Ilker Mutlu tweeted a pointer to an old post by Brian Wisti on how he uses Org-mode to log money. His technique uses only elementary features of Org-mode so, in a sense, it’s not worth recapitulating the post but if, like Mutlu, you’re looking for a light-weight method of tracking income and expenses, you may find the Wisti’s solution useful.
If you’re looking for a full-fledged personal bookkeeping solution, this isn’t it; you should take a look at John Wiegley’s ledger program and the associated ledger-mode for Emacs. If you’re not ready for a double-entry accounting system and its complexities, Wisti’s solution may be just what you’re looking for. Wisti effortlessly integrated his technique into his existing journal but his method works whether or not you are already logging things.
I display my journal entry headers in my agenda so that it can serve as a précis of my day. I would, therefore, prefer an active timestamp rather than the inactive one that Wisti uses. That’s just a matter of changing the %U to %T (or perhaps %t if you don’t care about the time) in his capture template.
Even if you’re not in the market for a way of logging money transactions, it’s worth taking a look Wisti’s post as a nice example of an application of Org-mode.