How can I track stuff I buy vs stuff I get rid of?

January 14, 2021 2:06 AM

I'm looking for an app that's like budgeting, but for stuff - so I can track what's coming into my house and what's being sold/donated/thrown out. Does this exist?

I was thinking of something like YNAB, where you enter in the type of 'transaction', mark it as incoming or outgoing, and then over time can see how each category has changed. I know I can log the simple numbers in a spreadsheet, but I'm also interested in tracking trends. I've looked at inventory apps but they aren't quite what I'm looking for! Hope the hivemind can help

posted by mippy to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

Perhaps you could use a google form for this, and then save the bookmark to the form as an app icon?
posted by wowenthusiast at 8:35 AM on January 14, 2021

You could use some simple accounting software, even repurposing "income" and "expenses" for your in/out distinction, though I'm pretty sure you could have some custom attributes that preserve any money numbers you might also want to use. GnuCash is a free one with plenty of features, though for this you might also look to see if anybody has made Excel/LibreOffice spreadsheets or databases to track their Craigslist< - > EBay flipping/arbitrage business. Aaand I just did a search and: spreadsheets.
posted by rhizome at 11:32 AM on January 15, 2021

Home inventory apps are a thing.

I’ve never used one, so can’t offer a proper recommendation, but that’s a search term that may bear some fruit.
posted by notyou at 10:50 AM on January 16, 2021 [1 favorite]