While Cha-Ching for iPhone is a completely stand alone application, the real power of the application lies in the integration it has with the desktop application. My review will concentrate more with the total Cha-Ching package (iPhone and Mac) than just the iPhone application by itself.

Once you have data in the desktop application or the iPhone application, you can begin using them together. To sync your data open both the iPhone application and desktop application. Go to Settings in the iPhone application and then hit Sync. Once you touch Sync, you’ll get the below screen telling you how to proceed with the sync on your Mac.

Currently everything is synced between both applications except for Budgets. Why? The budgeting function is being overhauled in the desktop application so right now they aren’t compatible. The budgeting function is a critical feature of any money management application so I hope the feature will be working within the next few beta releases of the desktop application.

Entering transactions on the iPhone application is a breeze. After hitting the New Transaction button, choose from a payee or add a new one. Once the payee is chosen, just enter in the amount and choose Income or Expense and click done. It takes just 3 taps to enter a new transaction!

Cha-Ching for iPhone allows you to schedule transactions, create new accounts, add notes to transactions, password protect the application, is location aware, and much more. Cha-Ching for iPhone currently costs $2.99 and requires iPhone software 2.2.1.

The verdict: Cha-Ching for iPhone is a winner. The application itself is gorgeous, intuitive, and features killer syncing with the desktop application. The ease of use is incredible. In fact, I actually prefer to enter transactions on the iPhone vs. the desktop application because the iPhone application is that easy to use. Currently the only downside is the lack of budget support with the desktop application. The budget feature is currently being worked on so it’s only a matter of time before that downside is erased. In short, Cha-Ching is the preferred method to track my family finances.

Your finances have just gone mobile. Midnight Apps, makers of my Mac money management application of choice, have just released Cha-Ching for iPhone (iTunes link). You no longer have an excuse for not knowing if that debit or check will clear your bank account.

Cha-Ching for iPhone itself is a standalone money management application for iPhone. The real benefits of Cha-Ching for iPhone however come with the syncing capabilities of the upcoming Cha-Ching 2 for Mac. You can download a free copy of the Mac 2.0 beta from the Midnight Apps website.

I was lucky enough to beta test Cha-Ching for iPhone so I’ve been using it quite frequently for about a month. My full review of the application should be coming in the next several days. Bottom line, I liked Cha-Ching for iPhone enough to put down my own money and buy a copy.

Cha-Ching for iPhone is currently at an introductory price of $2.99 USD and is available now from the App Store.

Blogging wouldn’t be as fun or as easy without MarsEdit. The ability to draft posts offline allows me to work anywhere and publish once I get online. I love the ability to add new categories without visiting my WordPress powered site. If you blog without MarsEdit you aren’t being as productive as you could be. My one wish for MarsEdit would be bullet and numbered list support.

While there are a number of good ftp clients for the Mac, many of them aren’t free. I’m not a power ftp user and Cyberduck allows me to get the job done. Cyberduck supports ftp and sftp and has integration with Spotlight, the Keychain, AppleScript, and Growl. If you don’t want to spend money on an ftp client, give Cyberduck a try. If you try Cyberduck and use it frequently, consider a donation to the developer (I donated).

In 2007 I used iBank to manage my household finances. Sometime in 2008 I switched to Cha-Ching as my Mac money management application of choice. Neither application is perfect, but I liked the UI and ease of use of Cha-Ching. Cha-Ching 2.0, currently in beta, improves the UI and a number of other features. There is even a Cha-Ching iPhone application in beta (I’m testing it right now) that will sync your Cha-Ching database to your iPhone. When both of these Cha-Ching applications are officially released, it will create a killer experience.

Caffeine is a one trick pony but it works like magic. When watching TV shows or movies, just activate Caffeine and it will stop your display and Mac from going to sleep. You don’t have to mess with your power settings, just a click to activate and a click to deactivate it when your done watching your video. Preventing your display or Mac from going to sleep couldn’t be easier. I use this all the time when watching my EyeTV recordings or viewing TV shows on Hulu.

If you have to use Windows and don’t want to reboot into Boot Camp, VMware Fusion is a great application to add to your arsenal. Though Parallels was first on the scene, VMware has closed the gap in a relately short amount of time. I use Fusion to access some IE only websites for my work. I’m so thankful I don’t have to tote home a Windows laptop and can instead just fire up WMware Fusion. Get VMware Fusion 2 for about $60 from Amazon.

