Stock and decluttering

Two opposite problems, both solved by the app knowing how many of something you have: running out of things you need, and keeping things you do not.

Quantities and minimums#

Every item carries a quantity. Set a minimum quantity on top of that and the item is flagged as low once the count drops to or below it.

Low-stock items collect on the Notifications screen alongside overdue loans, so the restock list assembles itself rather than being something you remember in the shop.

Which things deserve a minimum

Not many. Exact counts on consumables go stale the moment you use one, and an inventory full of numbers you no longer trust is worse than one with no numbers at all.

The test is whether running out stops something. Printer paper stops a document. A particular screw stops a repair. Most things just mean a slightly annoying trip. Put minimums on the first kind and leave the rest approximate: a dozen well-chosen thresholds beat two hundred neglected ones.

The declutter queue#

Separately, an item can be flagged for a disposal decision you are not making right now:

• recycle
• sell
• donate
• other

Flagged items collect in their own screen (a declutter view on the web, a review queue in the mobile app), sorted oldest-flagged first, so the things you have been putting off longest surface at the top.

Why it is a queue and not a reminder

Deliberately, this makes no noise. No due date, no notification, nothing in the bell. It is a list you visit when you are in the mood to get rid of things, which is a mood that arrives on its own schedule and cannot be prompted into existence by an alert.

The value is in separating the two decisions. Judging that you no longer want something takes a second and happens naturally while you are holding it. Actually selling or donating it takes an afternoon. Forcing those into the same moment is why the thought gets dropped and the object stays.

Flag it when you notice. Act on the pile when you have time. Those are different days, and the app is built around that being fine.

Clearing a flag#

Clearing is destructive and there is no history. Once you resolve an item (you sold it, donated it, or changed your mind), the flag is simply gone. Nothing records that it was ever flagged.

That was a deliberate call rather than an omission. A resolution log ("sold three things last month") is a feature nobody asked for, and building it speculatively would have added a table and a screen to maintain in exchange for a statistic.

Using both together#

Quantities and the declutter queue tend to meet in the same cupboard. The moment you discover a third pair of scissors is the moment to flag two of them: you have both the count and the object in front of you, which is a combination that does not happen twice.