My wife jokes that I spend more time logging purchases than actually building.
Honestly, I get where she’s coming from. I used to be all about the detailed spreadsheets, but after a while, it started to feel like the tracking was taking over the project. Now I just snap a photo of every receipt on my phone and dump them into a shared folder. Not perfect, but at least I can find stuff later. The double-buying thing still happens, though—especially with fasteners. Sometimes you just have to accept a little chaos in the process.
Title: Embracing the Spreadsheet (Even If It’s a Pain)
I get wanting to ditch the spreadsheets, but I’ve actually found them kind of essential—especially when it comes time to deal with the bank or justify draws. The photo method is quick, but I always end up scrolling through a mess of images trying to remember what was for what. Maybe I’m just old school, but having everything in one place (even if it’s tedious) has saved me more than once when a payment got questioned.
That said, I totally relate to the double-buying thing. I swear there’s a black hole in my garage that eats boxes of screws and washers. But do you ever worry that letting things get too chaotic could bite you later? I tried “organized chaos” for a while and it worked... until it didn’t. Curious if anyone’s found a middle ground that doesn’t eat up all your build time but still keeps things straight enough for the loan folks.
“I tried ‘organized chaos’ for a while and it worked... until it didn’t.”
That’s exactly what happened to me last year—thought I had a system, then got blindsided during a draw review. Has anyone tried using expense-tracking apps instead of spreadsheets? Wondering if that’s just as much of a headache.
“thought I had a system, then got blindsided during a draw review.”
- Tried a few expense apps—honestly, some are just as messy as spreadsheets once you start juggling change orders and partial payments.
- Spreadsheets let me customize everything, but yeah, they get unwieldy fast.
- Apps are great for tracking receipts, but reconciling with bank draws? Still a pain.
- If you find one that actually makes draw reviews easier, let me know... I’m still waiting for the magic bullet.
I hear you—I've tried both, and honestly, neither one scales well once the project picks up steam. Spreadsheets let me tweak things how I want, but then I spend more time managing the spreadsheet than the actual project. The apps I've tested usually miss something critical, like handling retainage or tracking multiple funding sources. Has anyone come across a tool that actually integrates with bank portals, or is that just wishful thinking at this point?
