CLExp is a simple command line tool for keeping track of expenses by date, amount and category, and reporting on that information. This is a quick tutorial to get started, and assumes that CLExp is already installed.
To add expenses, use the add command. For example:
$ clexp add 5.95 food sandwich
Added:
01/15/2014 Food sandwich $5.95Would add an entry in the category "Food" with the description "sandwich" and the amount $5.95 and the current date. Categories and descriptions can also have multiple words, if they're surrounded by quotes. For example:
$ clexp add 600 "new toys" "Motherboard, processor & memory"
Added:
01/15/2014 New Toys Motherboard, processor & memory $600.00Would add an entry to the category "New Toys", with the description "Motherboard, processor & memory". Categories are arbitrary, and you can use any category structure you like. They are stored with the first letter capitalized, so "new toys", "New Toys" and "NEW TOYS" are all the same.
You can also add entries for a date in the past or future, by setting the date as the fourth argument in MM/DD/YYYY format:
$ clexp add 5.95 food sandwich 01/25/2014
Added:
01/25/2014 Food sandwich $5.95
$ clexp add 751.37 rent "January Rent and water bill" 1/1/2014
Added:
01/01/2014 Rent January Rent and water bill $751.37
$ clexp add 749.18 rent "December rent and water bill" 12/1/2013
Added:
12/01/2013 Rent December rent and water bill $749.18Calculations can be passed in to the amount field as well. For example, if you split a $44 lunch bill evenly with two other people:
$ clexp add 44/3 Food "Lunch with Alice and Bob" 1/18/2014
Added:
01/18/2014 Food Lunch with Alice and Bob $14.67Several different reporting commands are available. Generally they work with the format:
clexp <command> [year] [month] [category]Year, month and category are all optional. You can specify year, year and month, or year, month and category. If all three parameters are omitted, every entry in the data file will be used.
The detail command is used to give a total for each category:
$ clexp detail
Amount spent:
Food $ 26.57
New Toys $ 600.00
Rent $ 1,500.55
Total: $ 2,127.12Or using the year to show only 2014:
$ clexp detail 2014
Amount spent in 2014:
Food $ 26.57
New Toys $ 600.00
Rent $ 751.37
Total: $ 1,377.94The totals command shows the total amount spent each month:
$ clexp totals
Total Spent:
12/2013: $ 749.18
01/2014: $1,377.94To list individual expenses, use the list command. To list expenses in a given year, use:
$ clexp list 2014
01/01/2014 Rent January Rent and water bill $751.37
01/18/2014 Food sandwich $5.95
01/18/2014 New Toys Motherboard, processor & memory $600.00
01/18/2014 Food Lunch with Alice and Bob $14.67
01/25/2014 Food sandwich $5.95List a specific month by adding the month number (1-12) with:
$ clexp list 2014 1
01/01/2014 Rent Rent and water bill $751.37
01/15/2014 Food sandwich $5.95
01/15/2014 New Toys Motherboard, processor & memory $600.00
01/25/2014 Food sandwich $5.95Finally, you can list a certain category in a month:
$ clexp list 2014 1 food
01/18/2014 Food sandwich $5.95
01/18/2014 Food Lunch with Alice and Bob $14.67
01/25/2014 Food sandwich $5.95To find expenses, use the search command. It is case insensitive.
$ clexp search sandwich
01/18/2014 Food sandwich $5.95
01/25/2014 Food sandwich $5.95The summary command will show the amount spent in the current month and compare it to the previous month and year. It takes no arguments
$ clexp summary
Total spent:
This month: $1,377.94
Last month: $ 749.18
This month last year: $ 0.00
Average spent per day:
This month: $ 76.55
Last month: $ 24.17
This month last year: $ 0.00The categories command lists every category found in the data file. It takes no arguments. For example:
$ clexp categories
Categories:
Food
New Toys
Rent