Im just wondering what you guys use Numbers/Excel for? Besides business uses I just don't see the use for a spreadsheet in my life. I feel like it would be a good way to organize though.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What do you use Numbers/Excel for?
- Thread starter bigMAC28
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
basesloaded190
macrumors 68030
What do you mean by that? Do you download all of your credit card transactions daily?
669532
macrumors 68020
i hope his personal finances arn't that complex!
i use excel for school Physics experiments, its really useful.
basesloaded190
macrumors 68030
Set up budgets, car payment plans, eventually home mortgage plans, etc. Also keep track on investments and future options. Sure this could all be done online, but if you know the ins and outs of excel it's nice to be able to link multiple spreadsheets and keep everything organized.
Mousse
macrumors 601
Generating invoices, statement, tax worksheets, mortgage calculations, cost-benefits analysis, payroll records, budgeting... basic bean counting.
I guess I take after my dad. He's a farmer.
I spreadsheet in columns; I spreadsheet in rows.
The more I spreadsheet, the faster it grows.
I guess I take after my dad. He's a farmer.
I spreadsheet in columns; I spreadsheet in rows.
The more I spreadsheet, the faster it grows.
iJohnHenry
macrumors P6
Volunteer run logs/mileage billing/statistics, personal banking/CC, Condo accounts, Income Tax, even comparing beer values. 😉
And playing with charts & graphs. 😛
Except I use neoOffice. 🙂
And playing with charts & graphs. 😛
Except I use neoOffice. 🙂
fireshot91
macrumors 601
Personal finance basically. It's really easy for me. One column for Money In, one column for Money Out, one column for Current $$.
iJohnHenry
macrumors P6
How do you reconcile different categories?
I have 17 sheets in "Accounting", 10 of which are linked to a "Current $$" you describe.
Yes, I'm severely anal, but not in "that way", not that there's anything wrong with that.
Being retired, I just have the time available to work my brain.
TwinCities Dan
macrumors 603
wrldwzrd89
macrumors G5
I use neither, preferring LibreOffice Calc instead for my calculation needs. Mostly I use it for making tables, though.
I find a lot of uses for Excel.
Then again, I'm kinda an Excel wizard so it's easy for me to use.
Then again, I'm kinda an Excel wizard so it's easy for me to use.
mscriv
macrumors 601
Like many have posted, a spreadsheet program can be used for any kind of listing or tracking. In my job I keep a workbook made up of multiple tabs where I keep a growing list of contacts, tracking of outcomes, a work log, and a variety of other things. At home a I track finances on a monthly budget. In DJ work I use it for music lists.
For major tracking with extremely large amounts of data then a database is ideal, but if you are just doing simple listing and reference then putting together a quick spreadsheet is a no brainer.
For major tracking with extremely large amounts of data then a database is ideal, but if you are just doing simple listing and reference then putting together a quick spreadsheet is a no brainer.
I use Excel to do the accounts for two Clubs that I'm a member of.
An Excel Spreadsheet is an acceptable format for the Netherlands Tax office.
An Excel Spreadsheet is an acceptable format for the Netherlands Tax office.
Data entry and presentation for my scientific research. It's a bit of a jack of all trades excel. I use it for so many things.
throAU
macrumors G4
For me:
Numbers: home budget - planning income vs upcoming expenses by month, to figure out what money i can realistically save
Excel (work): recording, sorting and analyzing data. I'm a network admin, so i often collect data from say, every machine on the network, or every router, etc and record info in fields - or rather use a tool to collect info, dump to CSV file, then analyze in Excel...
Spreadsheets are one of those "if you can't think of a use, you probably don't need it" apps.
Numbers: home budget - planning income vs upcoming expenses by month, to figure out what money i can realistically save
Excel (work): recording, sorting and analyzing data. I'm a network admin, so i often collect data from say, every machine on the network, or every router, etc and record info in fields - or rather use a tool to collect info, dump to CSV file, then analyze in Excel...
Spreadsheets are one of those "if you can't think of a use, you probably don't need it" apps.
fireshot91
macrumors 601
Okay maybe not ONE column for "Current $$$". But rather like 5-7 columns.
One for each bank account, one for wallet, one for spare cash at home.
When I started the worksheet, I put in a starting balance, and any adjustments are added/subtracted as necessary to bring it to balance (Basically I take the money from the income/expenses areas, and adjust the accounts based on that).
It's a really simplified non-accounting solution, but it gets the job done in a (to me) organized manner.
I don't own Numbers or Excel because i don't need them.
If you don't have small business, If you are not making special calculations, you don't need Numbers/Excel.
I bet many people bought Numbers/Excel but they are not using it.
If you don't have small business, If you are not making special calculations, you don't need Numbers/Excel.
I bet many people bought Numbers/Excel but they are not using it.
And
macrumors 6502
Work - data transforms, charts for write ups, that sort of thing.
Personal - personal finances like every one else. I have one spreadsheet with several sheets to keep track of savings, pension. Main sheet is for keeping track of monthly spending. Have been using this system for about 7 years now and have transformed finances, I never used to know how much I spent, I do now.
Personal - personal finances like every one else. I have one spreadsheet with several sheets to keep track of savings, pension. Main sheet is for keeping track of monthly spending. Have been using this system for about 7 years now and have transformed finances, I never used to know how much I spent, I do now.
Traverse
macrumors 604
If I may ask, do you create a new spreadsheet for each or or one master sheet?
Right now I have a large excel file where I keep every transaction (instead of using the check registry). I use collapsible cells so it's okay now with 4 years of data, but I can see it building up over time. I was thinking of creating a new identical one each year with the starting balances of the pervious year.
Spreadsheet apps are great for keeping information in tables, which can become very complex (and hard to troubleshoot). The power of spreadsheets lies in the formulas you can build in cells that reference other cells, to summarize data.
Advice for spreadsheet beginners: create a separate Excel file for each task. Then within a file create a separate worksheet for subtasks so that you work only in the top left corner of every worksheet.
Commonest home use probably is as an aid to manage finances. I use it as a supplement to a bookkeeping app like iBank. I use the spreadsheet app to summarize financial data.
Spreadsheets are great for making graphs of tabled data.
Spreadsheet apps can be a useful way to make lists of stuff you own, but as someone above suggested, database programs are better for that job. Apps like TapForms are goodfor personal databases like vehicle logging, household inventories, health records, family gift preferences, books to read, movies to watch. Spreadsheets are not well suited to large databases, although experts can really make them sing.
Advice for spreadsheet beginners: create a separate Excel file for each task. Then within a file create a separate worksheet for subtasks so that you work only in the top left corner of every worksheet.
Commonest home use probably is as an aid to manage finances. I use it as a supplement to a bookkeeping app like iBank. I use the spreadsheet app to summarize financial data.
Spreadsheets are great for making graphs of tabled data.
Spreadsheet apps can be a useful way to make lists of stuff you own, but as someone above suggested, database programs are better for that job. Apps like TapForms are goodfor personal databases like vehicle logging, household inventories, health records, family gift preferences, books to read, movies to watch. Spreadsheets are not well suited to large databases, although experts can really make them sing.
