financial reflections

I’ve been doing my budget, checkbook and other financial planning in Microsoft Excel for some time now.  It’s handy enough, does my calculations quickly and allows me to move between files and sheets quickly.  Products like Excel have also made Bill Gates the richest man on the planet.  But now Google has what just might shut down part of Microsoft’s gold mine.

Google has announced signups for Google Spreadsheets.  It’s effectively Microsoft Excel, without the Microsoft.  It also runs on Google’s web site so you don’t have to mess with installing the program, getting updates, or paying for the software.

But it also means that your financial data - budgets, plans, portfolios and whatnot will also be stored on Google’s computers instead of yours.  It’s similar to the problem that was encountered by Google when it released Google Mail.

Google mail used software to scan people’s emails and serve up ads relevant to what the email talked about.  Well, users noticed this and were NOT amused.  I understand that Google changed course on this and presumably won’t have your spreadsheet surrounded by ads that the ad software thought would be appropriate.

The whole idea opens up new pitfalls for internet users.  I’ve posted before about how Google can get you fired (so to speak), but now your financial data will be on yet another server that can potentially be cracked.

Because there is an upside here, I’m going to try out Google Spreadsheets.  But here’s what I’m NOT going to put in a Google Spreadsheet:

• Any passwords
• Any account numbers
• Name, address or phone numbers

I’m even a little leery of doing a check register up there, but not too nervous.  I don’t think the numbers would mean much to someone if they didn’t have an account or id to match it to.

I’ll post back again with what I thought about Google Spreadsheets and how my trial went.

Have any experiences with Google Spreadsheets?  Feel free to comment.  I’d love to hear your experiences.