way for back-to-college shopping or any other big seasonal list that involves more than one person.

7. Restocking household staples

Cleaning supplies, toiletries, paper products. The stuff that lives under sinks and in closets and does not get noticed until it is completely gone. The key to never running out is adding things to the list when you notice you are low, not when you are out. That requires the list to be easy to add to in the moment, which is why having it on your phone and as a browser extension matters.

Connect your store accounts, and I Forgot the List also tracks what you buy regularly so coupon matching gets more accurate for the specific brands you use.

8. Packing for trips

Not groceries at all, but the same “running list that syncs everywhere” concept works great for packing. Build a packing list as things occur to you in the days before a trip, share it with whoever you are traveling with, and check things off as you pack. Never forget your charger again.

9. Party and event planning

Food, drinks, decorations, supplies. A party requires a genuinely long list of things to buy across multiple shopping trips. A shared list keeps the whole household on the same page about what has been picked up and what still needs to happen, without a flurry of texts.

10. Running errands

Some people keep a general errand list in the same app. “Drop off dry cleaning,” “pick up prescription,” “return the thing to Target.” Not grocery items, but things you need to do on a shopping trip or around town. Having them in the same app means one less place to check.

The common thread through all of these: they are situations where you need to capture something before you forget it, and possibly coordinate with someone else. That is exactly what I Forgot the List is built for.

Most people start with one use case and find others naturally. The app is designed to be low friction — easy to add to, easy to share, easy to check off — so it tends to expand into whatever list-shaped problems exist in your life.

Start for free at I Forgot the List and bring some order to the running mental list you have been carrying around in your head.

10 Things People Use I Forgot the List For (Beyond Basic Grocery Shopping)