November Wrap-up - Part 2

DannyB

The issue with "duplicate" Planned spending categories appears to be fixed so I'll go ahead and do a quick wrap-up of November. 

Income after bills & savings

• Once again all expected income, including my wife's annual bonus (this year designated "deffered compensation" for reasons I won't try to explain), were received.
• All bills and subscriptions paid.
• All savings goals that are still "active" received at least the scheduled contributions.

Speaking of Savings Goals, most of my SGs have been fully funded and those savings have been expended on the goals while others still have funds remaining and available for use if/when needed. Some of these goals were set up for one time use and funds fully spent when required - irregular FIXED spending. Others are set up for use over time in varying amounts - irregular FLEXIBLE spending - and this is where the need for a better integration of irregular, flexible spending becomes evident.  I.e. one of my SGs is for Birthday and Christmas gifting... we are spending that fund down to pretty much zero, but it's quite the chore making sure all those expenditures are tracked, ignored from spending plan and making withdrawals from the goal.  This has all been pointed out and commented on and there are active feature requests to address this in this forum. (See here for a summary of many SG feature requests now active in the community.)

Planned Spending

• I will be eliminating one more of my planned spending category starting in January, changing it to a SG.  The reason is the same as for other planned spending categories I have eliminated - I keep a certain amount in savings to cover such things as auto repairs and service, house repairs, upgrades, maintenance, etc.  I don't use these funds every month but want the money available when needed.  Right now, in Simplifi, the only way to do this is via SGs.  In January I'll go over how I will be setting up these SGs and continue advocating for some kind of upgrade to SGs or some other method in Simplifi to more efficiently and conveniently handle non-monthly/irregular expenses, both fixed and fexible.
• Otherwise all planned spending fell within the limits set with little left at end of month.

Other Spending

• Zero... by end of month.  Throughout the month some items would show up in Other Spending but once reviewed and categorized appropriately I ended the month with no Other Spending.

Available:

• We ended the month with an extraordinary 70% surplus - remember, my wife received her annual bonus :-:smile:  
• I continue to refine my understanding of and how I use Simplifi and continue to enjoy using this tool and the active interaction in the Simplifi community forum with fellow users and coaches.