to keep track of what's in the cellar? I just started making a list of my cellar's contents using Excel and was wondering if there is anything better or more custom made for the purpose. I want to keep the data in my computer, not in an outside server. I would like to be able to keep track of blends by total weight. Individual tins also need to have an entry for the date of purchase. I don't have bulks or mason jars in my cellar, only tins, if that makes any difference in the software. I am hoping that someone has developed something easy to use.

It would also be great if it could work with bar codes, but I realize this is asking for too much...

P.S.- This is my Christmas vacation project, time permitting.

Tobaccocellar.org has a feature that lets you build the cellatr online. then you can down loasd a CSV file to your home pc and port it into Excel. It's fairly easy,

Thanks, Old NaCl, but I need to be able to work off-line.

If you like the "roll your own" approach, MS Access is better suited to being a database than Excel, though there is a little learning curve. If I had more time and ambition, and perhaps a bigger cellar, it's a project I'd consider. Of course, if "ifs and buts where candies and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas."

-Andrew

Andrew has it right--if you're interested in being able to search for items fitting only certain criteria, you'll be better served by a database (like Access) rather than a spreadsheet (like Excel). There are other databases, including some that are built especially for inventory, but I know very little about them.

However, you can make it easier to enter items into an Excel spreadsheet by building a Data Entry Form--a lot friendlier to use than just tabbing through a thousand-line list.

P&T Foundations has software to inventory you pipe and tobacco collections along with some other features. The software is included with membership, I think it's about $25 a year. I have stored my pipe collection and plan to do my tobacco cellar sometime. I found it easy to use, update and transfer.

I see that this is an old topic, but one that is bound to come up again for someone.

As I have just barely begun my tobacco cellar and pipe collection, I do not quite have need for a software solution yet. However, my hoard is growing pretty rapidly and I can see that the need will arise sooner than later.

Being a programmer and a proponent of free/open source software, I'm sure that I will be writing a program to fit this niche.

I will gladly make it freely available to anyone who would like a copy.

If anyone has feature requests or helpful advice on what sort of functionality should be included, please let me know. As I said, I am new to this cellaring business, so any suggestions from experienced hoarders is appreciated.

If you use an iPhone -there is an app "Pipe Tool" that works pretty well. I too was using an Excel spread sheet, but abandoned it after getting this app. I think it cost $4.99 and for me it was well worth it. It has a database of tobacco manufacturer and blends that you search to find your tobacco then add to cellar. A second step is to "open" a tin in the software. It keeps up with the date you purchased each tin and when you opened it.

Bob