Please help me understand the Spending Watchlist

perkin-warbeck

I have a spending watchlist for the Housing category. On the watchlist for September (it's now September 9), the transactions add up to $325.46 but under "This month" it says "$729.84 Spent so far". Where does that last number come from? I also question the Projected amount ($2,472.39). None of my upcoming expenses add up to anywhere near that amount.

DannyB

Hi @perkin-warbeck Yeah, this can be a bit confusing until you understand the calculations for each datum.

Here are explanations for "12 month" (12 month average), 'Year to date" and "This month" from the Watchlist Support Article.

Watchlist Calculations

The Monthly Average displayed for Watchlists uses the available transaction data for up to 12 months, including the current month. With the exception of the current month, Simplifi will not use partial months in Watchlist calculations, however, a 5-day buffer will be allowed. For example, if you have transaction data starting on October 5th, then October will be included. However, if the transaction data doesn't start until October 6th or later, then October will not be included in the calculations.

The This month amount displayed for Watchlists is calculated by using the transactions that have already occurred during the month, as well as any upcoming Reminders for the month.

The Projected amount displayed for Watchlists is calculated by taking the average amount that's been spent per day during the month (including upcoming Reminders), and then Simplifi uses that average to project forward for the number of days remaining in the month.

Hope this helps. The italicized words in the "This month" paragraph are particularly pertinent to your question.

Coach Natalie

@perkin-warbeck, please be sure to add your vote and feedback here 🙂 —

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

-Coach Natalie

RobWilk

One odd thing I see there, this month's total is OVER $500 (over $700) up top but the graph seems to show this month as below the $500 mark from what I can gather there).

I think that may be a bug, and it's possible the graph doesn't include "planned recurring transactions" that haven't happened yet, while the total on top does include that (maybe).

DannyB

@RobWilk I don't think this is a bug. The "This month" amount includes what has already been spent plus anything in recurring expenses for this watchlist category for the whole current month and the graph is showing only what has been spent to date for the watchlist category according to the support article.

perkin-warbeck

If "Spent so far" (under This Month) actually means "spent so far plus projected recurring expenses for the remainder of the month" then I get approximately the same value shown in the Watchlist report ($729). But if this is actually what "Spent so far" means, it's a case of misleading labeling. And misleading labeling is surely a bug. "So far" does not refer to the future in any English language context I'm aware of.

@DannyB. Regarding "Projected." I now understand how 2432 was calculated. Given Simplifi's definition of "Spent so far" (ugh) = 729, then my average daily housing expense (as of Sept 9) is 729/9 = 81 dollars/day. There are 21 days left in the month, so projectd is 729 + 81 * 21 = 2430, which is close enough to the value they show. But wouldn't you agree that's a useless piece of information? For example, if I pay my annual property tax on the first of the month, projected spending will assume that I continue to spend 1/30 of my property tax bill for every remaining day of the month. That is roughly double the amount I realistically expect to spend.

perkin-warbeck

I've been using Simplifi for three months. One of my categories is Housing. I track housing expenses with a Watchlist. I find the "This Month" section of the report confusing.

The Watchlist Support article defines "Spent so far" as including projected expenses for the month. "So far" doesn't refer to the future in any English language context that I'm aware of, so right away I have a problem with that labeling. But OK, let's accept that definition.

According to the same article, "Projected" projects the "Spent so far" value to the end of the month. So if "Spent so far" is 729.84 on September 9, the average daily housing expense is 729/9 = 81 dollars a day. There are 21 days left in the month, so Projected is 729 + 81 * 21 = 2430. This projection is absurd. Let me give a more convincing example.

Suppose I pay my annual property tax of $2,400 on the first day of the month. In the Spending Watchlist for Housing, Projected will assume that I continue to spend 1/30 of my property tax for every remaining day of the month. That's 80 dollars a day. Projected will show 2400 + 30 * 80 = 4800. That's double what I actually expect to spend.

My advice would be to scrap the This Month section or replace it with more meaningful and useful information.