Personal Finance Management
Lunch Money-based finance tracking with organized file storage.
File Organization
iCloud Drive/Finance/
├── 01-Inputs/ # Raw bank downloads (CSV, QFX, PDF statements)
├── 02-LunchMoney/ # Monthly full-exports from LM
└── 03-Documents/ # Receipts >$500 (tax, reimburse, warranty)
Naming Conventions
Bank downloads:
YYYY-MM_<bank>_<account>.csv
YYYY-MM_<bank>_<account>_statement.pdf
LM exports:
YYYY-MM_LM_all.csv
Receipts:
YYYY-MM_<merchant>_<amount>.pdf
Monthly Routine
- Export from LM: All transactions →
02-LunchMoney/YYYY-MM_LM_all.csv - Download statements: Chase, CapOne, Apple PDFs →
01-Inputs/ - Reconcile: Confirm LM balances match statement PDFs
- Clean transfers: Mark credit card payments, internal transfers
- Categories: Keep ≤35 total, merge similar ones
Connected Accounts
- Chase checking/savings (auto-sync)
- Capital One cards (auto-sync, 3mo limit - supplement with CSV)
- Apple Card/Cash/Savings (iOS helper app)
Receipt Policy
Keep only if: Tax-relevant, reimbursable, warranty, or >$500
Troubleshooting
Duplicate transactions: Check if period was both imported (CSV) and synced (connector) Missing transactions: Use manual CSV import to backfill Balance mismatch: Cross-reference with PDF statement, look for pending transactions
Exit Strategy
To plaintext (if needed):
- Use latest
YYYY-MM_LM_all.csvas seed data - Raw bank files in
01-Inputs/provide verification - Transition to Beancount + Fava web interface