“Convenience Food” –> assumes that people wouldn’t want to cook for themselves if they didn’t have to. Isn’t it just as likely that people don’t want to cook because they don’t know how or that they think it’s too hard or whatever?

Shampoo –> See No ‘Poo. (I’ve been doing this for a little over a week now. We’ll so how it goes.

Computerized Sewing Machines –> The vast, vast majority of sewers can do amazing stuff with a Singer from the 50’s that goes forward and backward. If it can do a zigzag stitch, that’s nice too. The rest…. unnecessary.

New Clothes –> The thrift store is your friend. It takes a really really long time to wear out clothes and most of the stuff in the thrift store isn’t all that used.

Fancy Athletic Shoes –> We all should be walking barefoot (or close to it). The simpler the shoe the better.

Cameras –> A fancy camera in the hands of an amateur will still turn out amateurish pictures.

Computers –> Most of us don’t really need a computer every 4 years, but we’re forced out of them by new software that won’t work on the old ones.

If I wanted to I could think of more examples. Very few things in life are actually necessary. Some things will enhance our happiness. Too many things will weigh us down.

This has huge implications. For ourselves, it means that we can get more freedom by paring down the stuff that doesn’t matter. For the world, it means we probably have the means to enable everyone to have their basic needs met.

If we have the capability to create such a world, why aren’t we? I think it’s a matter of structure. We’re a capitalist society. We’re told to spend spend spend all the time. Many of us have thousands of dollars of debt. We have a mistaken belief that more stuff = more happiness. Until enough of us shun this belief system, we won’t as a society get to that place where none of us have to worry about how to get food, shelter, and safety.

Luckily, we don’t need society to be on our side in order to reap the benefits of getting rid of the unessential. Each thing you don’t need that you can get rid of is more money in your pocket. More money means you you have more you can save. More savings means less worrying about how to feed and shelter yourself. Not having to worry about that stuff is the whole goal.

The more of us that change our lives in a certain way, the more society changes in that direction. Businesses will start catering to our new values. Then it’ll be us running the businesses. Then there may not even be businesses as such. All volunteer organizations… If you wanted to sit on your butt all day you could! Without guilt even!

I think we have arrived at the age where this is possible. To go from possible to actuality we need to focus on what’s important and get rid of the unnecessary.

Are you living up to your potential? Do you want to? Do you feel guilty for not doing so?

Is wealth bad? Is power bad? If you don’t acquire either does that diminish the quality of your life?

What constitutes a good life?

What constitutes a wasted life?

If you retire and spend your time just connecting with people, is that wasting your time? If you’re just spending time with your family and closest friends?

Just some things I’ve been thinking about recently.

What about clothes that are “Made in USA”? Does that mean it was made in the states? Not necessarily; the territories count too. Is that what you thought you were getting? If you’re concerned about the carbon emissions necessary to get your new clothes to you, it’s not much closer than India or China.

What about using the bus vs carpooling? What about “going paperless”? Is that really green? The bank websites say it is, but who knows if that’s actually the case. What about reusable bags vs. paper bags. Which is really better?

Do we have the time to figure this stuff out? Do we have a good way to measure the impact we have?

I guess the point of this is, When you buy something with the word GREEN labeled all over it, don’t let yourself believe that your conscience is off the hook. It’s not that simple. Buying “green” still sends a good message, it’s just that the products may not be doing real tangible good for the world.

Keeping score in general feels bad when it comes to service, and money is the ultimate way of keeping score.

Also, how much money you have isn’t an indication of how much good karma you’ve amassed. When we buy things all we see is the end product, and as we all know, the ends don’t usually justify the means. If the food you’re eating now was procured in such a way that the soil underneath has been depleted of nutrients, is it worth the cheaper price than the one that was farmed sustainably? The plastic option may be cheaper but it’s often not recyclable or biodegradable. Is the computer that ultimately ends up in an electronics junk heap poisoning the earth worth the affordable price? We don’t see these negatives when we buy a new product. And even when there is information on products (Organic! Free range!) it can often be misleading. You can meet all the standards of organic and still not produce your products sustainably. There’s no regulation on what “Free range” actually means.

So yes, it’s very clear that you can generate lots of money by doing things that are unsustainable. That is, the value you provided to the end user came at a cost to the earth or to others who don’t have a say in the free market.

And, of course, when you go to spend the money you can use it in very damaging ways: flights around the world, giant houses, more new stuff than you can count.

Money is like power. When you have a lot of it it’s tempting and easy to misuse it. It’s also tempting to do amass it in less than ethical ways.

I suppose, then, that it’s not surprising that a primary sustainability metric is income. The more money you make the less likely it is that you’re living sustainably. Why? Because of all the reasons I’ve listed above. To generate money you probably waste a lot and you’re probably will to spend money on things that are also wasteful.

It certainly seems like the only way to do good for the world is to be OK with living on virtually nothing. But that sounds less than wonderful.

Can you make money sustainably?

There are some occupations that don’t do that much damage to the environment. Blogging, for instance, is fairly low. People aren’t buying new computers for the sake of reading a blog, and there are lots of ways to get access to said blog without even owning a computer. In general anything where there is no physical product is very low on the impact scale. (At least that seems intuitive to me… I don’t know if that’s actually the case.) Also with blogging and other content type things, it doesn’t matter all that much as you get more and more readers. With something like making cars or electronic stuff or plastic candy dispensers or disposable diapers, the more customers you have the greater your negative impact on the earth.

I imagine with one of these low impact type careers (especially content generation) you could have the potential to make lots of money essentially guilt free. And if you’re wise in the spending of your money you could have an incredibly positive impact on the world.

I used to use Quicken and Aaron used Mint.com, and while these tools are convenient and pretty, they don’t really work well for us. One annoyance is that these tools use credit card statements and the like to populate the tables. What do you do when you buy lightbulbs and groceries at the grocery store? Are the lightbulbs also food? You also probably didn’t keep the receipt so you don’t know how much they cost. Because of that, the graphs are never accurate. Another annoyance is that Quicken had a difficult time actually pulling my information from the different institutions. I got tired of it quickly and didn’t buy the next year’s upgrade.

MySQL to the rescue. Admittedly if you’re not comfortable with computers this maybe a bit scary to use, but if you want to be able to answer the questions you have about your finances and don’t care about a pretty interface it could be the right tool for you. This is what we use to analyze our financial data, and I’ll show you how to use it too.

MySQL is a relational database management system, meaning that data within it is stored as tables and the relationships between tables are also shown as tables. For this exercise the multiple tables thing isn’t important. What is important is that with RDBMSs you can ask whatever questions you want about the tables, as long as you form those questions in the query language. We only have one table, so this is how we’re using MySQL.

Step 1) Copy the Spreadsheet

You have your table in Google Docs. The first step is to make sure your columns are in the right format. MySQL will complain if they aren’t.

• Amount column values must not have a preceding $. (Notice the spreadsheet picture)
• Date must be in YYYY-MM-DD format

Now that your format’s all set, copy the cells with the information. If you have a “Cleared?” column don’t copy that. Also, don’t copy titles. You’ll be making special titles soon enough. Throughout the rest of this tutorial I’ll be assuming you have the same columns that I do.

Step 2) Paste into Text Editor

I’m using a Mac, so I copied the text into pico in the terminal. Save it as a .txt file. Mine is called ledger.txt. Make sure you use a text editor and not a word-processor. Word-processors will add information to the text that you DO NOT WANT. If you’re using a Windows machine use notepad.

Step 3) Get XAMPP

The easiest way to get MySQL onto your computer is to use XAMPP. If you install MySQL directly you’ll have to do some configuration magic that is a pain, and really unnecessary for the task at hand. You aren’t setting up a production web server, so you don’t have to worry about security or anything. XAMPP is as close to plug and play as you get with this. It’s also free.

You can get XAMPP here. Follow the instructions on the site for how to install and get started for your operating system.

Step 4) Set up DB and Import Data

Open up a terminal (on windows: run –> cmd) and move to the XAMPP directory. Then move to xamppfiles; then to bin. The full path of the bin directory for me is:
/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/bin

The command mysql should be in this directory. Stuff in bold is stuff you type.

Open MySQL:

$ ./mysql -u root

“-u root” just means that you are logging in as the user “root”.

You should get the following prompt:

mysql>

Now that you’re in, the next step is to create your database and use it.

mysql> create database finances;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

mysql>use finances;
Database changed

Next create your table. Again, this is assuming you have the same columns.

mysql> CREATE TABLE 'expenses' (
-> 'date' date default NULL,
-> 'store' varchar(255) default NULL,
-> 'item' varchar(255) default NULL,
-> 'tag' varchar(255) default NULL,
-> 'subcategory' varchar(255) default NULL,
-> 'amount' decimal(10,2) default NULL,
-> 'source' varchar(255) default NULL
-> );
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.13 sec)

mysql> delete from expenses;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> load data local infile '/Users/mrio/ledger.txt' into table expenses;
Query OK, 30 rows affected, 7 warnings (0.05 sec)
Records: 30 Deleted: 0 Skipped: 0 Warnings: 7

Here’s an easy to copy and paste version of the Create table command:
CREATE TABLE 'expenses' ( 'date' date default NULL, 'store' varchar(255) default NULL, 'item' varchar(255) default NULL, 'tag' varchar(255) default NULL, 'subcategory' varchar(255) default NULL, 'amount' decimal(10,2) default NULL, 'source' varchar(255) default NULL );

In case you’re wondering what each command does:

“create table” creates the table into which your data goes.

“delete from expenses” removes any data which may have been in expenses before. Perhaps from a previous month?

“load data local infile” loads the data from your text file. Change the text file path to the appropriate one for your file.

Step 5) Query Query Query

Below are a bunch of questions you might want to ask about your expenses. In the code you’ll see how those questions are translated into SQL and how the answer looks for the sample data I intered into the table.

How much did I spend in each tag? I’d like the data in descending amount spent.

mysql> select tag, sum(amount) as mysum from expenses group by tag order by mysum desc;

 +-------------------+--------+

 | tag               | mysum  |

 +-------------------+--------+

 | Food-Normal       | 722.64 |

 | Food-Out          | 449.59 |

 | Wedding           | 205.21 |

 | Household         | 125.73 |

 | Recreation        |  76.63 |

 | Utilities         |  70.34 |

 | Medical           |  40.00 |

 | Food-Entertaining |  32.54 |

 | Car               |  27.72 |

 | NULL              |   NULL |

 +-------------------+--------+

 10 rows in set (0.00 sec)

How Much did I spend total?

mysql> select sum(amount) from expenses;

 +-------------+

 | sum(amount) |

 +-------------+

 |     1750.40 |

 +-------------+

 1 row in set (0.00 sec)

How much did I spend each week?

mysql> select week(date), sum(amount) from expenses group by week(date) order by week(date);


 +------------+-------------+

 | week(date) | sum(amount) |

 +------------+-------------+

 |       NULL |        NULL |

 |         39 |     1421.73 |

 |         40 |      328.67 |

 +------------+-------------+

 3 rows in set (0.00 sec)

How much did I spend in each category and subcategory?

mysql> select tag, subcategory, sum(amount) from expenses group by tag, subcategory order by tag,subcategory;

 +-------------------+---------------+-------------+

 | tag               | subcategory   | sum(amount) |

 +-------------------+---------------+-------------+

 | NULL              | NULL          |        NULL |

 | Car               | Gas           |       27.47 |

 | Car               | Parking       |        0.25 |

 | Food-Entertaining |               |       32.54 |

 | Food-Normal       |               |      722.64 |

 | Food-Out          |               |       34.42 |

 | Food-Out          | Work          |      415.17 |

 | Household         |               |       26.73 |

 | Household         | Garden        |       33.33 |

 | Household         | Hygiene       |       38.79 |

 | Household         | Repair        |       26.88 |

 | Medical           |               |       40.00 |

 | Recreation        |               |       10.00 |

 | Recreation        | Books         |       10.99 |

 | Recreation        | Music         |       30.00 |

 | Recreation        | Video games   |       25.64 |

 | Utilities         | Internet      |       70.34 |

 | Wedding           | Wedding Dress |      205.21 |

 +-------------------+---------------+-------------+

 18 rows in set (0.00 sec)

What percentage of my total spending did I spend in each category?

mysql> select tag, sum(amount)/1750.40 as mysum from expenses group by tag order by mysum desc;

 +-------------------+----------+

 | tag               | mysum    |

 +-------------------+----------+

 | Food-Normal       | 0.412843 |

 | Food-Out          | 0.256850 |

 | Wedding           | 0.117236 |

 | Household         | 0.071829 |

 | Recreation        | 0.043779 |

 | Utilities         | 0.040185 |

 | Medical           | 0.022852 |

 | Food-Entertaining | 0.018590 |

 | Car               | 0.015836 |

 | NULL              |     NULL |

 +-------------------+----------+

 10 rows in set (0.00 sec)

This is the same as sum by tag except I divided sum(amount) by the total spent which was calculated earlier. Here you have basically what you need for YMOYL summary.

