Re: Archiving

On 01/25/2011 01:28 AM, Edward Reid wrote:
> At 1/24/2011 06:54 PM -0500, John B. Egger wrote:
>> Somebody MUST be using this function... or does everyone just let his
>> primary data file grow and grow?
>
> I let mine grow. I see no point in trimming a personal financial
> record. (Businesses have different requirements.) Mine has grown to
> almost 6MB and contains transactions back to the beginning of 1993,
> when I started using Quicken. I had used Managing Your Money
> previously but was unable to reasonably convert those records.
>
> Storing a 6MB file and 25 backups today costs far less than storing a
> 600KB file and 2 backups did 18 years ago, and processing and
> searching it is far faster. I have about 15,000 photographs on my
> computer, consuming the same space as about 5,000 copies of my MD file.
>
> It's pretty rare that I need to look at a 15-year-old transaction, but
> it happens. For one thing, it's a record of what was going on in my
> life at various times. If I can't find it in my email archives, I may
> find it in MD.
>
> It's also very rare for the old transactions to get in my way. There's
> no processing time cost that I can notice.
>
> So my advice is, if you have a FUNCTIONAL reason for archiving /
> trimming, then of course do it (and I'm sorry I can't help with the
> issue you have). Otherwise, let it grow.
>
> Edward
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That makes sense, Edward. It's hard to break the habit of dividing files
up into sizes fitting on floppies!

Unfortunately my attempts have done some damage to my current data file.
My principal checking account starts in April 1998 with a large positive
balance (many more thousand dollars than I've ever had in that account),
followed by five years of transfers out (to various savings and
investment accounts) until December 2003, leaving a frighteningly huge
negative balance. Fortunately, there follows a string of nothing but
deposits, from January 2004 to December 2008 (except, strangely, for a
handful of 2008 debits --- checks and EFT payments), bringing the
balance back up to its proper amount at the start of 2009. Everything's
OK since then.

Fortunately I can get those old transactions by opening data files that
I froze and renamed before trying "Archive." But I sure can't find them
in my various "archive.md" files.