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Ask HN: What automation tools have you used to replace mundane activities?

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Re: Ask HN: What automation tools have you used to replace mundane activities?

#131

Post by ralmeida »

lignux wrote: post #126
buzzy_hacker wrote: post #121

I use YNAB ( https://youneedabudget.com/ ), which requires inputting every one of your transactions by hand or importing them from your bank. The downside of the import is it takes a few days for the transaction to show up and you need to give YNAB your bank username/password, which I'm not comfortable with. I wrote this https://github.com/buzzlawless/ynab-live-import to import credit card transactions instantly with…

What do you do about cash transactions?

Not OP, but there's not much to do about them - best way is to enter manually in the app at the time of purchase or write them down in a notebook and enter them in batch once in a couple days or per week.

If your cash spending is sufficiently small that you don't care much to tracking each cash transaction individually, you can just track money as a category instead of an account - just record an outflow transaction in your bank account when you withdraw.

Re: Ask HN: What automation tools have you used to replace mundane activities?

#132

Post by ralmeida »

bathtub365 wrote: post #127
buzzy_hacker wrote: post #121

I use YNAB ( https://youneedabudget.com/ ), which requires inputting every one of your transactions by hand or importing them from your bank. The downside of the import is it takes a few days for the transaction to show up and you need to give YNAB your bank username/password, which I'm not comfortable with. I wrote this https://github.com/buzzlawless/ynab-live-import to import credit card transactions instantly with…

That sounds a lot more complicated than just downloading bank statements and uploading them to YNAB and adds a lot more points of failure

It does, but it also keeps YNAB more in sync with your bank account, since transactions will typically take a couple days to show up in the statement.

Re: Ask HN: What automation tools have you used to replace mundane activities?

#133

Post by bathtub365 »

ralmeida wrote: post #132
bathtub365 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds a lot more complicated than just downloading bank statements and uploading them to YNAB and adds a lot more points of failure

It does, but it also keeps YNAB more in sync with your bank account, since transactions will typically take a couple days to show up in the statement.

Sure, but a database? Isn’t that part of what YNAB provides?

Re: Ask HN: What automation tools have you used to replace mundane activities?

#134

Post by lyime »

Automated investing and wealth reporting.

I use a few services to automatically invest money into a few different financial vehicles at a regular basis

* Vanguard finds (bi-weekly transfer into various ETFS)

* Titan Invest (robo advisor bi weekly)

* IRA and 529 (monthly)

I use personal capital to connect see view my cash flow and returns across all my accounts.

I have been doing this for the past 3 years and my returns have increased significantly.

I am 34 and I wish I had started doing this when I was younger.

Re: Ask HN: What automation tools have you used to replace mundane activities?

#135

Post by beamatronic »

iKlsR wrote: post #118
zitterbewegung wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the better question is how long did it take you to set this up initially?

Right, I started with RSS initially. It wasn't in one go, it was over a period. If I had to give you a definitive answer however, I haven't spent more than a couple hours total on this and I've been using this close to 2 years now. Did a recap last night and I have a total of 17 bots, some post daily, others I see once a month. I'm also seeing tools being shared here that could make this a lot easier as well such as…

There’s no subscription charges or hosting costs?

Re: Ask HN: What automation tools have you used to replace mundane activities?

#136

Post by aphit »

bathtub365 wrote: post #133
ralmeida wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does, but it also keeps YNAB more in sync with your bank account, since transactions will typically take a couple days to show up in the statement.

Sure, but a database? Isn’t that part of what YNAB provides?

One of the key features of YNAB is using it to actually inform you before you make purchases. By having it near instant (manual, or by this method), your decisions are fully informed when you make them.

Re: Ask HN: What automation tools have you used to replace mundane activities?

#137

Post by ralmeida »

bathtub365 wrote: post #133
ralmeida wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does, but it also keeps YNAB more in sync with your bank account, since transactions will typically take a couple days to show up in the statement.

Sure, but a database? Isn’t that part of what YNAB provides?

Yes, but a DB of "transaction notifications" your bank sent you could still be useful so you can reconcile/debug if needed, much like the actual bank statement.

I do agree that the DB could be removed from the system, adding the transaction directly from the SES-triggered event, and that would work for most cases.

Re: Ask HN: What automation tools have you used to replace mundane activities?

#138

Post by ehnto »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #55
clement_b wrote: post #47

Probably off initial topic, but: - FileJuggler on Windows, to automatically clean Desktop, Download folder and archive everything into a date-based folder structure in Drive. - AutoHotKey to insert text templates into everything (e.g. current date, formatted Jira issues, annoying things to type) The problem with automation is that one will want to break even quickly [time saved > (time spent finding/setting/maintaini…

Perhaps underappreciated aspect of automation is friction reduction. Having a semi-automated process can be what it takes for you to stop avoiding doing some little chore, or what makes you no longer suffer as you do it.

I am really susceptible to friction. It's why my bike is at my front door, and why I don't stack things. Adam Savage has a principle he called First Order Retrievability that helps reduce friction for using tools around his workshop.

This thread made me think about automating my invoicing. If all it did was mail me the completed PDF to then forward to clients, that would definitely make me do it more consistently on the 1st of the month even though it's not completely automated.

https://hackaday.com/2015/02/28/adam-savages-first-order-of-...

Re: Ask HN: What automation tools have you used to replace mundane activities?

#140

Post by jharohit »

hugs wrote: post #104
jharohit wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plugging another alternative to the horrible Selenium made by two friends of mine! https://uilicious.com/

Just here to let you know the Selenium developers are human and read HN, too.

Don’t like the tool, didn’t say anything about the Developers. Not the finest choice of words though I agree.
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