
Show HN: An expense manager built using Google Sheets - mitul_45
https://github.com/mitul45/expense-manager
======
deferredposts
> why? Privacy. It's your personal data. It should belong to you.

Well, it uses Google sheets to store the data. So I don't agree with this
'benefit'.

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mitul_45
I agree. But the idea is not to pass it on any other third party for
visualization. I feel Google Sheets will be comparatively more secure than
other options out there.

~~~
simonebrunozzi
That's true. Safer than giving your data to Intuit or similar, for sure.
Google is very unlikely to analyze your spreadsheet to understand what it's
about.

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Grangar
Is this sarcastic..? Sounds like something I would especially see Google do.

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sanderjd
Nice work! I've been mulling something like this for awhile. I use YNAB
(classic) to track our budget, but I haven't made the switch to their new
subscription-based version because it just doesn't fit my workflow as well.
The experience made me think more deeply about what I actually need in a tool
like this, and I came to a similar conclusion that you seem to have: I need a
convenient way to enter my expenses and balances, and a way to analyze them. A
spreadsheet is perfect for the latter purpose, but isn't very good at all for
the former.

Having said that, the thing I care about the _most_ in YNAB is importing
expenses from my bank accounts. My thought on replacing this was to be able to
add download URLs to my spreadsheet and kick off a script which would prompt
for manual username and password entry (so that the credentials aren't saved)
before downloading and parsing the exports. I haven't gotten around to
creating this yet - if you added it to your project, I would seriously
consider using it!

~~~
msangi
I switched from YNAB classic to
[http://plaintextaccounting.org/](http://plaintextaccounting.org/) and I'm
satisfied.

If you like a command line based approach I'd recommend you to have a look.

~~~
keehun
Would switch to this immediately if there was a good UI for iOS that kept in
sync via Dropbox or some other method. I was disappointed that YNAB ditched
the old model and decided to go towards subscription. I am currently using
YNAB (Classic) and am looking for a way out because I understand that it will
eventually die. There doesn't seem to be a good replacement that has good iOS
and Desktop applications (GUI or CLI).

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faysal_ahmad
I created a clone of the new YNAB as a standalone desktop application. It is
available at [https://github.com/envelopes-app/envelopes-
desktop](https://github.com/envelopes-app/envelopes-desktop) with installers
for mac/windows.

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t24562445
I'm aware this isn't a place intended for troubleshooting questions, but when
one adds a read-only Google Sheet to their drive, doesn't it just make a
shortcut? I clicked on the Drive icon as shown in the tutorial but the
document is still read-only, and the app says that it isn't in my Drive. I
tried making a copy with the same name, but no dice either. What am I missing?

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obsurveyor
Is there a demo I can try without connecting it to my Google account? Also,
why does it say the app is "Tracking Numbers" when clicking Login? Makes it
seem fishy.

~~~
mitul_45
No, as of now there is no demo credentials. This is how the adding expense
would look like:
[http://i.imgur.com/tg6UzFe.gifv](http://i.imgur.com/tg6UzFe.gifv). And it
will be added to this sheet:
[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NfF1A0UC6qLuOE7eiTsA...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NfF1A0UC6qLuOE7eiTsAzNVAskNcYeuPHAkzSURH0Pc/edit#gid=0).

"Tacking Numbers" is the name I came up with when I was trying to setup Sheets
API with Google API Console. I am not able to change it now.

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vsidn
Nice one. I have been using a similar method with Google Forms that carries
the data over to a google spreadsheet, for a while now.

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davidjhall
I get "Cannot find the sheet" from Windows/Chrome. Details takes me back to
the Github page. Was something removed?

~~~
mitul_45
You need to add sheet to your Google Drive first. Details points to the step-
by-step instructions to do so.

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la_fayette
It is an interesting idea to store data on a private (also shareable) excel
sheet instead of a database.

~~~
thatwebdude
Sharing your finance planning with someone close who also shares your finances
makes a lot of sense.

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huula
Nice work! I've been trying to pick up some App Script stuff too. Where did
you learn it?

~~~
mitul_45
I don't think I am using App Script. I just started off with Google Sheets
Javascript Quickstart guide. And it's pretty well documented:
[https://developers.google.com/sheets/api/quickstart/js](https://developers.google.com/sheets/api/quickstart/js).

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elmalto
Cannot get the example to work on iPhone 7+ with 10.3.2 beta3(I think)

~~~
mitul_45
Thanks. Created an issue: [https://github.com/mitul45/expense-
manager/issues/6](https://github.com/mitul45/expense-manager/issues/6).

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zomg
although not free, ynab (you need a budget) is probably a much better way to
track expenses and budgeting.

~~~
hyperbovine
I don't know about nYNAB but I've used YNAB daily for more than two years.
It's a glorified spreadsheet with a nice mobile UI for entering expenses.

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justcreatedthis
Does not work on Firefox (53)

~~~
mitul_45
Thanks for pointing this out. Will fix soon.
[https://github.com/mitul45/expense-
manager/issues/2](https://github.com/mitul45/expense-manager/issues/2).