If you read RSS feeds on multiple devices, you need NetNewsWire. The ability to read feeds from nearly anywhere and have everything seamlessly sync is absolutely amazing. I can read feeds at work, feeds on my iPhone (iTunes link), and feeds on my Mac and the changes are all kept in sync. NetNewsWire syncs with NewsGator online and the mobile version of NewsGator to allow reading from almost anywhere. Mobile NewsGator even has an iPhone optimized version which I actually prefer over the native iPhone application. If you are an iPhone toting Mac user and haven’t tried NetNewsWire, why are you waiting?

Skitch is a screen capture application from Plasq. It’s been in beta for well over a year but is very stable and ridiculously useful. Nearly every single picture you see here on Apple Mac HQ has been captured or edited with Skitch. The ability to easily resize and markup a picture and drag it from Skitch into the MarsEdit media uploader makes adding pictures to Apple Mac HQ dead simple. Skitch even comes with it’s own web-service which allows easy uploading and image sharing. When Skitch hits 1.0, there is no question I’ll plunk down my credit card to purchase it.

1Password is a password manager and form filler for OS X. These days nearly every website has a login of some kind. 1Password will help you login to those websites with ease. 1Password works will nearly every browser on OS X. If you ever find yourself forgetting your passwords or having to manage different passwords in your different browsers, you need 1Password. Currently, the 1Password iPhone application (iTunes link) is even free!

BusySync is the glue that keeps my family schedule together. My wife uses Google Calendar to keep her schedule up to date while I use iCal. BusySync makes syncing between iCal and Google Calendar completely transparent. I update my iCal and then when I sync my iPhone, my calendars and my wife’s calendar is available anywhere I have my iPhone. The synchronization of calenders prevents those moments when someone isn’t home in time to go somewhere or those “where are you” phone calls.

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Cha-Ching 2 Public Beta 1 has now been released. I know that some of my readers are interested in this based on my referral logs and people searching for “Cha-Ching 2.0.  You can read more about the Public Beta and some of the improvements on the beta announcement post on the Midnight Apps blog. One of my big wishes (Import Rules) is currently not implemented in the beta, but is planned for the 2.0 final release.

Among the improvements:

• Split Transactions
• Improved Interface
• New Tag Editor
• Flag Transactions For Review
• Much More

I’ll be posting a first impressions post in the next week or so.  If you’ve downloaded the beta and tried it out, post your thoughts in the comments.

If you’ve been reading the blog for more than a few months, no doubt you heard me talk about MacHeist before. The folks behind MacHeist released a boxless “retail bundle” recently. Basically it’s like the other MacHeist software bundles but without the hoopla involved; missions, locked applications, etc.

The bundle includes 12 applications and will set you back $49 USD. The bundle will be on sale for a “limited time”, but no word on exactly how long it will last. Here’s a list of the applications included:

Awaken
Cha-Ching
CoverSutra
DEVONthink Personal
iClip
Overflow
Wallet
WriteRoom
XSlimmer
Enigmo
Bugdom 2
Nanosaur 2

I purchased the last MacHeist bundle but I’m going to skip this one. While there is no denying the value of the bundle, there just doesn’t seem to be that “must have” or killer app to take it over the top. Both the previous MacHeist bundle contained that one applications that pretty much sealed the deal to purchase it. While that killer application will vary from user to user, an application like TextMate or Pixelmator can really bring in the buyers.

The bundle is on sale now and you can buy it HERE.

If you’ve been following the blog lately you’ll likely notice I’ve talked a lot about iBank and Cha-Ching. In my opinion those two applications are two of the best Mac money management applications. I’ve used them both a lot and while I think iBank is the more full featured application, I’ve stuck with Cha-Ching based on the UI and ease of use.

In my iBank vs Cha-Ching comparison, I noted the versions I tested. Since that comparison, iBank 3 was released. Now, the folks behind Cha-Ching have released some mockups for Cha-Ching 2.0 (below).

The folks behind Cha-Ching have released about 8 mockups of what Cha-Ching 2.0 might look like. While these aren’t screenshots of the actual application, you can probably expect some of the design in the mockups to make their way into the released product. You can view the entire set of mockups in their Cha-Ching 2.0 Mockups Flickr Set. There is even an RSS feed so that when new mockups (or maybe screenshots) are added to the set you’ll be notified.

