What I love most about Rudder is it’s ability to track “What’s Left” or your cashflow over the course of two months.  I struggle with this as we have different bills coming out of our main account at different times of the month.  And, since I hate balancing my checkbook this was a key selling point for me.  So while I can use Yodlee and Mint to track balances, manage our spending in different areas such as eating out, groceries and shopping, I primarily use Rudder to tell me where we will be financially at different points in the month.  Especially since we now have temporary recurring expenses for the next few months.  This is also helpful in planning this year’s vacations and blog conferences as it can get expensive.

Another great thing about Rudder is that it sends an email every morning telling you what bills are due for that day.  90% of my bills are automated so this comes in handy for the few that sometimes slip through the crack because I may forget to log online.

Widgets

Rudder also has widgets you can add or remove depending on what you’re really interested in tracking.  These widgets revolve around cashflow forecasting, savings and budgeting.  I’m curious to see how the SpendMeter works out because I haven’t done much discretionary spending to see what it’s all about.  Though, I think this weekend’s trip to Target may rev things up a bit.

Overall, I think it’s an excellent tool, though I think they could stand to add a few more widgets around tracking budget categories and innovative debt reduction tools which utilize the cashflow forecasting widgets.  My wish is for Mint, Yodlee and Rudder to merge and give us one robust tool to track everything.  But for now, Rudder is what I use everyday to track cashflow and keep on top of bills that need to be paid manually. Rudder comes in a strong first with Yodlee and Mint coming on second and third respectively.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

I’ve blogged about Mint.com before and while I really do like their interface, I’ve found a new love, Yodlee.

Yes, I said it and I am prepared to shout it into the blogosphere!  Not only do they log in seamlessly to each and every financial account I have, but they also have a great iPhone interface which lets me refresh from my iPhone on the go.  This has been a pet peeve of mine because I have been searching hi and low for a feature rich webware that will allow me to perform certain actions like bill pay, checking the actual balance on the go, linking all financial accounts on my mobile device and not just the checking account, listing my net worth and the list goes on and on.

The best thing you ask?  Being able to track it ALL in one place.  Call me a geek but this alone thrills my little personal finance soul.  My credit union also makes it just a little more than difficult to log in with all the passwords and this makes it easier.  If I am in the belly of the debil, Target and I need to check my balance I just long on to Yodlee, check my balance and I am good to go.  It will even tell me right there how much money I have available for my Target habit.

(click for larger image)

My next task is to create our monthly budget and create a bill calendar within the application.  I am rather visual so I need to be able to see on a calendar when to expect certain bills  to come out of our checking account.

I won’t go into the standard Yodlee vs. Mint vs Wesabe as there are a plethora of reviews out there but I wanted to let you all know that Yodlee is officially Ginger approved!

Check out my guest post at Mint.com-Cheap Alternatives To The “Must Haves” In Your Life.

You can read more about mint and their awesome webware in an earlier post here.