u/Acceptable_Sea_2409

Mechanical engineer here, been doing Arduino and Raspberry Pi projects as a hobby for years.

My current "inventory system":
- Components spread across cardboard boxes, plastic bins, and random containers on my desk
- No labels, no spreadsheet, no app
- Everything lives in my head

Last month I spent 45 minutes looking for a specific 10kΩ resistor. Found three of them. In three different boxes. After I had already ordered more.

The worst part isn't buying duplicates. It's when I start planning a project, build the BOM, and have no idea if I actually have the parts or need to order. So I either order everything "just in case" (expensive) or start building and realize mid-project that I'm missing one component (frustrating).

I've tried:
- Excel → works until it doesn't, gave up after 2 months
- PartsBox → powerful but overkill and pricey for a hobbyist
- PartKeepr → self-hosted, spent more time setting it up than using it
- Just memorizing → worked until I hit ~500 components

I'm a mechanical engineer who also codes, so I'm building something to fix this for myself. The concept is simple: know what you have, know what project it's allocated to, know what you need to order. Nothing more.

**If you have this same problem, I'd appreciate knowing:**
1. How do you currently manage your component inventory?
2. What's the most painful moment — buying duplicates, mid-project missing parts, something else?
3. Would you pay ~$7-10/month for a tool that actually solves this cleanly?

Not selling anything. Building in public and trying to understand if this is just my problem or a real gap.

[Form Link](https://tally.so/r/gDJ8pd) - Takes 2 minutes =)