Don't include current month in 'Last 6 Months' for Planned Spending expenses (edited)

mrzoops · June 2022

Where it lists average spending for a category over the last 6 months is currently incorrect. It is taking into account the current month which will never be a true estimate until the month is over. So the current month should not be factored into this average.

You can see in the picture below that it says the average is $755 but really it should be around $860.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6031920/uploads/editor/9p/xwc5k3r0sv7r.png

Coach Natalie · June 2022

Hello @mrzoops,

Thank you for reporting this to the Community!

Since this is by design and I'm not seeing any calculation errors in the data provided in your screenshot, I have gone ahead and turned this into an Idea post requesting to not include the current month in this area of the program so that other users can vote on it and our Product Team can review it. Please be sure to add your vote as well!

-Coach Natalie

Flopbot · June 2022

Got my vote! Makes sense!

Flopbot · July 2022

I noticed this with the start of the new month and now I better understand the importance of this idea post. I'm following back up with these two screenshots and some more information to help illustrate the problem.

On the iOS Mobile App, my Spending Plan shows an average of $922 for the "Last 6 months". This is accurate when you average all the months in the screenshot INCLUDING the $0.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6031920/uploads/editor/dc/pq25nwwwt66k.png

On the iOS Mobile App, my Watchlist shows an average of $1,025 for the "Last 6 months". I'm not sure how this number is achieved - I can't replicate it - but it is seems closer to being accurate.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6031920/uploads/editor/8h/v1qhlx4j2fbg.png

The Problem:
When a person is looking at the average on the Spending Plan, it is because they are most likely trying to set their budget for that specific category their Spending Plan. Including a $0 (or artificially low) amount in the average gives us an inaccurately rosy picture of our finances that isn't based in reality. Meaning, I won't set my budget amount accurately...having larger, long-term ramifications.

For Background: