# How to share grocery shopping with your family

Use one current shopping list for the household and agree who is handling the next shop. Include what is missing for the meals you need, taking food already at home into account. A shared list helps people coordinate, but offline changes need to sync before another shopper can see them.

![Illustration of household members unpacking groceries and preparing food together in a home kitchen.](/_astro/shared-household-grocery-routine.CFO06BlT.webp)

Illustration: one household shop and food already available for dinner.

A top-up shop can overlap with an online order. Someone brings home pasta while
someone else adds it to the delivery, and the household pays for both. A common
list helps, especially when it reflects the food already in the kitchen.

Marsonya brings shared household food records and shopping lists together.
[Join the early-access list](/#early-access) to hear when access opens.

## What belongs on the family's shopping list?

Put the food you still need on one list that everyone buying groceries can use.
Base it on upcoming meals and usable food in the pantry, fridge and freezer.
The list can change as plans change; it does not need to be a permanent order
for everything the household usually buys.

[Love Food Hate Waste NZ](https://lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz/reduce-your-waste/reduce-your-waste-plan/)
recommends planning around existing food before making the shopping list.
For sharing the shop, the useful part is that everyone works from those same needs.

## Who is handling the next shop?

Agree who is placing the order or going to the supermarket. If someone else is
picking up a few extras, make that part clear too. A shared list tells people what
is needed; it does not decide which person will buy it.

For example, one person can place the main order while another adds the ingredients
needed for dinner to the same list. Agree that additions go onto that list before
checkout, rather than starting a second order. Once groceries are bought, mark the
purchases on the list.

## How can the plan keep pace with groceries arriving?

Food arriving at home changes what the household needs to buy next. Keeping the
food record and shopping list together reduces the copying between separate notes.
A shared record also helps the next shopper distinguish groceries already bought from groceries
still needed.

In Marsonya, members of the same household share shopping lists and pantry records.
A food item recorded by one member is available to the household when the update
has synced. Barcode lookup and camera-read dates reduce typing, so each shopper
does not need a separate copy of the kitchen inventory.
Buy Plan estimates the selected list's cost, so you can consider the planned spend
before checkout. The retailer confirms the final price and charges.

See how [household food records](/pantry-inventory) and
[shopping plans](/grocery-shopping) work together.

## What if one shopper is offline?

An offline phone may show an older list, and its edits cannot reach the other shopper
until they are sent after reconnection. Use the connected list for a hand-off. If that
isn't possible, agree that one person finishes the shop before the other starts.

An old screenshot can have the same problem: it shows the list as it was, rather
than subsequent changes. For the separate problem of forgetting food already at
home, read [how to stop buying groceries you already have](/learn/stop-buying-duplicate-groceries).

## What else do people ask about sharing grocery shopping?

### Can a shared shopping list stop both of us buying the same thing?

A shared shopping list gives everyone a common view of what is needed. You still need to agree who is doing the shop: two people can buy the same item before either purchase is recorded.

### Should we put every household staple on the shared list?

Put the purchases you need on it. A list of favourite staples is useful for reference, but it can include food that is already in the cupboard, fridge or freezer.

### Will an offline change appear on someone else's phone?

An offline edit cannot reach another phone until it is successfully sent after reconnection. A cached list may be older than the household's current version. Check the connected list when handing the shop to another person.

Keep your food records and shopping plan together in Marsonya. Join the list to hear when early access opens.

[Join the early-access list](/#early-access)