Ability to allocate income from "this month" to "next month" in the Spending Plan (edited)

JEM42

I budget a month ahead, so any income I get from paychecks in "this month" goes to "next months" income. I can't find any way to do this in Simplifi. If I change the transaction dates for the deposits, they double up expected income for the next month.

Am I missing something and this is possible? If not, I would love it if Simplifi could do this.

RobWilk

I'm a little confused about how this would work… Yes, you're changing the current month's income to next month, which works as you would expect, but there is a reminder for nextx month for income (recurring) so unless you were to push that date forward as well (which you could do, but might have to manually edit when transaction downloads) you will show two incomes that month.

I "almost" like this idea, because my paycheck comes towards the end of the month, however, as long as only one income exists per month, for spending plan purposes it doesn't matter.

JEM42

Thanks for the response. My problem is I already have all the funding I need for this month (Dec) It came from Nov income (when I started Simplifi) I am now getting paid for "Dec", but that funding is going to be needed to fund January. Because of this, Simplifi thinks I have way more money to budget in Dec that I really do. Actually, it is correct but I have always been a month ahead in my budgeting and I want it to stay that way. I like having a one month cushion in my finances.

I'm not sure Simplifi will be able to do this easily

Jim

DannyB

@JEM42

Congratulations on accomplishing this and building a 30-day cushion! That is awesome! I remember way back when my wife and I lived "pay-check-to-paycheck" for a number of years and how it felt when we finally started having a cushion like you are describing. It was a great stress reliever.

If you will, let me share my thoughts on your idea here.

Allocating this month's income to next month in Quicken Simplifi (or any other personal finance app) the way you are describing is not necessary. Another popular app calls this "aging your money." It doesn't matter which month you receive your income, what matters is that your monthly income is greater than your monthly outflow and the Spending Plan gives you a tool to do this no matter when the income is actually received. In fact, one of your financial goals should be to do exactly what you have done - have the money you need to cover the current month's expenses with funds that have been available for at least 30 days.

Yes, the funds you are using to cover this month's expenses have been in your cash account since last month and the income you receive this month won't actually be spent until next month, but it's not necessary to try and make it look like this month's income is received next month. I'm sure you are aware of another financial goal many advisors recommend is to have an emergency fund that is equal to 3-12 times your monthly living expenses. Your current 30-day cushion is a good start toward this goal that hopefully you can continue to build on. But think about this, if you continue to deepen this cushion to 2 months, 3 months, 6 months or even 12 months, then you would be trying to assign this month's income to next December or so. Again, not necessary.

I have been using QS for 3 years now and the funds I use to pay this month's expenses have been in my cash account for two months and the income I receive this month won't be spent until February and that's a good thing. My December Spending Plan is built around my December income and expenses, but in the real world, I'm spending money this month that has been available for living expenses since October.

Hope that helps.

JEM42

Thanks for the information. I do have a rather large income cushion, but it's stored in a savings account that is not tracked by Simplifi. I've had the 30 day cushion in my checking account for many years. I'm just used to knowing for sure that Checking Balance - Credit Card Balance - Bills Left To Pay - Remaining Planned Spending - Available = $0

I realize that Simplifi only budgets on your current monthly income, not what's in the checking account. That's the part I find difficult. I am determined to make this work because Simplifi is the only account aggregator that consistently works and handles pending transactions.

I would love it if Simplifi could give me a report on the the remaining balance in Bills and Planned Spending! Then it would be super easy to know the budget is on track.

DannyB

I believe @Flopbot works with a zero-based budget method and may have some insights on how to accomplish what you are working to do.

JEM42

Thank you, I'll check this out!

Jim