I’ve been an independent developer/contractor almost exclusively since 2001. In that time, I’ve primarily used a hacked together Access database of my own design to track all my business income and expenses. It even generated my invoices. Unfortunately, I never really had time to expand it and make it into a robust system so it was very picky and many times I ended up bypassing the screens to input data directly into the tables. I did think about using Quickbooks, but only briefly. 
My Access database fell out of favor last year as I transitioned to what I hoped would be a simpler method.
Excel or not
2007 was the year of Excel for me. I tracked my mileage, income and expenses in Excel 2007. While I tracked my time using a stand-alone time-tracking application (soon to be replaced, but not by a spreadsheet
One of the real pain points to my Excel method was that all the Excel files were stored on my laptop. This was ok, but there were times I needed to get access to them from another machine. Not a big deal because I could just map a drive, but still…not as convenient as it could have been. Hell, sometimes I didn’t have my laptop but still needed to get access to those files, so I ‘d end up writing something down on paper and try to remember to get it into the spreadsheet. In hindsight, storing them on a server could have reduced the pain, but my guess it would have pissed me off to be offsite somewhere with my laptop and not have access to the files.
Google!
In the past couple of weeks, I’ve slowly been converting / re-developing my spreadsheets using Google Docs. So far, it’s been a great experience, especially considering I only used a tiny fraction of what Excel offered. This gives me the ability to access that information from anywhere that has a connection plus I’m not having to worry about losing the data if anything happens to my laptop.
Google Docs let’s me export my data back to Excel if needed as well as printing to PDF, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out on too much right now.
Email?
Over the years, I’ve been a huge fan of Microsoft Outlook and have .pst files going back each year to 2003. About 3 or 4 years ago, a buddy and I embarked on a short-lived effort to write an email application that could take its place because one of my biggest complaints about Outlook is the .pst file itself. It’s this big nebulous blob of binary crap that, if corrupted, could spell lost emails. Anyway, our plan at the time was to store individual emails as xml files, yada yada yada….that plan didn’t get too far and so I’ve continued to use Outlook. 
Over the past year or so, I’ve slowly been sending more and more people to my gmail account since it’s something I can access anywhere (even my less-than-feature-filled phone). Gmail took some getting used to since I liked having a pretty deep folder structure (which flattened a couple years ago ala GTD), but now I’m digging the idea of labels and I still have “a metric buttload” of space left. Hell, if needed, I can upgrade and get 25GB.
A few days ago, while I was attending the CodeMash conference in Ohio, my laptop stopped working. I was pretty bummed because not only was most of my project work on it, but my 2008.pst file was too.
When I got home from the conference, I yanked the hard drive and dropped it in my server (thank God the laptop drive was SATA) and pulled everything off, but at that point I really had no desire to install Outlook on my desktop and re-configure all my accounts so I clicked over the gmail (which, BTW, is always open along with twitter and remember the milk) and added my primary email accounts.
Of course, I still need to keep Outlook around in case I need to access my email archives, but that’s no big deal. I can always use my wife’s laptop which runs Outlook 2003 if I need to.
Calendar
I also started using Google Calendar today after making sure that Outlook things would continue to work correctly when I sent meeting requests to my wife. So far, so good.
Tasks
I’ve tried the 37signals apps but abandoned them pretty quickly because I absolutely hated the attitude coming from the developers. There were features I knew I wanted but would never see because they didn’t believe in them. Uh huh….whatever.
A month or two ago, I started using Remember the Milk and I’m loving it. It fits pretty well with the way I work and I can access it from anywhere that has a connection.
Missing Pieces
Right now, I’m missing two pieces to this puzzle. I’m currently not sure how I’m going to handle invoicing. When I first started moving my spreadsheets to Google docs, I thought I could do the same thing I’ve been doing: create individual invoices, print them to PDF and email them. Unfortunately, that’s a sucky solution. My next thought was to use the Meiraware Business application. I’ve done some initial testing and like it, but I’m not sure there’s enough flexibility given the way I normally do my invoices. I’ve given Jayme a couple suggestions, but he’s been blowing me off (I kid, I kid).
The other missing piece is my contact list, but I suppose that’s what Plaxo and LinkedIn are for huh? I’m not sure what I’ll do about those people that don’t have Plaxo or LinkedIn accounts. Maybe keep them in a spreadsheet? Hmmm…I’m really not sure. Any suggestions?
So far, so good
While I haven’t been using these apps for very long (with the exception of Gmail), I do feel better knowing I’m not tied to one computer.
Oh, I’ve also set my wife up with an iDrive account for her backups (thanks for the recommendation Jayme). If all goes well, I’ll start using it as well. Short of burning DVDs and taking them offsite every couple days, it seems like the best option.
