Re: Getting started with budgets in ledger and org-mode
On 2014-07-20 16:17, Gmail wtmon...@gmail.com writes: Alan, Thanks for sharing this. I ran across your example when I was searching the list but it was a bit beyond me since I hadn't a working version of Erik's example at the time. But yours intrigues me. As I read this, it appears that you keep all your ledger data in a separate file, mescomptes.ledger, is that correct? Yes, I'm entering transactions and reconciling accounts using ledger-mode only. The org-mode part is for reporting and dealing with the budget. Am I also correct in thinking that all of the code blocks you shared are run from within the same org file? Yes, but the one I only use is the table (the other code blocks are there to support it). My workflow usually is (I do this once a week): - enter the transactions by hand (I like doing it that way as it gives me a good sense of how I spend money, tab completion of accounts works great for that); - reconcile with my bank account (the ledger-mode reconcile view is most useful for this); - evaluate the formulas in the big table of my org file and look at how much I have left to spend for each envelope. At the beginning of each month, I may tweak a little the budget, then I run the last bit of code that generates a ledger transaction from Unallocated to the Expense envelopes. I copy and paste this transaction in my ledger file. (Usually I also copy and paste the scheduled transactions for the coming month, but this is irrelevant to the org setup.) Alan -- OpenPGP Key ID : 040D0A3B4ED2E5C7 pgptVx8qKMoh0.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Getting started with budgets in ledger and org-mode
On 2014-07-20 03:31, Will Monroe wtmon...@gmail.com writes: Thanks, Erik. I guess the basic concepts of double-entry accounting have not sunk in very deeply yet ; ) I added assets as you suggested and it balanced just fine. Also, I appreciate your advice regarding ledger's built in budgeting features. I too prefer envelope budgeting and would like to implement something like it in my use of org-mode and ledger. I'll try to study your example and see if I can't make it work. I've been using a system very close to the one Erik describes for about six months now, and it works great. My tweaks are mostly on the org side, to get a table summarizing what remains in the envelopes, how much was spent in the current and in the previous month, and average spending. This is described here: http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.comp.finance.ledger.general/5673 Best, Alan -- OpenPGP Key ID : 040D0A3B4ED2E5C7 pgp_Wv7xK8JNp.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Getting started with budgets in ledger and org-mode
Alan, Thanks for sharing this. I ran across your example when I was searching the list but it was a bit beyond me since I hadn't a working version of Erik's example at the time. But yours intrigues me. As I read this, it appears that you keep all your ledger data in a separate file, mescomptes.ledger, is that correct? Am I also correct in thinking that all of the code blocks you shared are run from within the same org file? Will -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Ledger group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ledger-cli+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Getting started with budgets in ledger and org-mode
Hello, I'm a first-time poster on the ledger listserv although I've spent a couple of months lurking. There's been some great correspondence here and everyone seems willing to help. Community was an important factor in my choosing to use ledger to organize my finances. The simplicity of storing financial information in a readable text file that can be manipulated and exported was another. I'm also enjoying learning some of the basic accounting concepts! I'm looking for troubleshooting advice as I attempt to get started using use budgets with ledger. I've been happily using ledger in org-mode as described in the worg tutorial http:bit.ly/1wIGq98 I've had no trouble using Babel to generate simple reports. However, I am having trouble getting the results I expect when it comes to using the budget function described in the ledger-cli manual here http://bit.ly/UhV1fh *** To start keeping a budget, put some periodic transactions (see Periodic Transactions) at the top of your ledger file. A periodic transaction is almost identical to a regular transaction, except that it begins with a tilde and has a period expression in place of a payee. ~ Monthly Expenses:Rent $500.00 Expenses:Food $450.00 Expenses:Auto:Gas $120.00 Expenses:Insurance $150.00 Expenses:Phone $125.00 Expenses:Utilities $100.00 Expenses:Movies $50.00 Expenses$200.00 ; all other expenses Assets ~ Yearly Expenses:Auto:Repair$500.00 Assets *** These instructions and an example I found elsewhere (although I can't locate the source now) has led me to believe that I should be able to generate a comparison between income, expenses, and the budget with code and a journal that looks like this: *** #+name: balance and budget #+begin_src ledger :cmdline --budget register ^expenses :noweb yes ~ Monthly expenses:rent $500.00 2010/07/22 * Got paid assets:bank:checking $1000.00 income:salary 2010/07/23 Rent expenses:rent $500.00 assets:bank:checking #+end_src *** When I run the code by typing C-c C-c on the begin_src line, I do not get any results in the org file as I do with all my other commands (e.g., when I run bal I get a balance). I also see this result in Emacs Messages: *** Evaluate this ledger code block (balance) on your system? (y or n) y executing Ledger code block (balance)... executing Ledger source code block ledger -f /tmp/babel-23672nm/ledger-2367yuD --budget register ^expenses While balancing entry: ~ Monthly Unbalanced remainder is: $500.00 Error: /tmp/babel-23672nm/ledger-2367yuD, line 2: Entry does not balance Code block evaluation complete. *** So it seems that the code is being evaluated successfully even though, in this case, it doesn't balance. But the output only appears in the Emacs Messages output and not just beneath the source block as happens when I evaluate all other code. I suppose I could use ledger-cli to output to a file. But I'd prefer to output directly to the org file itself. So my questions here are two-fold: 1. (Specific) Can anyone advise me on how to begin troubleshooting the lack of output to the org file as described above? 