There is no word on a release date for the Cha-Ching 2.0 beta. The current version is 1.2.2 and it will set you back $40. You can download a demo of the current version from the Midnight Apps website today.

One of the heavyweights in Mac money management software received a significant update yesterday. iBank 3 was released by IGG Software after about three weeks in public beta. The update to iBank 3 will cost existing users $29.99 and new users will pay $59.99. iBank 3 is Leopard only.

There’s a gallery of screenshots available if you want to see the new interface. iBank 3 includes the following new features:

• Direct transaction downloads from your financial institution
• Interactive graphs via Core Animation
• High resolution category images
• .Mac syncing and editing with iPhone and iPod touch
• Cover Flow for your transactions
• Drag and drop support
• Loan management
• Export your tax records to various tax software packages

I played with one of the iBank 3 betas and thought it was OK. I didn’t really use some of the new features so I uninstalled it after only a day or two. I’ve been going back and forth over using iBank or Cha-Ching for my money management needs so I’ll probably take another look at iBank 3 since I’m a paid iBank 2 user.

If you’ve tested the new iBank post your comments below.

For the last half of 2007, I used a product called iBank. As I came to rely on iBank more and more, I also began to notice its strengths and weaknesses. I relied on iBank so much, that I named it one of the applications I couldn’t live without in 2007. iBank was missing one feature that would make it complete (more on that later), and because of that I decided to look at another application.

Included in the MacHeist bundle was an application that initially I didn’t think much about, Cha-Ching. Cha-Ching is billed as a “fun and easy to use money manager with a slick interface”. Since I was using iBank, I didn’t really have a need for Cha-Ching. As I began to make a budget for 2008 however, I decided to give Cha-Ching a try.

Application Information
In this comparison I’m using Cha-Ching 1.2.2 and iBank 2.3.12. Pricing for Cha-Ching is $40, while iBank will set you back $50. You can download a transaction limited demo of each application from the developers websites. In addition to the current release, each developer is working on a beta version of the next version of their software.

Supported Accounts
Both Cha-Ching and iBank support checking, savings, credit card accounts. In addition to those, iBank also supports an investment account and even liability and asset accounts. Each program uses a simple add account dialog box to setup a new account. Edge: iBank

UI
The user interface is a very important part of any application. iBank and Cha-Ching take different approaches to their user interface. Cha-Ching uses a very familiar iTunes like interface. On the left you have your accounts, budgets, and other information. On the right you have the transactions and actions. The Cha-Ching UI is very pleasing and down right gorgeous. It really feels like something Apple could have made.

iBank uses a more Mail.app like interface with 3 panes. The left pane shows your accounts, budgets, charts, etc. The upper right shows you transactions while the lower right is the editing pane.

Though both applications have a simple and pleasing UI, I do prefer one over the other. Edge: Cha-Ching

Organization
The ability to organize your transactions is a necessity for any money management software. Cha-Ching and iBank take different approaches to this problem. Cha-Ching uses the Web 2.0 standard of tags to organize transactions. iBank uses the more familiar category. One advantage Cha-Ching has over iBank, is that in iBank you have to add a category in the categories folder prior to being able to assign that category to a transaction. In Cha-Ching, you can just add that tag as you go along and now Cha-Ching will auto complete the tag as you type it again. You can also drag a tag from the tag editor (see picture on right) and drop it on a transaction to assign it that tag. If you’re assigning multiple transactions a tag, it’s much easier to do so in Cha-Ching than to add categories to multiple transactions in iBank. A very nice feature in iBank is the ability to remember categories. If you’re adding a transaction with the same payee, it will remember the category and pre-populate it for you. Edge: Push

Importing/Exporting
Cha-Ching and iBank support the importing of your typical money file types; OFX, QFX and QIF. iBank also supports the importing of CSV files. When importing into both programs, you can select to import all transactions from that file or individual transactions. iBank includes one feature Cha-Ching is missing, the capabilities to setup import rules. This is very useful when importing transactions because you can assign categories based on the payee (see above picture). When I import my credit card statements in iBank, I have import rules for the majority of payees and those transactions are assigned a category on import. Unfortunately I have to assign tags manually when importing the same statement into Cha-Ching. If you want to change money software, both programs have export capabilities. iBank will export in the QIF format while Cha-Ching will export in CSV. I find it odd that Cha-Ching will export CSV but not import. When I tried to import a CSV file from Cha-Ching to iBank, it wasn’t nearly as easy as importing a QIF from iBank to Cha-Ching. Edge: iBank