Have you tried Microsoft Accounting? It’s pretty good for invoicing and small business needs. Plus, the express version is free.
Hi Micheal,
If you haven’t solved your invoicing dilemma I would love to suggest you check out Freshbooks.com. I love them for so many reasons but mostly because they make my life easier……and I work for them
Saul Colt
FreshBooks.com
I see you’re using allot of Google technologies. Out of curiosity, are you using Google apps (http://www.google.com/a), or your personal Google account?
I’ve been using Google Apps for about a year with KohnenSolutions.com. I like how it separates personal calendars, email, chat, Docs from business. Plus you have allot of “in my domain only” features, which is nice if your company has multiple employees.
@Bart – nope. I’ve never looked at Microsoft Accounting, but it’s now on my TODO list.
thanks!
@Saul – I will definitely take a look at Freshbooks.com.
@Justin – I’m just using my personal accounts, although I read through Hanselman’s blog when he moved to Google apps. I need to dig into it a bit more since I can’t see myself moving back to desktop apps anytime soon.
Michael,
I have been using Google Apps for RossCode.com for a while now, and have been very pleased with it – even though I’ve been using Outlook as a thick client (via IMAP). I posted about my migration here: http://www.rosscode.com/blog/index.php?title=how_i_consolidated_my_many_email_address&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
Just recently though, I’ve started to use the online gmail client, and I’ve been happy. I’m not ready to move everything over to online only, but there is definitely some appeal to finding apps that give you the ability to have a thick client while still storing and having access to your info in “the cloud”.
For backups, I use Mozy. It runs every night at 4:00 AM, and all of my important info is backed up automatically.
@Joel – cool. I’ll check out your post. I could possibly convinced to use IMAP once my laptop comes back mainly because I really do like Outlook 2007.
My main use of gmail (until recently) has been to handle distribution lists and I struggled with the thought of all my email being “stuck” in gmail. In reality though…it’s no different than having it stuck in a big, fact 1gb PST.
As for Mozy…I think if I go with a solution it’ll be with them. I like the fact that EMC is behind them and of all the services, I can’t see them disappearing. I like IDrive, but I’m not sure I have the same confidence level.
@Michael, ironically, the slowness of Outlook and/or Gmail’s IMAP is what pushed me to start using Gmail’s online interface.
I have the best of both worlds now – I have online access and I have the big fat .pst file. So my mail is “stuck” in two places, which, I guess is better than in just one place.
I know, I know… I gotta get busy. Damn Graffiti.
Jayme
@Jayme – are you using work as an excuse for blowing me off?
Geesh.
Good job on Grafitti by the way. Looks really good (I even snagged a license for $99 before the 1st of the year).
Which Google App did you write this blog post with? I’m sure you wouldn’t even think of writing a blog entry with a client application like… um…. Live Writer would you?
S M A R T C L I E N T S S T I L L R U L E !
Seriously, though. Applications like Remember the Milk are essentially moving things into the cloud and making it accessible. I happen to work for a company that uses Exchange so I would never need something like Remember the Milk because Exchange already does this. If I add a task on my mobile phone, it shows up in Outlook on my client. If I add a task into Outlook Web Access it shows up on the client and my mobile phone. Essentially we can think of Exchange as the cloud. The problem is not everyone has Exchange so this is what makes something like Remember the Milk a service people would want. They are almost recreating a poor man’s exchange using google’s APIs and services which then Google will then buy more than likely.
The problem with moving things to strictly online interfaces is online interfaces suck no matter how much Web 2.0/3.0 you throw at them. They are way more complicated to write for and the return on the added value isn’t there.
The thing developers should be doing is providing applications that support at least three interfaces today: Client, Web, Mobile (and by mobile I don’t mean a a stupid mobile web page). This is all possible today and hopefully we’ll see more people get it that the web is not the only way to use our data because in the end it can’t complete with the client and isn’t easily accessed with the growing number of smart phones emerging.
@Keith – I don’t disagree with you at all. For the most part, I would much rather work with a smart client, but so far, my needs are not being met by Microsoft.
For me, it’s more about having my data in the cloud than it is the interface to that data. I’d rather use Outlook than the normal gmail interface. I’d rather use Excel than Google Docs, but, at least in the case of Google Docs, it’s really freakin’ inconvenient to switch between the two.
When my laptop comes back from repair, I’ll most likely start using Outlook again, but instead of keeping a huge PST, I’ll use Gmail / IMAP. As for my task lists and documents…that’s still up in the air. So far, I’m happy with Google Docs and RTM, but like I said, I’d really prefer a client app.
Great tips.. thank you..