10 years of personal finances in plain text files
6 hours ago
- #Beancount
- #personal finance
- #plaintext accounting
- Author has been using Beancount for personal finance management for nearly 10 years, starting January 2016.
- The Beancount ledger contains over 45,000 lines across 16 plain text files, with 10,000 transactions and 20,000 postings.
- There are 1086 virtual accounts created for categorizing different types of spending and income.
- Approximately 500 documents (e.g., receipts, invoices) are attached to transactions for efficient bookkeeping.
- Monthly workflow involves downloading bank statements in CSV, converting them via importers, and balancing transactions manually and automatically.
- Author developed Beancount importers for German banks (DKB, ING, N26) to facilitate transaction imports.
- Wrote a book to help newcomers understand Beancount, receiving positive feedback and recognition.
- Storing finances in plain text files within a git repository ensures data longevity and independence from apps or services.