MacMage has just released a clever little app that aims to make keeping track of your small purchases easy as pie ($7.99 for that pie). Cents ($4.99 for a full license) sits in your menubar and patiently waits for you to spend some money. Simply click the coin icon in your menubar, and the interface as seen to the right pops up. Enter the name of your purchase and how much you paid for it and you're well on your way to financial independence (priceless). You can also export your data from Cents for importing into your main financial tracking app.Cents 1.0 requires OS X 10.5, and there is a free demo available though exporting is disabled.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-28-2008 @ 4:01PM
catachip said...
Doesn't your credit card statement do this already?
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 5:15PM
Simon Arch said...
Not for cash purchases.
4-28-2008 @ 4:04PM
Ryan Schmidt said...
Hmm... I could think of about 20 different ways to keep track of this data using "apps" that come pre-installed on ALL computers. Their names resemble those of TEXTEDIT, NOTEPAD, WORDPAD, GOOGLE DOCS, etc.
I have no problem with people charging $$$ for their work. I am just glad that so many do not. If this app is worth $5 and can do 1 thing, I am scared to think if some of the freeware I use would turn payware. How much could they rightfully charge? YIKES!
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 4:59PM
Ryan M said...
Look, it takes time to develop these apps. If some people want to release theirs free, that's great, but what is wrong with somebody charging $5 for an app that probably took them hours to code, and that they'll probably spend hours supporting? I don't think any small-time developer is going to get stinking rich over $5, but what's wrong with buying the guy a cup of coffee for his hard work?
4-28-2008 @ 4:36PM
Big John said...
Nice, easy and cheap way to start keeping track of your finances. When I hear someone say they don't need a receipt at a store, I cringe a little inside.
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 4:42PM
Britton said...
I'm really looking into purchasing this considering I do tend to make a lot of small purchases. I really could use something like this despite the fact that I DO agree with the obvious textedit/notepad statement. The only thing is, I think I need a looming number on my menubar to remind me of my sometimes unnecessary expenses versus it being tucked away in some document where I can kind of hide from it. Also, this app really, really, should only be 1.99 (2.99, at most).
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 4:45PM
Samuel said...
Can I change the currency to £terling
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 5:38PM
Ernest said...
Hey Samuel. Yes you can. Cents is actually localized to your country, so it should be using the currency of your country depending on what you have set in your System Prefs.
4-28-2008 @ 4:49PM
tukan said...
are there any other limitations to the demo except for the exporting? BTW I am now using Cashbox for my money-management (due to its simplicity - I only track expenses, not fully blown statements) and I was wondering if there is anything a little bet newer which can do similar tasks. I have Cha-Ching but it's still too much for my needs...
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 5:03PM
Joel Bechtolt said...
Truly a sign of a whole new great depression. Get on it people! Let's change!
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 5:08PM
Ryan Schmidt said...
Seriously... if you are even thinking about buying this or even trying it, check out www.mint.com first. It is AMAZING! It has literally changed my life and caused me to stopped unnecessary spending. I would pay MONTHLY for it but somehow, it's free!
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 5:23PM
mikelite said...
this would be much more useful on the iPhone. Since I stopped my iMac around with me...
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 5:34PM
Ernest said...
Heyo. As per the blog on MacMage, iPhone version of this is already in production. Stay tuned!
4-28-2008 @ 8:28PM
ZeroCorpse said...
So it's the calculator with the printer tape feature enabled.
Not getting how this is different or better.
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 8:31PM
geochick said...
Something like this on the iPhone would be nice. I don't sit and home and spend money I'm out and about so using my iPhone to track this would be more helpful.
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 9:33PM
starwxrwx said...
This seems like a good idea -I'm off on a holiday soon and I know I can never keep track of how much coinage I'm wasting on random things (except when my wallet is empty)
Reply
4-28-2008 @ 10:27PM
(01) said...
This would actually be pretty cool as an iPhone app...it would certainly help remind me that I don't need to spend money on nothing.
Reply
4-29-2008 @ 12:52AM
Jonathan said...
Those who don't get this probably don't work in situations where keeping track of expenses is a bit of a task. I travel for my job and need to claim money back. It's fine keeping receipts but the number of times I've looked at one and forgotten what it was for, or sent a claim off with a receipt missing.
Something like this is a very simple app for a very simple task and as such it's one of a growing breed of programs.
For me (but not for everyone) TextEdit etc just don't do it. The idea of having something readily available in the menu bar for a quick entry suits me down to the ground.
So while some may find it a one-trick pony and balk at the price (woo! $5!) I'd say don't criticise it. If it's not for you, it's not for you - that's pretty much the point. Lay off with the sniping. This sort of app development is the future and should be encouraged!
Reply
4-29-2008 @ 10:31AM
kungfumaniac said...
I am concerned about my expenses.
So concerned, in fact, that I don't see myself spending $4.99 on this.
Reply
6-01-2008 @ 12:06PM
Ben H said...
Try mini$. Great app and really easy to use. Cross platform also.
http://adoracom.com/minimoney/index.html
Reply