My whole system is a spreadsheet: three columns for unit price, two for delivery windows, one for "opened on" dates. It has held up for 14 months. This week it didn't.
Everything lives in a clear bin in the fridge door with sharpie on the cap. Wednesday I reached for what I assumed was the older one and the cap date didn't match the log.
Turns out I'd double-labeled a pair somewhere along the way and shuffled the order without noticing. Nothing dramatic — I just felt off for a day and spent twenty minutes squinting at my own handwriting.
The fix was boring. I stopped trusting sharpie-only and started taping the receipt stub to the bin lid with the date written on it. Four minutes of work, tops. My next reorder window is 11 days out and I'd rather not be guessing which is which when it lands.
Does anyone keep a paper backup, or has the phone note been enough for you so far?