Watchlists: Better Calculations for 'Projected' amount (edited)

Jim313

Today, the Watchlist isn't really helpful for managing the current month spending. The current methodology bases the monthly projection on the average daily amount of spend including already paid bills in “upcoming reminders.” The issue with this methodology is that expenses are not ratable. For example, many of my fixed expenses occur at the beginning of the month (think mortgage or car payment). The current methodolgy shows a significant exaggeration of the monthly projected expense (6X+). I suggest the following: First, the “This Month Spent So Far” colomn should show what has been actually spent so far just as the title states. Second, the “Projected” could use the following methodology: Subtract all planned expenses showing in the Upcoming Expenses List, whether paid or not, calculate the daily average spend using the difference, (unplanned expenses so far), then add back the Upcoming Expenses. Also, the titles should change. “This Month Spent So Far” should actually show the amount spent so far as of that day just as the title states. The “Projected” column should be the above methodology, These changes would, in my opinion, make much more sense throughout the month and improve the usability of Watchlists. Even if the projection is off, it would be off by a much smaller amount than the current methodology and the column headings would indicate what is really in the number. It allows for controlling the spend we can control in a Watchlist expense item.

Coach Natalie

Thanks for creating this Idea post, @Jim313!

For anyone who wants to vote on the suggested changes for the ‘Spent so far’ amount instead of the ‘Projected’ amount, please be sure to add your votes here:

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/2989/watchlists-exclude-upcoming-reminders-from-spent-so-far-amount-edited

-Coach Natalie

ajbopp

Here's hoping there's a New Year's Resolution by the team to fix Watchlist "Spent So Far" and "Projected Spending."

"Spent So Far" should show me what I have spent so far. "Projected Spending" should show me what I have spent plus what the Spending Plan says I will spend in this Watchlist for the rest of the month.

Nothing should show me what my current spending habits will work out to if the current daily average is pro-rated to the end of the month. That number has no value to the user at all.

In the screenshot below, my 11 month monthly average (actually it's $3600, not $1400, but that was my error, not Q-Simplifi's) is roughly what I would expect to see for the projected total, rather than a 10x discrepancy.

Wedo778

I've voted in both this and the Spent So Far suggestion, but really they are both part of the same fix imo. I shouldnt be projecting to spend tens of thousands of dollars a month on the first of every month just because I have set up some recurring bills.

Currently, Projected Spending is (spentsofar*(totalmonthdays/currentmonthday)).
So you have to fix spent so far in order to fix projected spending.

I would say it should be done so that any upcoming, scheduled bills are part of the Projected Spending. It is not money you have Spent So Sar.
And then the Projected Spending should be ((spentsofar-spentonrecurringbills)*(totalmonthdays/currentmonthday)+spentonrecurringbills+upcomingplannedbills)

The recurring bills, regardless of whether they are paid or not should never be prorated across the remaining days of the month. They already have their own fixed cadence and are paid exactly that amount and that many times.

You could get more elaborate about projecting, using historical data to fill out what you will likely spend for the rest of the month, but there is no guarantee it will be any more accurate than the simpler option here.

UrsulaA

The projected is wild for me, I have never spent the projected amount in any given month. The screenshot is what Simplifi projects my expenses to be for March.

Can we change the Projected number on a watchlist to match the formula below?

Projected = Spent so far plus upcoming recurring bills and subscriptions for the month for the chosen categories, tags, or payees. Exclude paid bills as such will be included in spent so far, which matches the actual expenses shown in reports.

UrsulaA

Related idea - change spent so far to exclude upcoming bills and subscriptions.

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/2989/watchlists-exclude-upcoming-reminders-from-spent-so-far-amount-edited

RobWilk

I think projected is spent per day so far times days in month total.

UrsulaA

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/comment/30849#Comment_30849

I am aware, the calculation is ridiculous to me. Look at my projected expenses for March above. Hence, the idea to change it. My average expenses are 6,622 for the past 12 months.

@Jim313 @Mark23 @ajbopp @Denali - Looks like my idea got merged with the existing one. Thanks for checking the discussion out.

RockLee

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/comment/30851#Comment_30851

@UrsulaA Your proposal for how "Spent So Far" and "Projected" are exactly how it should work! "Spent So Far" should not include spending that has NOT been spent so far and "Projected" should only include what has been spent so far and what Simplifi expects to be spent later in the month, anything else is just a meaningless guess.

edit: and yea, I voted up the feature request