10-Year Retrospective: Personal Finance Tracking with Plain Text Files and Beancount
By
wrxd
Sesame, salt, and substance. A flagship bake.
Summary
The author shares a 10-year retrospective on using Beancount plain text files for personal finance tracking, detailing their workflow, the data accumulated (45,000+ lines across 16 files), and advocating for the longevity and reliability of plaintext accounting over proprietary apps.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledJanuary 2026 will mark 10 years since I started storing my personal finances in plain text files using Beancount.
10 years of financial transactions is a lot of data! All in all, my ledger contains over 45,000 lines of Beancount entries spread across 16 plain text files.
I've taken out about 30-45 minutes every single month to download my monthly bank statements and import them into my Beancount ledger.
why I believe plaintext accounting will outlive any app.
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