Manage Your Household

The Household Hub makes grocery management a team effort. This guide walks you through setting up your household, sharing a pantry, coordinating meals, delegating shopping, and keeping everyone in the loop.

1. Create a Family Group

Before you can use the Household Hub, you need a family group.

1. Go to Settings and find the Family Plans section.
2. Tap Create Family Group and give it a name (e.g., "The Johnsons" or "Apartment 4B").
3. Your group is created and you're the owner.

Family groups are available to Premium and Family plan subscribers.

2. Invite Members

Add your household members so everyone has access.

1. From your family group settings, tap Invite Member.
2. Share the invite link or enter their email address.
3. When they accept, they'll appear in your household and get access to shared features.

Each member keeps their own personal shopping lists and preferences, but gains access to shared household features.

3. Set Up a Shared Pantry

The shared pantry is the foundation of good household coordination.

1. Go to the Household Hub and open the Pantry section.
2. Tap Add Item and enter what you have at home -- name, quantity, and optionally an expiration date.
3. Add your staples first: cooking oils, spices, pasta, rice, canned goods. Then add perishables like dairy, produce, and meat.
4. Any household member can add, edit, or remove items from the shared pantry.

Keep the pantry updated after each shopping trip. When someone uses the last of something, they should remove it or update the quantity so everyone knows.

4. Coordinate Meal Plans

Plan the week's meals together instead of everyone figuring out dinner independently.

1. Open the Meal Plan section in the Household Hub.
2. Add meals to the shared calendar by tapping on a day and selecting or creating a recipe.
3. Assign a cook to each meal, or leave it open for anyone to claim.
4. When the plan is set, tap Generate Shopping List to create a consolidated list of everything you need.

The meal plan considers everyone's dietary profiles, so meals work for the whole household.

5. Delegate Shopping Tasks

Split up the work so no one person carries the full load.

1. From a shopping list, tap on items you want to delegate.
2. Assign them to a specific household member.
3. That member will see their assigned items highlighted in their view.
4. As items are purchased, they get checked off for everyone to see.

You can also assign entire store trips to specific people if different members pass by different stores during their day.

6. Check the Activity Feed

The activity feed keeps everyone informed without constant messaging.

1. Open the Activity tab in the Household Hub.
2. See a timeline of what's happening -- who added items to the pantry, who completed a shopping trip, who updated the meal plan.
3. Use it as a quick check-in to see what's been handled and what still needs attention.

7. Set a Household Budget

Track your family's grocery spending against a shared target.

1. Go to Household Hub and find the Budget section.
2. Set a weekly or monthly grocery budget for the household.
3. As any member shops and logs trips, the spending is tracked against the shared budget.
4. Everyone can see the remaining budget, making it easier to coordinate larger purchases.

Tips

• The shared pantry works best when everyone participates. Make it a household habit to update the pantry after putting groceries away.
• Meal planning on Sunday for the coming week is a common rhythm that works well for most households.
• Use delegation strategically -- if one person drives past Costco daily and another lives near the local grocery store, assign trips accordingly.
• The activity feed reduces the "did you get the milk?" texts. Encourage everyone to check it instead of asking.
• Start with a realistic budget based on your actual spending, then adjust down gradually if you want to cut costs.