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

mrzoops

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

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Completed

Spending Plan

Feature Request

Status: Completed

Comments

Coach Natalie

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

Got my vote! Makes sense!

Flopbot

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:

June 2022 = $1,337.13
May 2022 = $1,084.89
April 2022 = $1,274.43
March 2022 = $886.10
February 2022 = $950.41
January 2022 = $923.47
December 2021 = $912.73
November 2021 = $1,148.01
October 2021 = $810.28
September 2021 = $841.41
August 2021 = $702.06

itzsaga

I just ran into this. I can't think of any use case for the current implementation.

UrsulaA

Agree, the last six month average is always understated with the current calculation.

RobWilk

Never noticed this somewhat major issue before, agree, and voted yes.

MishaM

Currently, the Last 6 Month average uses the current month as part of the calculation - this really skews the average especially in the first few weeks of the month.

Please change this to “Previous 6 Months” and include averages for months not including the current one.

Thanks!

DannyB

Sorry, miss read what is being referenced here - Spending Plan/Planned Spending 6-month average.

SRC54

Exactly what is being asked for here; haven't upvoted or downvoted yet as I am unsure of the feature request. Probably my fault.

MishaM

Might be phrased poorly - when I go into a category within the spending plan it shows a 6mo average - but the current month weighs down the average. A more helpful stat would be previous 6 months - in the example below Jul-Dec instead of Aug-Jan.

SRC54

Thank you so much for clarifying. I think I noticed that once but forgot about it. I've also noticed when I set up a new category for Spending Limits that the suggestion seems way off.

Upvoted!

MishaM

bump!

MishaM

bump!

Coach Natalie

Planned Spend has been updated to not include the current month in the 'Last 6 Months' chart! We hope this meets everyone's needs!

MishaM

Great news @Coach Natalie, thank you - is it possible to do the same for watchlists?

In the example below, force the "12 month" average to be Nov '24 - Nov '25?

Coach Natalie

@MishaM, I don't see that Watchlists are part of this request, so I don't have any insight to provide on your inquiry.

You can vote for and follow the applicable Idea post for Watchlists here:

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/545/watchlist-monthly-average-should-not-include-the-current-month-edited

I hope this helps get you pointed in the right direction!