Heading out to purchase craft supplies without a clear sense of what is actually running low often leads to two common management mistakes. The first is purchasing duplicates of materials you already have in abundance, which ties up capital in unnecessary inventory. The second is forgetting the one critical material you are actually about to run out of, causing unexpected delays in your production workflow.
As developers of recording tools, we view efficient shopping not as a matter of memory, but as a matter of information design.
The manual technique: establishing a restock threshold
A reliable way to manage your supplies is to move away from full inventory reviews and instead focus on a “restock threshold.” This involves a simple, tool-agnostic workflow:
- Define a Threshold: Decide on a personal minimum quantity for materials you track closely (e.g., “when I have only five clasps left, I need more”).
- Flag the Item: As you record your usage in a notebook or spreadsheet, mark or flag any material that drops below that number. This could be a highlighted row in a spreadsheet, a dedicated section in a journal, or a physical sticky note.
- Review Before You Go: Instead of trying to remember stock levels while at the store, you simply consult your pre-flagged list.
The dependency on recording habits
It is important to note that any low-stock flagging system is only as accurate as the underlying stock-quantity habit. Since stock quantity is a manually updated figure—rather than something that automatically decreases through sales—your shopping list is only as reliable as the last time you performed a manual count or updated your records.
Automating the list with MakerNote
We designed MakerNote to implement this same flagging discipline, but with the added convenience of automatic filtering.
The app features a dedicated Shopping Memo view. This is a filtered list of materials whose recorded stock quantity has reached or dropped below a specific threshold.
- Configurable Threshold: You can adjust the “low stock” alert level in the app settings to match your specific needs. It defaults to 5 units, but if you set it to 0, the Shopping Memo will only display materials that are fully out of stock.
- Data Requirement: For a material to appear in this view, it must have a numerical value entered in the Stock Quantity field. Materials with no quantity set are excluded from the filter, as there is no data point to compare against your threshold.
This feature is not a replacement for the habit of tracking your supplies; it is a way to instantly see the results of that habit without having to manually scan your entire inventory list.
Download MakerNote on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/makernote/id6762747060
Organizing your workspace
Establishing a system for restock alerts allows you to focus on creation rather than inventory management. If you find that manually flagging items in a notebook is becoming a burden as your collection grows, a dedicated tool can help streamline the process.
MakerNote offers a Free Tier that allows you to manage up to 50 materials and 20 products. For creators with larger inventories, the Pro Tier is available as a one-time purchase, providing unlimited registrations, a profit dashboard, and finished-goods inventory tracking.
Summary
The key to a successful shopping trip is a list generated from data, not memory. By setting a restock threshold and maintaining a consistent habit of updating your stock counts, you can ensure you always have the materials you need on hand. Whether you use a highlighted spreadsheet or the automated Shopping Memo in MakerNote, this structural discipline is what prevents duplicate purchases and production bottlenecks.
For the stock-tracking habit this feature depends on, see our guide: Beyond the Price Tag: The Material Fields Worth Recording
For a broader look at how these records fit into a full recording system, see our hub article: Notebook, Spreadsheet, or App? Making Your Craft Costs Actually Add Up
This article’s sources: Reconstructed by the editorial team from official sites, public information, and specialist media, from a recording and organizing perspective. Numeric, spec, and safety-related statements prioritize primary sources.
For decisions about pricing or financial management, please consult a tax or accounting professional.
This article organizes information from a recording and organizing perspective. If you notice an error or outdated information, please contact us. Last verified: August 2026
