[ethhics]

I used ledger for 2019–2020 and by the end of it I had scripts to pull just about everything automatically, whether via OFX, Plaid, CSV, or PDF. It became a drag when I realized that I’m starting a new job, I’m opening new accounts, &c., and all my tooling would have to be constantly changing.

Now two years later I’m porting my details into Beancount (the tool whose documentation is linked), and I’ve changed my approach to one that seems much more sustainable: once a month, download statements and enter them in with some templates to assist. Maybe I use a CSV parser for credit cards and other high-frequency accounts, but for what I want out of plaintext accounting, I don’t need hours of weekly time to keep decent finances, but perhaps an evening a month.

If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your use case or motivation for having sub-weekly updates to your financial picture?