Adding Transacions
While you can easily import transactions, the ability to manually enter transactions is also needed. I actually enter in my checking account transactions manually while I import my credit cards transactions. This is useful when you pay bills online and you want to know your balance after you’ve paid a bill but before the check/transfer has cleared. After clicking the add transaction button about 1/3 way down the lower right corner of the application, you’ll see the transaction information screen change to the add transaction screen (see right). Here you can add a payee, set an amount and date, add a to or from via your address book, tag your transaction, and set a few other options. One thing I don’t like about the Cha-Ching is the inability to expand the note field. If you type a long note in the transaction you have to scroll down inside the box to read it. You can also add an image for the transaction or attach files to it. This would be a great place to save your digital receipts.

Near the identical spot in the application as Cha-Ching, you’ll find the add transaction button in iBank. As you would expect, clicking it will bring up a new blank transaction. Here you can set the payee, category, amount and date, add a image, add a memo, and a few other items. iBank includes the ability to add a payment type (check, deposit, online, transfer, etc) and include a check number. For anyone who writes a large number of checks, the ability to add a check number will be beneficial. You cannot attach files to a transaction like you can in Cha-Ching. You can however split a transaction in iBank. As you enter transactions, iBank will remember the categories that are associated with various payees. For instance, if I enter in Publix as a payee, iBank will automatically populate the category with “Groceries”. This feature cuts down on the time it takes to enter transactions. Edge: iBank

Scheduled Transactions
Both iBank and Cha-Ching have a way to enter recurring transactions. This is very helpful if you have a transaction that takes place on a scheduled basis and is the same amount. Transactions such as Mortgages, cable bills, student loans, etc work well with this function. With nearly identical options, each should fit your need for scheduled transactions. Edge: Push

Budgets
The ability to create a budget is critical to managing your money. Thankfully both iBank and Cha-Ching feature easy to use budgets. Up until I was writing this review, I thought iBank was missing one critical budgeting feature. As it turns out it was right in front of me the whole time.

Setting up your budget in Cha-Ching is easy. Just create a budget and then click edit. As you enter in your budget items, Cha-Ching will autocomplete your tag if you’ve previously used it with one of your transactions. Once you have entered your incoming and outgoing budget items, if you have entered transactions with those tags you’ll see a realtime calculation of “Budgeted vs. Actual”. The “Actual” calculation will include any other account you have setup. So if you have tagged a transaction in your Credit Card account and included that tag as an item in your budget, it will be counted. I really like the simplicity of the budget screen. On improvement though would be the ability to exclude/include which accounts are tracked in a particular budget. Sure, you could just use a different tag but that’s more of a work around than a solution.

I used iBank for months before I figured out how to perform an “Actual vs. Budget” comparison. I even posted on the iBank forums and the support folks didn’t tell me what I needed to know. All along it was right in front of me. To begin creating a budget, add some categories. Once you have categories, you can add those categories to your budget and assign them amounts and frequencies. This process is nearly identical to Cha-Ching. To get your “Actual vs Budget”, just click the Budget Monitor button and choose the budget and time period. You’ll notice that iBank and Cha-Ching use a very similar format for their Actual vs. Budget chart. Like Cha-Ching, iBank doesn’t allow you to exclude/include which accounts are tracked in a particular budget. I currently don’t have a need for this feature but I’m sure someone out there does. Edge: Cha-Ching by a hair

Other
While iBank and Cha-Ching support various currencies, iBank will support multiple currencies within the program. For instance you can have one account in Euros and another in USD. Cha-Ching has a built in browser so you can access your bank account website if you entered it in your account profile. Each program has .Mac backup capabilities too. iBank includes the ability to create various charts, but to be honest they weren’t very useful to me. Edge: Push

Conclusion
Prior to writing this review, I had my mind made up. As I was writing it however, I finally figured out something about iBank that had been bugging me for some time. The winner of the iBank vs. Cha-Ching Mac money showdown is…..iBank. Even though I feel iBank is the winner, I’m not sure I’m going to go back to using it. For my personal use, the only feature holding back Cha-Ching is import rules. The UI for Cha-Ching is much more intuitive and easier to to use than iBank. While they are both solid programs and you can’t go wrong with either in my opinion, I find myself wanting to open Cha-Ching more than iBank. It’s almost as if Cha-Ching makes managing my money fun.