2. (General) I'm aware that there seem to be other methods to generate budgets using ledger and org-mode such as the excellent description provided in Worg here http://bit.ly/1wIGq98 and Sacha Chua's example http://bit.ly/1p4d1EU with an example file here http://bit.ly/UhV2zW However, both are a bit beyond me at the moment. Would it be advisable to use one of these approaches instead? I'd like to avoid spending a lot of time learning how to create a budget only to find that there is a simpler method. Thanks for creating such a elegant piece of software and maintaining a community of support around it! All the best, Will -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Ledger group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ledger-cli+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Re: Getting started with budgets in ledger and org-mode
Hi Will, At Sat, 19 Jul 2014 11:06:33 -0500, Will Monroe wrote: Hello, […] *** #+name: balance and budget #+begin_src ledger :cmdline --budget register ^expenses :noweb yes ~ Monthly expenses:rent $500.00 2010/07/22 * Got paid assets:bank:checking $1000.00 income:salary 2010/07/23 Rent expenses:rent $500.00 assets:bank:checking #+end_src *** You need another side for your Monthly budget, e.g. ~ Monthly expenses:rent $500.00 assets […] So it seems that the code is being evaluated successfully even though, in this case, it doesn't balance. But the output only appears in the Emacs Messages output and not just beneath the source block as happens when I evaluate all other code. I suppose I could use ledger-cli to output to a file. But I'd prefer to output directly to the org file itself. It’s not outputting anything because your budget transaction doesn’t balance. So my questions here are two-fold: 1. (Specific) Can anyone advise me on how to begin troubleshooting the lack of output to the org file as described above? 2. (General) I'm aware that there seem to be other methods to generate budgets using ledger and org-mode such as the excellent description provided in Worg here http://bit.ly/1wIGq98 and Sacha Chua's example http://bit.ly/1p4d1EU with an example file here http://bit.ly/UhV2zW However, both are a bit beyond me at the moment. Would it be advisable to use one of these approaches instead? I'd like to avoid spending a lot of time learning how to create a budget only to find that there is a simpler method. I didn’t find that ledger’s built in budgeting worked for the kind of budgeting I wanted to do (“envelope” budgeting), so I wrote: http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/weaving-a-budget.html but your mileage may vary. best, Erik -- Sent from my free software system http://fsf.org/. -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Ledger group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ledger-cli+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Re: Getting started with budgets in ledger and org-mode
Thanks, Erik. I guess the basic concepts of double-entry accounting have not sunk in very deeply yet ; ) I added assets as you suggested and it balanced just fine. Also, I appreciate your advice regarding ledger's built in budgeting features. I too prefer envelope budgeting and would like to implement something like it in my use of org-mode and ledger. I'll try to study your example and see if I can't make it work. Thanks again, Will On 07/19/2014 07:56 PM, Erik Hetzner wrote: Hi Will, At Sat, 19 Jul 2014 11:06:33 -0500, Will Monroe wrote: Hello, [...] *** #+name: balance and budget #+begin_src ledger :cmdline --budget register ^expenses :noweb yes ~ Monthly expenses:rent $500.00 2010/07/22 * Got paid assets:bank:checking $1000.00 income:salary 2010/07/23 Rent expenses:rent $500.00 assets:bank:checking #+end_src *** You need another side for your Monthly budget, e.g. ~ Monthly expenses:rent $500.00 assets [...] So it seems that the code is being evaluated successfully even though, in this case, it doesn't balance. But the output only appears in the Emacs Messages output and not just beneath the source block as happens when I evaluate all other code. I suppose I could use ledger-cli to output to a file. But I'd prefer to output directly to the org file itself. It's not outputting anything because your budget transaction doesn't balance. So my questions here are two-fold: 1. (Specific) Can anyone advise me on how to begin troubleshooting the lack of output to the org file as described above? 2. (General) I'm aware that there seem to be other methods to generate budgets using ledger and org-mode such as the excellent description provided in Worg here http://bit.ly/1wIGq98 and Sacha Chua's example http://bit.ly/1p4d1EU with an example file here http://bit.ly/UhV2zW However, both are a bit beyond me at the moment. Would it be advisable to use one of these approaches instead? I'd like to avoid spending a lot of time learning how to create a budget only to find that there is a simpler method. I didn't find that ledger's built in budgeting worked for the kind of budgeting I wanted to do (envelope budgeting), so I wrote: http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/weaving-a-budget.html but your mileage may vary. best, Erik -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Ledger group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ledger-cli+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
