Best Spreadsheet
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The Pacifier
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,245
Likes: 7
From: Cloverdale, BC
Best Spreadsheet
I just finished going through a bunch of old bills going back to January of 2005. Well, the gas and electric bills anyway. Entered them into Excel 03. It's the only one I'm remotely familiar with, because I used it to itemize my tool purchases the last few years because of a tax audit I got in 04, for stuff I bought in 02.
My dad used dbase 4 years ago.
Is there a better or easier spreadsheet?
My dad used dbase 4 years ago.
Is there a better or easier spreadsheet?
Moderator
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 164,379
Likes: 82
From: MA
I just finished going through a bunch of old bills going back to January of 2005. Well, the gas and electric bills anyway. Entered them into Excel 03. It's the only one I'm remotely familiar with, because I used it to itemize my tool purchases the last few years because of a tax audit I got in 04, for stuff I bought in 02.
My dad used dbase 4 years ago.
Is there a better or easier spreadsheet?
My dad used dbase 4 years ago.
Is there a better or easier spreadsheet?
I would stick with Excel... It is what most people use so transfering files should be easy if you need to..
There is Open Office which is free, but it is similar to MS Office and Excel..
MSWORKS is easy to use, but not easy to share files.. Works has it's own format which makes it hard to share..
Dbase is an advanced spreadsheet program that I am not sure is still around.. Haven't heard or run into it in a few years..
Another older one is Lotus 123, but again I haven't heard or seen it in quite a while..
Those are the only Windows based ones I know of and as i said stick with Excel..
Logistics Pro
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 3,550
Likes: 5
From: Lancaster County PA
Use excel if you are all pc.
I have a mac at home and pc at work so I use open office whenever I send something to myself at home to work on.
For your average run-of-the-mill spreadsheet functions, openoffice works great as does excel.
Most people only use spreadsheets for the kind of stuff you are doing unless they work with spreadsheets for a living.
Excel is fine for that as is openoffice.
I have a mac at home and pc at work so I use open office whenever I send something to myself at home to work on.
For your average run-of-the-mill spreadsheet functions, openoffice works great as does excel.
Most people only use spreadsheets for the kind of stuff you are doing unless they work with spreadsheets for a living.
Excel is fine for that as is openoffice.
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 219
Likes: 0
From: Maricopa, AZ
I have to agree. The spread sheet market nowdays is pretty much Microsoft, and Open Office 'Calc' (OpenOffice.org - The Free and Open Productivity Suite).
I hope I'm not mis-reading what you are doing. It sounds to me like you are using the wrong tool for the job. I'm not sure why you would need this in a spreadsheet.
Are you looking for something like Quicken that could be imported directly into your tax return? Or, are you just using excel like a calculator? Or, am I missing the boat entirely?
I hope I'm not mis-reading what you are doing. It sounds to me like you are using the wrong tool for the job. I'm not sure why you would need this in a spreadsheet.
Are you looking for something like Quicken that could be imported directly into your tax return? Or, are you just using excel like a calculator? Or, am I missing the boat entirely?
Thread Starter
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The Pacifier
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,245
Likes: 7
From: Cloverdale, BC
No no. Not for tax importing, nothing like that.
Just wanted to see what my expenses were without breaking out my calculator. And with the spreadsheet I can quickly compare month to month and year to year.
For example, my gas bill for 2007 was about the same as it was in 2005. But the difference was gas rates were up, and we were in different houses. A 30 year old 1900 sq ft townhouse compared to a new 3000 sq ft house tells me I'm in a better insulated place, if the bill was the same with higher rates.
Just wanted to see what my expenses were without breaking out my calculator. And with the spreadsheet I can quickly compare month to month and year to year.
For example, my gas bill for 2007 was about the same as it was in 2005. But the difference was gas rates were up, and we were in different houses. A 30 year old 1900 sq ft townhouse compared to a new 3000 sq ft house tells me I'm in a better insulated place, if the bill was the same with higher rates.
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 219
Likes: 0
From: Maricopa, AZ
Ah, gotcha! Sorry for misunderstanding.
Yeah, if you already own Excel, then you are about as good as you are going to get unless you can find some sort of tracking tool on the web. Quicken would do this, but it would be extreme overkill.
If you don't own a legal copy of Excel, then by all means, go for Open Office. It's free, and works very much the same as Excel. It can be configured to save documents in Microsoft formats by default if you find yourself needing to forward documents to other people. It's not absolutely perfect, but it should be more than good enough for what you have described.
Yeah, if you already own Excel, then you are about as good as you are going to get unless you can find some sort of tracking tool on the web. Quicken would do this, but it would be extreme overkill.
If you don't own a legal copy of Excel, then by all means, go for Open Office. It's free, and works very much the same as Excel. It can be configured to save documents in Microsoft formats by default if you find yourself needing to forward documents to other people. It's not absolutely perfect, but it should be more than good enough for what you have described.
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The Pacifier
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,245
Likes: 7
From: Cloverdale, BC
Yeah, I already own it. Came with Office 2003, preloaded on my laptop. I was all excited about getting Word, as Works pretty much sucks. But I haven't used it much since I got it. Haven't had a need to write a new resume yet.
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