When going through the Google Drive files, I found the old files that I used to keep track of transactions. I will post them here so that I can keep these memories. Plus, I get to reminisce on the embarrassment of having such mediocre financial record tracking.
First up is the expenditure tracking:
| Month (Interval from 1st of the month to the 1st of the next month (not included the 1st of the 2nd month) | MET | $0.99 store | Chinese Supermarket | Target | Keyfoods | Eating Out | BC | Home improvement | Transportation | Entertainment | Total |
| February 2016 | 11.88 | 5.4 | 56.85 | 19.2 | 0 | 31.5 | 20.91 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 185.74 |
| March 2016 | 28.67 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 62.17 |
| April 2016 | 14.47 | 0 | 0 | 20.79 | 0 | 65.31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 101.57 |
| May 2016 | 0 | 7.62 | 26 | 42.95 | 0 | 12.49 | 4.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 93.76 |
| September 2016 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76.3 | 15.89 | 29.5 | 155.12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 276.81 |
| October 2016 | 0 | 2.94 | 7.46 | 110.28 | 0 | 60.62 | 2.01 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 197.31 |
| November 2016 | 0 | 1 | 3.25 | 112.09 | 0 | 53.82 | 20.83 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 190.99 |
| December 2016 | 0 | 6.25 | 6.23 | 49.91 | 0 | 57.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 120.19 |
| February 2017 | 8.98 | 24.42 | 5.49 | 205.64 | 16.09 | 16.85 | 54.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 331.87 |
| March 2017 | 0 | 0 | 47.16 | 0 | 8.16 | 16.84 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76.66 |
| April 2017 | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| May 2017 | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| Expeditures | | | | | | | | | | |
| Month (Interval from 1st of the month to the 1st of the next month (not included the 1st of the 2nd month) | MET | $0.99 store | Supermarket | Target | Food vendor | Fastfood | BC | Home improvement | Transportation | Total |
| November | 19.98 | 15.11 | 12.05 | 0 | 11 | 12 | 10.57 | 20 | 5 | 105.71 |
| December | 13.15 | 0 | 0 | 25.21 | 5 | 0 | 15.49 | 0 | 0 | 58.85 |
| 2015 Totals | 33.13 | 15.11 | 12.05 | 25.21 | 16 | 12 | 26.06 | 20 | 5 | 164.56 |
As seen above I spent too much time trying to separate the expenditures based on company name.
My other obsession at the time was trying to figure out the best "deal" that I would be getting when buying from different stores. I tried to use net weight vs price to avoid the fancy sales tags that the stores like to put on their stuff. The problem was that I never had the excel chart hand when actually going shopping and in the end, I never actually used it much beyond self-confirming my own purchases.
| MET Foods | | | Top-oldest Bot-present | Only for weight priced items | | | | | |
| DATE | Item | Company name | Quantity | Price ($) | Price per weight ($/lb) | (solid) Net Weight (g) | Price per mass ($/g) | (liquid) Volume (mL) | Price per volume ($/mL) | Sale? |
| Eggs (1 dozen) | NELM Jumbo | 1 | 3.29 | | | | | | NO |
| Baking Soda box | Arm & Hammer | 1 | 1.09 | | 454 | 0.0024 | | | NO |
| Tilapia | Store brand | 1 - Set | 3.00 | 6.00 | | | | | NO |
| Chicken Tights | Perdue | 1 - Set | 3.72 | 2.09 | | | | | NO |
| Yogurt | Layog | $5 | $3 | | | | | | YES - 5 for $3 |
| Chips | Herr | 1 | 2 | | 184.3 | 0.0109 | | | NO |
| Canned Corn | Del Monte | 1 | 1.89 | | 432 | 0.0044 | | | NO |
| Mandarins | Cuties | 1 | 2.99 | | 1360 | 0.0022 | | | YES - 1 for $3 |
| WholeGrain Bread | Wonder | 1 | 2.29 | | 567 | 0.0040 | | | NO |
| Donuts | Entenmann's | 8 | 2.99 | | 439 | 0.0068 | | | YES |
| Soda | Pepsi | 2 | 3.10 | | | | 2000 | 0.00155 | YES - 2 for $3 |
| Honey Ham | Budding | 1 | 3.49 | | 255 | 0.0137 | | | NO |
| Turkey Breast | Budding | 1 | 3.49 | | 255 | 0.0137 | | | NO |
| Brocolli | None | 2 | 1.98 | 0.49 | | | | | |
| Pineapple | Store brand | 1 - container | 2.48 | 3.3 | 340.1943 | 0.0073 | | | NO |
| Onions | Onions | 1 - bag | 4.99 | | 4535.92 | 0.0011 | | | NO |
| Potatos | Idaho | 1 - bag | 2.99 | | 2270 | 0.0013 | | | NO |
| Basa Fillet | Store brand | 1 - Set | 3.84 | 4.99 | 349.2661 | 0.0110 | | | NO |
| Italian Sausage | PREMIO | 1 - Set | 3.99 | | 453.592 | 0.0088 | | | NO |
| Banana | Dole | 1 - Bunch | $1.52 | 0.69 | 1002.439 | 0.0015 | | | NO |
| Penne Rigate | Vitale | 5 - bags | 5 | | 453.592 | 0.0110 | | | YES - 5 for $5 |
| Started Fri 4/8/16 | Mushrooms | Giorgio | 1 - box | 1.99 | | 227 | 0.0088 | | | NO |
| 4/8/2016 | Spaghetti Sauce | White Rose | 1 - Jar | 1.99 | | 673 | 0.0030 | | | NO |
| 4/8/2016 | Chicken Legs | Perdue | 1 - Set | 3.7 | 2 | 843.6818 | 0.0044 | | | NO |
| 4/8/2016 | Chicken Thighs | Perdue | 1 - Set | 3.43 | 1.29 | 1206.556 | 0.0028 | | | NO |
| 4/8/2016 | Pork Chops | MET Brand | 1 - Set | 3.36 | 2 | 766.5711 | 0.0044 | | | NO |
The sad part is that I still struggle with managing money well. I am trying not to rely on using software to keep track, but when I use handwritten records the accuracy is all over the place. Currently going back to electronic records because paperless has become king for a lot of billing platforms.
Two possible software to try out is
- You need a Budget → Bought the program via Steam, but have not utilized it fully yet.
- Quick books → Heard this program's name through a lot of business-oriented people. It would be great to learn, but I have yet to see how it could help a salaried employee like me.
- Mint → New subscription-based service for money management (Hard pass if possible I hate subscription-based stuff)