How much did I spend at each store?

mysql> select store, sum(amount) as mysum from expenses group by store order by mysum desc;

 +---------------------+--------+

 | store               | mysum  |

 +---------------------+--------+

 | Kroger              | 524.61 |

 | Starbucks           | 400.30 |

 | Jo Ann Fabric       | 205.21 |

 | Co-op               | 141.74 |

 | Trader Joe's        | 105.63 |

 | Comcast             |  70.34 |

 | Rite-aid            |  40.00 |

 | English Gardens     |  33.33 |

 | Ark                 |  30.00 |

 | Rite Aid            |  28.49 |

 | Marathon            |  27.47 |

 | Carpenter Bros      |  26.88 |

 | Kmart               |  26.73 |

 | Target              |  25.64 |

 | Jersualem Garden    |  15.37 |

 | Amazon.com          |  10.99 |

 | Damon's Grill       |  10.52 |

 | Salvation Army      |  10.00 |

 | Zingerman's         |   7.25 |

 | Colin's Coffee      |   5.30 |

 | Coney Island        |   4.35 |

 | Parking 5th&William |   0.25 |

 | NULL                |   NULL |

 +---------------------+--------+

 23 rows in set (0.00 sec)

And that’s all there is to it. Not as pretty as Quicken, but it’s way more flexible in terms of how I organize my data and what questions I ask of it.

If there’s anything in this tutorial that doesn’t make sense or if there’s a question you’d like to ask about your data that isn’t listed here, leave a comment and I’ll update this tutorial.

It’s a jar of little origami stars with inspirational quotes on each star. Inexpensive but time consuming to make and it’s a really great way to start my day. It’s like opening a fortune cookie except I get to do it every morning  and I don’t have to throw out a cookie.

If you’ve got plenty of time, but not plenty of cash, or if you want to give more personal gifts this year consider this one.

There’s a few websites with instructions on how to make the stars. Here’s one. Here’s another.

She used a cotton ball holder, but you could use an old jelly or pasta sauce jar. For the paper, my friend used old notebook paper which she hand colored, but you could use fancy scrapbooking paper or whatever kind of paper you like. Etsy has ready-made supplies too.

Finding quotes can be a bit challenging. I suggest picking a theme. For instance, my friend picked “Power to Women” and most of the quotes are (unsurprisingly) from women. People like Gilda Radner, Iris Murdoch, and Sophia Loren.

Other themes you could consider:

• Love
• Inspirational
• Religious
• Philosophical
• Poor Richard’s Almanack
• Bad Puns…

I like this gift because it’s personal and it isn’t all that wasteful. All materials (the paper and the container) can be things you’d otherwise throw-away. Thrifty and thoughtful!

Track all expenses for the Month

The way we do this is by:

• Keeping all our receipts
• Writing down non-receipt expenses (like farmer’s market, parking, etc.)
• Leave a voice note when I don’t have my planner

I take my planner most places, and put receipts inside a little pouch in the planner so that my wallet doesn’t get bulky. Sometimes I’ll put the receipts in the wallet temporarily and then transfer them to the planner later. Voice notes get transferred to the ledger in the planner.

Transfer to Spreadsheet

Aaron and I have a Google Docs spreadsheet we share for keeping track of our expenses. Google Docs is great for a few reasons:

• Easy collaboration — we can both update the file at the same time
• Online — don’t have to be on a specific computer; don’t have to merge two separate files
• Easy to import into mysql — Good for interpreting the data later

We update the spreadsheet about once a week. This is one of those nice tasks that doesn’t require a lot of mental effort.

Our spreadsheet has the following fields:

• Date The date the item(s) were bought.
• Store Where did we buy said item(s)?
• Item What did we buy? I don’t usually list every item individually unless it’s only a couple of items. If I buy a bunch of ingredients for a recipe I’ll just write “groceries” here.
• Tag What category does this fit into? Sometimes a single receipt will be in several categories. Each category gets its own row. If I bought shampoo and apples at the Kroger, there’ll be one line with shampoo (and its category) and another with apples (and its category)
• Subcategory Some categories can be further split. Wedding, for instance, is a big category. I want to know how much we’re spending total on the wedding. However, I also want to know how much we’re spending in different areas of the wedding (hall, favors, music, etc.). Not all categories have subcategories
• Amount How much did it cost? I include tax in this.
• Source Where did the money come from? The shared credit card? My personal credit card? Cash? The change we keep in the car? Useful for checking against our account statements.
• Cleared? Has it cleared yet? Have the checks been cashed? We only check this at the end of the month.

And that’s basically it for the initial expense tracking. Later this week I’ll show you how we use MySQL to get some insight into how we spend our money.

And here’s the follow up post: MySQL is Way Cooler than Quicken