diff --git a/content/posts/plaintext-accounting.md b/content/posts/plaintext-accounting.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..01d3b01 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/plaintext-accounting.md @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ +--- +title: "Plaintext Accounting, beancount, and fava" +date: 2021-01-15T15:54:51+01:00 +draft: false # I don't care for draft mode, git has branches for that +description: "Or the story of my fall into systematically logging my expenses" +tags: + - accounting + - cli +categories: + - software + - slice of life +series: +favorite: false +--- + +[Plain text accounting](https://plaintextaccounting.org/) is a way of tracking +your finances using simple text files and command line software. + +Being about to work on my end-of-studies internship, and therefore enter the +*adult*, *professional* world, I decided that I needed a better way to track my +income, expenses, and net worth. + + + +## My accounting journey + +* gifts +* credit card during high-school/CPGE +* joining the YAKA-ACU team + +## Why do I want an actual accounting solution? + +* some people use their head + * I used to do that for a long time + * I want more fine-grained control and analysis of my habits + * I'm somewhat of a airhead, suffer from one-click-purchase-syndrome +* some people use a spreadsheet + * bothersome + * easy to mess up + * hard to version + * I like `git` +* I want + * foolproof + * exhaustive + * powerful analysis, and trivia + * how much have I spent at my neighbourhood bakery in the last semester ? + * pretty interface + * FLOSS and forward compatible + +## Beancount + +### What is it? + +* python +* inspired by ledger, hledger +* simple +* *double entry accounting* + +### Why did I choose it ? + +* plain text accounting +* wonderful documentation + * first real introduction to double-entry accounting +* author's comparison with ledger and hledger +* I *grok* python + +### So how do I use it? + +* backlog of transactions +* fava +* simple makefile and git hooks +* mobile phone app + +## What's next? + +* not accurately tracking my taxes from my pay check +* not tracking my livret A, PEE, future PEL and AV