How can I privately share and collaborate on a household budget spreadsheet?
Asked by
MellowCedar47
I use Ubuntu on a ThinkPad and currently keep my monthly income and expense spreadsheet only on my laptop, with a backup on an external drive. Eventually, I'd like to share it with my girlfriend so we can both view and update it. She uses a Mac, and real-time or at least convenient collaboration would be useful.
Google Sheets would handle simultaneous editing well, but I'm uncomfortable storing a detailed record of my finances with a large cloud provider. I considered Syncthing, but keeping synchronized copies on two laptops could create conflicts if one of us edits the file while the other device is offline.
Is there a privacy-friendly way to keep the spreadsheet under my control while allowing both of us to access and edit it from Linux and macOS, or is a hosted cloud service the most practical option?
Answers
There are also convenient options through Apple or Google cloud storage, and they’re much easier to maintain than a private server. If you choose one, enable strong passwords and two-factor authentication, and consider keeping an encrypted local backup. For especially sensitive financial records, a self-hosted setup or an encrypted file shared through a trusted storage provider gives you more control.
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A self-hosted service such as Nextcloud, possibly combined with an online office editor like Collabora or OnlyOffice, would fit this pretty well. You could run it on a home server or NAS and access the spreadsheet through a browser from either computer. It keeps the data under your control, though you’ll need to handle backups, updates, authentication, and secure remote access yourself.
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A small NAS is probably the simplest private setup. Store the file there and give both of you accounts with access to it. Some NAS platforms provide remote access, and you could edit the spreadsheet with LibreOffice or a browser-based office suite. Just be aware that ordinary file sharing does not always provide safe simultaneous editing, so you should avoid opening the same file for changes at the same time unless the software supports collaboration.
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Syncthing can work if only one person edits the file at a time, but it isn’t a collaborative editor. If both copies change while disconnected, it will preserve conflicting versions rather than intelligently merge spreadsheet edits. A hosted or self-hosted web application is a better choice when either of you needs to open and modify the file independently.
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