This book will teach you how to track your money in a privacy-friendly way using only the Python eocsystem. We'll discuss topics including plain-text accounting, double-entry bookkeeping, how to hook up Python with your bank(s), and more!
Have you ever wanted to run a SQL query on your bank transactions? This ebook will teach you how. ✨
About 3 years ago, I was looking for a privacy/developer-friendly way of tracking my money. The privacy implications of using a third-party app with access to ALL my bank accounts didn't sit well with me.
While searching, I ran into plain-text accounting and have been in love with it ever since!
The core idea involves maintaining double-entry bookkeeping records of your financial transactions in plain-text files and using specialized CLI tools to work with this data. The tool I describe in the ebook is called Beancount. It's written in Python and it lets you interact with your financial ledger, analyze your past financial behavior, show your spending patterns, income sources, liabilities, and more!
I've been using this workflow for close to 3 years now and am super happy so far.
So this book is my attempt at helping more people get into the world of plain-text accounting!
I hope you give it a shot! And hit me up if you have any questions! 🤝
Tracking Personal Finances using Python