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Allow Ability to add Multiple Categories to Planned Spending Expenses.

Flopbot

I would love the ability to add multiple categories to any one (1) Planned Spending expense under the Spending Plan...similar to the way you can do it with the Watchlist.

For example, I have these category groupings and each one has multiple subcategories.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6031920/uploads/editor/ri/wn4yv2ia3yv2.png

I'd like to tie the top two (2) to this one (1) Planned Spending expense.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6031920/uploads/editor/e8/4r8gdxnyi0n4.png

Personally, I like grouping my Categories together to give me a little more granularity when running reports, etc.

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Spending Plan

Feature Request

Status: Active

Comments

bst82551

Please include the ability to add multiple categories to a planned expense under the "Spending Plan" tab. This feature has been requested before by others and would be very useful.

Previous ticket by other user: [removed self-referencing link to merged thread]

Vinifinpro

Enabling the addition of multiple categories and tags when adding expenses in the Simplifi app would offer users greater flexibility and precision in tracking their spending, making budgeting more effective and personalized.

Coach Natalie

Hello @Vinifinpro,

Thanks for posting your request to the Community!

I went ahead and merged your request with an existing request for the ability to use multiple Categories in Planned Spending expenses. For the ability to use Tags in Planned Spending expenses, please add your vote and feedback here:

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/1688/add-option-to-create-planned-spending-expenses-based-on-tags-2-merged-votes

Please be sure to include that you'd like not only the ability to create Planned Spending expenses based on Tags, but to also use multiple Tags and/or to be able to combine them with Categories. 🙂

-Coach Natalie

Max1223

Here is a use case. I have a Category called Home (expenses) under it I have a 6 subcategories including one called Appliances (NOT a monthly expense).

To make the Spending plan work based on how I think Simplifi designed it, I would create a savings goal for Appliances which subtracts it from "Income after bills and savings". Then I would need to unselect it from the Planned Spending group category of HOME, BUT I can only select one subcategory at a time. So I either have to select and create 5 separate Planned Spending groups to NOT include Appliances or some other work around to solve this.

Hence the request to select multiple subcategories within the process of setting up a Planned Spending group.

UrsulaA

This idea already exists, vote for it here

[removed link to merged thread]

Max1223

I'd like to be able to select multiple sub categories and just omit one per examples above.

UrsulaA

This idea will be helpful to help people manage their spending plan better. Make planned spending like a watchlist.

Max1223

Since QS does not allow to Save a Report, I use watchlists more like Saved Reports. Using a Watchlist in lieu of the Spending Plan/Planned Spending doesn't really work for me as I'm attempting to build a complete view of my "planned" expenses within the Spending Plan.

Here is example of using multiple categories in Planned Spending

Shopping (main Category)

Clothes
Electronics
Hobbies
Software
Tools
etc

In one Planned Spending, I would like to select just "Electronics" a larger annual spend on upgrading computers etc.

In a second Planned Spending, I would like to select all the rest of the subcategories to rollup the rest of the Shopping expenses.

I currently cannot select the rest of the subcategories. At the moment, I can only select the Entire category, "shopping" or remove "electronics" from Shopping or have to make a spending plan within Shopping for each subcategory that would lead to more plans than I would want to see.

With the addition of Rollovers, I'm moving some savings goals (like Electronics) into the Planned Spending section and rolling over each month essentially creating a savings while adding a month expense to the planned spending.

Thanks

Max1223

@UrsulaA i re read your comment, yes more like a watchlist, but accounts for planned spending.

I think the ability to select multiple categories to create Planned Spending especially now that we have rollovers. e.g some sub categories can be month to month while some might be assigned to a rollover.

My current work around is I had to move Electronics out of Shopping as a separate expense so that I could create a rollover Planned Spending item for that.

moneycrusher$7

The spending plan should allow for multiple categories at once. I know you can "bucket" like categories into larger buckets and track spending plan to that as a workaround but it would be helpful to allow the selection of multiple categories at once when creating a category

For example - I don't want to just have a "dining and drinks" category because of everything that falls in that, but I would want to track:

Date night $ for my wife and I
$ we spend on Coffee
All other money we spend eating out - e.g., dinner with friends, lunch out, breakfast

For bucket 3, I don't really care which it is for budgeting purposes (but I do have it broken out in my categorization, so when I look backwards I can see how much we spent on lunch vs. quick fast food dinners).

SRC54

I re-read this interesting thread and upvoted it (though it looks unpromising in the number of votes).

My workaround is that I have a Planned Expense for Auto:Gasoline but the other expenses that are sporadic: Auto:Maintenance, Auto:Insurance, Auto:Licenses and Auto:Vehicle Tax I do as Recurring Bills.

Otherwise, most of my Planned Spending is based on categories and not sub-categories.

I did find it interesting the idea of using Watchlists as a substitute for Saved Category Reports. I guess that is how I am using them, though my spending is so methodical and regular that I rarely look at it.

EL1234

If you have recurring bills for certain transactions, those transactions won't be included/counted in the spending plan, so it might be fine to just have a spending plan for auto and it'll only include the gasoline anyways.