Life Maintenance

Supplies and consumables

Supplies are the small, recurring purchases that make a household actually run. HVAC filters, smoke detector batteries, water filter cartridges, vacuum bags, lawnmower blades. Life Maintenance can tell you when to reorder so you do not find out at 9pm on a Sunday.

What counts as a supply

If you buy it more than once for the same purpose, it is a supply. Common ones:

  • HVAC filters. By size and grade.
  • Water filters. Fridge, whole-home, RO membranes.
  • Smoke and carbon monoxide detector batteries.
  • Light bulbs. Specific sockets that take specific shapes.
  • Vacuum bags or HEPA filters.
  • Pet food, litter, treats.
  • Pool and spa chemicals.
  • Printer ink and toner.
  • Air fryer parchment, dishwasher pods, dryer sheets.
  • Sponges, dish brushes, replacement cloths.

Adding a supply

  1. Click the + in the top bar and pick Supply, or open the Supplies page and click Add supply.
  2. Give it a name. "16x25x1 HVAC filter."
  3. Optionally paste a product URL. We will pull the brand, model, photo, and best-known price from product search automatically.
  4. Pick a linked item, if any. "Used by main floor HVAC."
  5. Set a quantity on hand and a reorder threshold, or set a cadence.
  6. Save.

Two ways to track usage

You can pick whichever model fits each supply.

By quantity

You tell us how many you have ("3 filters on hand") and at what number to remind you ("reorder when below 2"). When you mark a maintenance task done that uses the supply, we automatically decrement the count.

This is the most accurate model but takes a little upkeep.

By cadence

You skip the counting and just tell us "reorder every 90 days" or "reorder on the first of every quarter." We will remind you on that schedule no matter what.

This is the easier model and fine for most things.

Linking to schedules

On any maintenance schedule, look for the Supplies needed card. Adding a supply there does two things:

  • When the task is due, the schedule page shows a Buy now link to the supplier you specified, or a generic search.
  • When you mark the task done, the supply count drops by the quantity used.

For example, your "Replace HVAC filter" schedule can be linked to the "16x25x1 filter" supply. Each time you mark the schedule done, the filter count drops by one.

Auto-lookup

We support pasting a product URL from Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart, and most major retailers. We will extract the product name, brand, model, photo, and current price. You can override anything we got wrong.

We also support manual lookup: type a name and we search for it. Good for brand-name supplies you do not have a URL for.

What the supply detail page shows

  • Header with name, brand, model, photo.
  • Inventory. Count on hand, threshold, when you last restocked.
  • Usage. Which items and schedules use this supply.
  • Cost log. What you have paid over time and where you bought it.
  • Reorder. A button that links to the supplier you specified.

Family sharing

Supplies are family-shared by default. Anyone can update the count. The Cost log records who paid for what, useful for shared-household accounting.

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