|||
The updated Obsidian tables make it easier to use plain text as super powered digital paper. Simple formulas can make it a viable spreadsheet alternative for some.
People with early access to new features in Obsidian received a treat recently: tables now have Notion-like handles for easily moving rows and columns around! The Advanced Tables plugin has always been able to do this, but it sure is nice to see some table-love in the core of the app.
What I love is that everything I’m discussing today about tables, even the complicated formula stuff, is for convenience only. It’s nothing you couldn’t do manually, and it doesn’t do weird things to your Markdown.
Earlier this year I tried my hand at plain text accounting using hLedger, and failed. Moved on to Beancount with the same result. And now I know: the gaps in my knowledge about how to organise finances, rather than the app, were the reason I unsucceeded!
After trying those two flavours of plain text accounting, I paid for a year of YNAB and enjoyed what I learned from their excellent support resources. It bothered me, however, that an app was looking after my data. Standing between me and my data, in effect. And so I threw it all in the proverbial dustbin, and started from scratch.
The course I’m doing now (nearly finished) is gradually filling in my knowledge gaps. It’s stretching my synapses and forcing new ones to form, which is strangely exhilarating, albeit mildly painful! Read this to learn more about my troubled relationship with mathematics.
You can learn the basics in a vastly pared down, free version of the course here. And no, you don’t have to be a Mom or feel like you’re even remotely within her target demographic to get benefit from this.
FYI I’m a satisfied customer, only. Kamiko doesn’t know me, and I don’t get any kickback from recommending her products.
What I’m doing now is the plain text equivalent of planning my budget on paper. It’s somewhat laborious, but not overly so.
Perhaps this horrifies you? I can imagine some people throwing up their hands at the thought of keeping records by hand, but for me it’s necessary to teach me how the system works, as well as keep me mindful about spending and saving decisions.
I’m keeping my records within tables in Obsidian much the same way I would have done on paper. Same column headings, same information. The first step to creating a good budget is to track your income and expenses, which I’m doing in a table that looks like this:
## Account Name
### Start $121.16 → End $392.16 (+$513.32)
| Date | Transaction | Category | Withdrawal | Deposit | Balance | Comments |
| ----- | ----------------------------- | --------- | ----------:| -------:| -------:| -------- |
| 01.12 | Starting Balance | - | | | 121.16 | |
| 05.12 | Edgar's Mission calendars (3) | Gifts | 71.00 | | | |
| 14.12 | Paycheck | Income | | 300.00 | | |
| 15.12 | Gas | Utilities | 51.00 | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | TOTALS | | 122.00 | 300.00 | | |
<!-- TBLFM: @>$4=sum(@I..@-1);%.2f -->
<!-- TBLFM: @>$5=sum(@I..@-1);%.2f -->
I’m viewing this as writing on digital paper. The kind of ‘paper’ that has some distinct advantages over its fibrous counterpart:
Did you note the formulas at the end of the table for tallying the sum of each column in my example table above? To make them work, you’ll need to get the cursor blinking somewhere in them then click the fx button in the Advanced Tables toolbar.
Next challenge: learn how to write the formula for (Balance - Withdrawal) + Deposit, to automatically keep the Balance column up to date. If you know how to do that, I’d be grateful for any help. No org-mode evangelism, thanks.
A full-featured Excel template came with the Building Blocks of Budgeting course, so the same method can be followed with much of the work already done. Once I have a good understanding of how to run a budget I’ll be interested to see whether I’m more drawn to the spreadsheet, or continuing with paper—digital or otherwise.
Sign up to receive the latest content in your inbox
