The Versatility of Pocket Excel

The Handheld and Pocket PC world has been blessed with an abundance of quality third-party software created by a talented group of developers. However, there's still room for the do-it-yourself spirit, especially when you can't find software to suit your specific needs. Whenever I need a simple application quickly, I turn to Pocket Excel. I find that with a little imagination I can make it fulfill most of my database and number crunching needs. Here are a few ways I use Pocket Excel to help organize information and make my life easier.

Managing my portfolio

When I purchased my first Handheld PC in 1998, one of the first things I wanted to do with it was to keep track of my investments. Fortunately, my portfolio was not very diverse in '98, so it was fairly easy to set up a straightforward Pocket Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my profits and losses. As times and fortunes changed, and my knowledge of Pocket Excel grew, so did my simple spreadsheet! Today, I'm tracking 17 different investments, including stocks in my pension fund, mutual funds, IRAs, and CDs (Screens 1 and 2). One of the great things about Pocket Excel is that it can be changed and expanded to suit your changing needs.

Screens 1 and 2 (above): I keep track of my portfolio with a custom Pocket Excel spreadsheet.

Tracking bill payments

I still remember the bad old days when I kept track of my monthly bill payments on an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper. I would list all of the creditors down the left hand side of the page and all of the months covering a whole year along the top. As I paid each creditor I would check them off of my list and record the payment amount and whether I still owed a balance. Everything had to be written in pencil in case of errors, and I kept an eraser and calculator close at hand. This is how I maintained the family budget until I got my Handheld PC and put it all on a Pocket Excel spreadsheet. Goodbye, eraser. Goodbye, calculator. Hello, hassle-free bill tracking. (Screen 3 & 4)

Screens 3 and 4 (above): Tracking my monthly bills is easy with Pocket Excel!

Lists, lists, and more lists

I'm one of those strange and orderly people who love to keep lists, and Pocket Excel is the ultimate list keeper. Whether it's a simple grocery list, a Christmas card list, or a list of books by your favorite author, you can create it quickly, and track it easily, using Pocket Excel. One of the largest lists I maintain in Pocket Excel is a list of Handheld PC developers and software products (Screens 5 and 6). This list is updated on a weekly basis and was recently published in the 2003 Pocket PC magazine Ultimate Buyer's Guide.

Screen 5 and 6 (above): My Handheld PC Developer List travels with me in a Pocket Excel spreadsheet.