select * from users where last_name LIKE "%smith%" order by first_name
INTO OUTFILE '/tmp/result.csv'
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' OPTIONALLY ENCLOSED BY '"'
LINES TERMINATED BY '\n';

This will write the file /tmp/result.csv in a format that is readable by pretty much any spreadsheet program (Excel, OpenOffice, etc). If you have any specific requirements for your file format (say you want tab separate) play around with the options until you get it just right. As you can see you can do anything you would regularly do in a sql query (joins, where clauses, ordering, etc).

And there you have it, one happy person who can access their data in their favourite program

This is where BambooInvoice steps in. It’s a FOSS solution that you host on your own server. The interface is great, and installation is simple.

One of the main draws for me was having the data sit on my own server. It’s nice to know it’s securely kept and backed up when I choose. (okay, maybe I’m a control freak?). After poking around the online demo that Derek has so kindly put online, you’ll get a good idea of whether or not this is a good system for you.

The interface is very slick and easy to use. Ajax is incorporated where it make sense and keeps things loading quickly. You can do basic things like creating create a new client, set their taxable status, add contacts etc.

The main meat of the system is adding invoices and line items. Keeping consistent with the rest of the system, this is a very easy process. It increments your last invoice number automatically and gives you a text box to add a line item, quantity, dollar amount, and taxable status. There’s an option to keep adding new line items as needed on this same page as well. After you’ve created your invoice, you can edit it, add notes, export it as a PDF, or email it to any of the contacts for the company.

When you’ve received payment, it’s just as easy to add that, as well as any notes to go along (cheque number for example). There’s also a handy reporting feature that’ll give you a quick overview on how much you have billed out each month, and if you have any invoices that are over due.

One thing that really stands outs for me is how streamline and consistent the interface is. Everything is nice & clean and simple. There aren’t a tonne of extra options that you don’t really need on any of the pages.

As an added bonus, this software is in active development and continues to get new features on a regular basis. Be sure to check in to the main site every now and then to see if anything new has been added.

Installation is also as straight forward as you can expect to set up a web app. If you can set up a wordpress blog on a server, you’ll have no problem getting this going at all. Requirements are PHP5 and a database of some sort (typically MySQL or Postgre). Create the database, and visit the install link and, and the system will walk you through the rest of the process. Then you’re up & running.

Check it out, you really have nothing to lose, and organization to gain.

The main window where you enter your time sits in your app bar which you can access with either a single click, or a hot key combination. Here you see a breakdown of the current days activities so far, as well as a drop box to choose any previously entered activities, or to add a new one. You can also edit any of the day’s entries from this quick list as well.

Hitting the ’show overview’ button will take you to a nice pretty graph of your past week / month. This can be quite handy to see how long you’ve worked on a project or contact in the current month. You’re also able to categorize related activities so that they group together in a graph.

If you think this would be handy for you, grab the .deb or the source from the Google Project page (you are using linux right?). It’s under active development, so be sure to check the Project Hamster news section every now and then to see if there’s some new feature you’ve been waiting for.

There are also many programs that you can download for free to read RSS Feeds. If you are using Firefox (which I highly recommend… I’ll write about this another time), there is a great plugin called Sage that I have used previously. Sage will let you categorize and search through your feeds on your computer nicely. If you are looking for a stand-alone application, something like SharpReader will do well for you. If you are using Linux, I’ve heard that Liferea is a great gtk application with all the basic features you’ll need.

After using numerous applications, I have ended up using Google Reader. Now, you’ll need a Google Account (yup, it’s free) to use their RSS reader, but I’ve found that it is worth it. It’s very quick to process lots of data (on an average day, I’ll read at least 120 headlines, and that number keeps climbing). One major benefit of using Google Reader for me was the fact that since the data is not stored on a computer, you can log in from anywhere and pick up exactly where you left off. So, it doesn’t matter if I’m at work, on my laptop, desktop, or on the other side of the World.

All in all, RSS is a great way to keep tabs on dozens of sites without spending hours clicking through to each one. Most of my family and friends blog or run websites of some sort and it’s great to keep tabs on all of them If this has inspired you, feel free to add me to your RSS to stay up to date on the lastest posts here!

Some of the criteria we used to end up with our choice:

• Free
• Easy to use
• Handle multiple accounts
• Graphical reporting
• Able to outline a budget
• Categorize line items
• Not online (for some reason I don’t trust many people with my financial data, let alone some random website)

Here are a couple of screen shots I borrowed from the source forge project page to give you an idea as to what the interface looks like.

Reports:

Budget Setup

Creating an Entry

We have found it quite valuable to have a running tally of where we are at, what cheques we have written that we haven’t accounted for (there is a ‘reconciled’ status), and how we’re doing on our budget (how much do I spend on fast food? oh my….).

Unfortunately, it seems like the project is no longer under active development. But, since it meets all of our needs that hasn’t posed an issue yet. There are a couple of odd interface quirks that would be nice if they were sorted out, but nothing that is a deal breaker.

If your looking for something similar, be sure to give Money Manager EX a chance. You may be pleasantly surprised.