tracking food usage

I would like to input one years groceries by type and cost-then break it down
to single groups like-what did i spend last year on bread and how many
packages did i buy.

Okay. What do you need from us?

Have you decided how to build your tables?

I would assume you'd need a table of products that includes type, name,
price, etc.

You'd need another table to enter the various purchases including the date,
product, price paid, qty, etc.

Without knowing more, it would be hard to help you. We would need to know
what specific questions you have.

--
Rick B



"animalsmom" wrote in message
...
I would like to input one years groceries by type and cost-then break it
down
to single groups like-what did i spend last year on bread and how many
packages did i buy.

Grin::
Maybe you could get your local (Albertson's, Wal-Mart) to give you back all
that information they collect on your purchases using your 'discount' card.
They know you shop between 1pm and 3:30 pm Tuesday, buy Charmin Toliet
tissue and Vanilla ice cream every other Tuesday along with 1.6 pounds of
ground beef and two packages of potato chips. On the other Tuesdays you buy
2.2 pounds of chicken, taco shells, and Kraft shredded cheese.


Seriously : This sounds like exactly what Quickbooks, Quicken, et al. are
designed to do. However, I think the data entry overhead exceeds the value
of information obtained.

If you want to "roll your own". First you have to decide what 'groups' of
groceries you want to divide stuff up into.
e.g.
----------------------grouping 1
Bread
Fruit
Veg
Meat

or
-------------------grouping 2
White bread
Wheat bread
Muffins
Biscuits
Apples
Oranges
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Onions
Beef Steak
Beef Roast
Beef Ground
Pork Chops
Pork Roast
Ham
Bacon
etc.

Or if really 'anal' about it you may want to enter each UPC code using a bar
code reader.


Then you have to decide what data you want to keep on each group

Currency expended. ($$, Euro, Pound)
or volume purchased (ounces, pounds, etc.)

Currency is of interest if you want to know about spending rate.
Volume is of interest if you are intested in diet, fat, calories, etc.

Lots of luck

Ed Warren.


"animalsmom" wrote in message
...
I would like to input one years groceries by type and cost-then break it
down
to single groups like-what did i spend last year on bread and how many
packages did i buy.