First Impressions
Another Mint Refugee here. I've spent a couple of weeks on Simplifi, and my first impressions are that it falls well short of Mint's usability and functionality. Here are the key shortcomings in my mind:
- Defaults to creating and retroactively applying category rules. VERY frustrating because I've inadvertently applied rules I didn't intend to. I would much prefer the default be that is DOES NOT do this unless I tell it to.
- It doesn't offer the ability to make recurring paychecks on given dates. You are aware a lot of people get paid on specific dates, right? NOT weekly or bi-weekly.
- Does not include future spending in pending bank account balances. If I schedule a transaction for the next month, it is not reflected in the pending balance. As such, I have to treat everything as a one-time transaction within the month if I want a true picture of my pending balance regardless of whether it is this month or next month.
- Spending Plan is (was?) a buggy nightmarish mess. Transactions disappear and reappear randomly. Sometimes it displays budget categories in alphabetical order, as it should. Sometimes it doesn't. It doesn't include recurring bills. It doesn't have the most basic budgeting features - like the ability to roll unspent budget categories into the next month. All it allows you to do is "release funds" which I find rather useless.
Those are the major issues I'm having. I do plan to spend more time educating myself on the functionality. Mint was very INTUITive. Simplifi is much less so. Right now it feels like it should be called "Complexify".
Comments
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The problem with us ex-minters is that we used Mint for years, and we are use to how it works and we are frustrated that we are in this position. