Proper budgeting functionality
Comments
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I see your point. We'd be interested in feedback from users who've previously used versions of Quicken on what they're looking for in budgeting functions, since the word "budget" turns out to mean different things to different people. Thanks again for your comments.
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I've taken the liberty of consolidating two discussions on adding new budgeting options to Simplifi, since a number of the issues raised were similar. It would be helpful to hear from any of you who'd like to contribute what specific functions you feel belong in a "proper budget." One of the reasons we created Simplifi is that a number of people in our target audience told us they felt that a lot of financial management software was too elaborate and complicated for their purposes.
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Another option would be more of an 'Envelope' style system where you actually 'fund' an envelope or category, then draw down on that balance until the envelope is empty. This somewhat in contrast to the 'Mint-like' budget where you are simply spending up to (and often beyond) the preset budget amount.
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@Coach Tappan Yup, like I thought. Just tried it in BOTH Windows and Mac current versions of Quicken and neither of them sync the scheduled transactions to the web portal for Quicken even though I've been hearing "They're working on it" and "It's coming in the next release" for 6 months now.
I understand the desire to create a platform that is in-between Mint by Intuit (Which I dont find much use for) and full blown Quicken... but at least fix one or the other. Get Quicken to sync ALL info to the web portal like projected balances and scheduled transactions, or get Simplify to work correctly and fully. At this point, BOTH products are sorely lacking.
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For reference, I am an original Quicken user going all the way back to version 2: think like 15 3.5in disks for install....All that to say I’m very aware of capabilities of Quicken. I think it is just tired and the cloud based strategies of Mint and what I’m seeing in simplifying show what capabilities are available that give me back time in what I used to spend in ‘reconciling’. I should state that I’m also a CPA. I just don’t have the time to do the work I do for corporates in reconciling for my personal finances. Budgeting in Quicken is CLUNKY and disconnected. It’s just...tired...
Mint has quite a few deficiencies that I believe Simplifi is overcoming but is free with ads (annoying but I can live with because I love their budgeting...it just doesn’t have cash flow forecasting). Add the budgeting feature and I can justify the spend and make sure it shows impact to cash flow forecast.
I think the Spending plan just needs the added ability of budgeting what are not bills/subscriptions/loan payments. Once that is there, then Simplifi has the edge over everyone else: the ability to budget while also forecasting cash. Forecasting cash is the biggest gap I’ve seen everywhere but Simplifi comes closest - just missing the ability to budget the non-recurring items...technically groceries are recurring....
Also, I’m not sure if the “upcoming” page is worth the investment cost. The upcoming page seems to focus on letting me know what is still o/s. Roll that into the spending plan and I get what I need but even better because it shows the impact to cash.
As a stop gap, groceries being our largest non-bill item, I’ve put those in recurring. It’s just more work. I’d like to budget it instead.
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@syrilmathai I really appreciate the insights you've offered in this message. They are exactly what we're looking for to help make Simplifi the kind of product that works the way you want it to! The main tool we created to help users budget "non-fixed" expenses in Simplifi is the Spending Watchlist. You can drill down on a specific group of expenses by setting up a Watchlist that includes only a specific Payee, selected Categories or Subcategories, or designated Tags. One you've entered a monthly "Spending Target," you can display a bar graph that shows your expenses for past months, including how much over or under you've gone for that month.
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A budgeting feature would make this product perfect. Right now it does feel like its missing something. I understand Quicken is what your company offers if you want more features, but my bank doesn't sync with it and its not visually appalling which to me is a deal breaker. I understand simplifi is meant to be a quick and easy program but adding extra features will never be a negative. Customers don't have to use the feature if they don't want to.
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@nm27 Thanks for the feedback! This topic is the right place to let us know what additional features you'd like to see in Simplifi to enable it to hand all of your budgeting needs. We appreciate your comments.
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I couldn’t agree more! This app is kind of useless without providing visibility into how I’m doing against my budgeted goals. I need to know exactly what is happening and where I need to make adjustments, and the watchlist feature just doesn’t cut it.
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I just went through and created a few "Spending Watchlists". I understand you are trying to keep things simple, but this is not simple.
1. To get any useful info, you need to setup a separate watchlist for each category
2. On the dashboard it only displays 2 watchlists at a time and you have to scroll through
3. To get an accurate overview, you need to look at EACH watchlist and then keep track of which categories you have overspent, getting close, etc.This program should have a proper budgeting feature. It doesn't have to be robust. Just a simple feature where the following happens.
1. You set a budget amount per category
2. It tracks your spending per month
3. It shows in a simple graph or table (1 screen or item, not scrolling) where you are at with spending per category. Technically your program is already doing all the math and tracking in the background, it's just the way the info is displayed is VERY VERY non-user friendly.Humans are visual creatures and the ability to quickly pull accurate information from a visual like a graph or table that displays Budget vs. Actual Spending is what would make the budgeting feature ideal.
Please please fix this.
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I don’t think the developers care about our feedback on this issue. This would be the single most useful thing they can do to transform this into a truly great budgeting app, but they refuse to make any progress and/or address our concerns. Very disappointing.
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THESE FEATURE HAS MY VOTE I have been a quicken user and still am for the last 9 years. I also have mint which is not the best anymore. I love were simplifi is going. I joined this community today because I wanted to leave feedback about the Spending Plan. If, at least online, we could go to the next month so we can get a preview of what to expect in the following month it would be 10x more powerful. The feature is half-way there. There are arrow buttons next to the months.
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I voted for this as well. I think for a budget to be useful for me, it has to allow budgeting on a time frame that's longer than 1 month, though. This can be accomplished either by allowing us to set the time frame (say, an annual budget for a category), or by allowing rollover of monthly budgets. That makes it a lot easier to account for things with irregular purchase dates - e.g. grocery shopping might be every other week, which sometimes will mean twice a month and sometimes three times a month. Hobbies/gifts might only happen a few times a year, etc... but you still want to make sure you're not over-spending on those things throughout the year.
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Why is this not already a feature? This is a budgeting app with no way to budget, it's practically useless in its current state. It's a shame because everything else is really good, there is a lot of potential. The devs need to add proper budgeting ASAP.
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Hello All,
We are looking for Users who are interested in spending 30 minutes with our Product Team to discuss Budgeting by Category. If you are interested in this, please schedule an appointment using this link: https://calendly.com/simplifi-product/simplifi-planned-spending?month=2020-09
Thank you,
Coach Natalie
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Hey > @Coach Natalie said:
Hello All,
We are looking for Users who are interested in spending 30 minutes with our Product Team to discuss Budgeting by Category. If you are interested in this, please schedule an appointment using this link: https://calendly.com/simplifi-product/simplifi-planned-spending?month=2020-09
Thank you,
Coach Natalie
Hey Natalie,
I would love to setup some time with the dev team to discuss, but it appears that there is no spots available via the link that you shared. Please let me know if this is still an option. Please email me [email redacted]
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I actually prefer the spending plan / watchlist combination to a detailed budget feature. I came from Mint and find I do not miss the budgeting feature at all. Perhaps it's just the way I manage my money, but while I like to know exactly what I'm spending my money on (customizable categories!), I don't particularly care if I spend more on one category one month and less on another category, as long as my total spend doesn't exceed my discretionary income. Therefore, by showing my monthly income and recurring expenses, as well as my total spending for the month, the spending plan gives me an excellent real time report on how I'm doing and what i have left to spend for the month. For the few categories in which I'm particular interested (because, for example, I tend to overspend in them), I create watchlists.
I understand why people would like a budgeting feature, but there are other apps for that. The spending plan is among the features that make Simplifi unique, and I think is an excellent replacement for a detailed budget. Sorry, but I'm a no vote on this one. I'd rather see Simplifi prioritize other features.
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@Coach Tappan Any update on this? Its 1 of the TOP voted requests and obviously a priority for TONS of people
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@terrancebrandon1 said:
Hey > @Coach Natalie said:Hello All,
We are looking for Users who are interested in spending 30 minutes with our Product Team to discuss Budgeting by Category. If you are interested in this, please schedule an appointment using this link: https://calendly.com/simplifi-product/simplifi-planned-spending?month=2020-09
Thank you,
Coach Natalie
Hey Natalie,
I would love to setup some time with the dev team to discuss, but it appears that there is no spots available via the link that you shared. Please let me know if this is still an option. Please email me terrancebrandon@me.com
I would also very much like to be included on this meeting but the link provides no appointments in October. Have they all already been filled up?
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Hello @bcrossman & @mazar1977,
Thank you for your interest in participating, however, I regret to inform you that we are completely booked up and are not scheduling any more appointments at this time.
I apologize for any frustration this may cause and will be sure to post back if anything changes.
Thank you,
Coach Natalie
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