Brokentoy

A few weeks ago a new financial program named Cha-Ching caught the attention of a few people, including me. With tax time coming up in April I was in the market for a simple app to help me catalog receipts, invoices, and write offs for both a Canadian and US tax return. Cha-Ching is a great fun tool for me to play around with - plus at $14.95 in the beta stage it’s definitely a better price point that two versions of Quicken.

The cabinet and drawer metaphor gives meaning to the folder structure. The “smart drawers” and keyword tags help keep things organized. For example, I have a “current month”, a “write-offs” and a “Apartment furnishings”. More on that below.

A trip to Barrie this week and some horrid temperatures reminded me that the holidays are fast approaching. I found that with Cha-Ching’s photo features and keywords it’s just as useful as a wish list as a financial tool. I made a smart drawer for some frugal new apartment furnishings. I love how I can import a photo, put in a price, and the tally at the bottom of the screen tells me how much my plans are going to cost:

The program is still in beta and there are some quirks, but nothing that should stop you from trying out the demo. Visit the product site and give it a try. If you find any other uses or handy smart drawer rules let me know.

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