Is there a problem with having many many different categories?

delmerd
delmerd Member ✭✭
Another question of switching over from spreadsheet to Quicken: My wife keeps a spreadsheet with an itemized list of her grocery shopping. The only way I can see that this can be done in Q is using a category for each item purchased e.g. Ham Slice, Turkey Slice, Mozzarella Cheese, Cheddar Cheese, etc etc...

Would there be a problem using this method, or are there any better ways of doing it?

Comments

  • volvogirl
    volvogirl SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    You want to track that much detail?? Off the store receipt?   Or just to have a list?  I just found a good App called AnyList.  I love it.  My husband can see the same list on his phone and check off things he buys.

    I'm staying on Quicken 2013 Premier for Windows.

  • Sherlock
    Sherlock Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020
    Quicken is limited to 32,768 categories and may be nested as many as 16 levels deep: https://www.quicken.com/support/size-or-capacity-limitations-quicken-data-file

    Unless you're really interested in tracking how much you're spending or how often purchasing mozzarella, it may be a bit over board.  We simply use Groceries for our groceries.

  • delmerd
    delmerd Member ✭✭
    @volvogirl Actually yeah, I'm looking to track that much detail. I know it's not necessary in most cases, however it's one of those things that my wife is doing with the spreadsheet she's using now, and wants to be able to do that before switching over.
  • volvogirl
    volvogirl SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    So you want a category probably called Grocery then have sub categories for Ham Slice, etc?  Then when she buys a Ham Slice for $1.59 you can enter it as an expense?  Then like at the end of the month you can print a report of how much you spent for each item?  Would you need this in your main Quicken data file?  I'm thinking you could set up another data file for her Itemized items.   You know you can have more than 1 Quicken Data File.  

    I'm staying on Quicken 2013 Premier for Windows.

  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    OR, how about using Tags?  You can have 32,768 of them also. 
    So it would be recorded with GROCERY as the category and "Ham Slice" as the tag.
    Does she have more than 32,768 lines in her spreadsheet?

    Q user since February, 1990. DOS Version 4
    Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Business & Personal
    Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP

  • delmerd
    delmerd Member ✭✭
    > @NotACPA said:
    > OR, how about using Tags?  You can have 32,768 of them also. 
    > So it would be recorded with GROCERY as the category and "Ham Slice" as the tag.Does she have more than 32,768 lines in her spreadsheet?

    But with tags you can't report on how much spent on each item, right?
    And no, that amount of tags (or categories) should be plenty.
  • delmerd
    delmerd Member ✭✭
    > @volvogirl said:
    > So you want a category probably called Grocery then have sub categories for > Ham Slice, etc?  Then when she buys a Ham Slice for $1.59 you can enter it as > an expense?  Then like at the end of the month you can print a report of how > much you spent for each item?  

    This is what I have in mind as the best option if I want to do it.

    As far as using a second file, that would make it double entry work, so I don't think that would be an option.
  • Tom Young
    Tom Young SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2020
    "But with tags you can't report on how much spent on each item, right?"
    No, you can isolate reports on Tags, just like you can on Categories and SubCategories.
    "Tags" are just another way of "earmarking" transactions within Quicken, similar in most respect to Categories.  The problem with Tags is that Quicken's program doesn't "control" tags as well as it does Categories and SubCategories.
  • delmerd
    delmerd Member ✭✭
    @Tom Young I believe you're right. I just entered a transaction, and I can go to split category, and then enter multiple "Groceries" categories each with a different tag to track the different items. I believe this is the way to go for me, as that way it doesn't show in the category report, I can still see at a glance an uncluttered report of how much spent on groceries, yet be able to run a report on tags to see how much spent on each item.

    I believe I have my answer. Thanks to each one who contributed.
  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    In my mortgage payment, I have 2 transfers to my escrow account.  One has a tag of "Insurance" and the other a tag of "RE Taxes".
    They show up in the Escrow account as 2 separate transactions ... and I can easily run a report by tag (it's under the Reports -> Banking menu to see how I'm doing re: those 2 items.

    Q user since February, 1990. DOS Version 4
    Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Business & Personal
    Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP

This discussion has been closed.