The End of the Excel Sheet

Wow! It has been a long hiatus! I didn't really mean to go this long without posting, but after a while, I knew that I would have to post an explanation for my absence. I didn't feel like doing that, and the longer I waited, the less I wanted to write an explanation. A vicious cycle!

One of the big problems the last couple of months was how I kept account of my change finds. I used to keep an Excel spreadsheet of all my finds. Here is what it originally looked like during the first years of the Change Race.

You can see I used to keep track of my daily totals, along with "Cycles" & "Dollar Days". When I had my lack of Change Race interest last year, I changed up the Excel sheet from a daily record, to a monthly record. You can see the new Change Race sheet below, monthly and yearly totals.

This Excel recording keeping was a good back-up of information and it was also interesting to keep track of all my finds. I used to look through the numbers and check out the most number of pennies I got on a specific day, etc. But as time went on, it became more of a chore. I had to update the blog, then I would have to update the Excel sheet. And now that I am traveling more for work, I would have to wait until I got home to my home computer (Which is where I have the Change Race Excel Sheet saved) before I could update the sheet. It really became more of a hassle, and was one of reasons that I didn't update the blog more. I would have post ideas, but didn't have time or interest to work on the Excel sheet, so it would be put on the back burner and in the end, I would end up not posting.

This all leads me to this new turn in the Change Race. I am getting rid of the Excel sheet. It is has become more of a hindrance to the Blog, and really doesn't interest me much any more. I figure that the only record of my change finds I really need is this blog. Plus I was at a point of annoyance with the record keeping that if I didn't make a change and got rid of the Excel sheet, I might have ended the blog.

I know this might not matter to any of you, since you never saw the Excel sheet, but it is a big step for me, and I wanted to share with you. We'll see how life goes forward without the Excel sheet. I have a feeling it will turn just fine! The main thing, is that I am excited to blog again, and that is the first time I have felt that in a few weeks, so I am doing something right!

Since my last post, here are my finds;

• 1 nickel and 6 pennies at STL TSA
• 1 dime and 1 penny at Blues Game
• 2 quarters & 4 pennies at Blues Game
• 1 dime in parking lot after Blues Game
• 1 dime in rental car in Des Moines
• 2 pennies at Schnuck's
• 1 Quarter at TIS (Bookstore in Bloomington)
• 1 nickel and 2 pennies at Schnuck's
• 1 Quarter at Blues Game
• 1 dime in vending machine in our Apartment Complex Work-Out room
• 1 dime and 5 pennies at Coinstar

Total since last post - $1.80
Total for the Race - $258.38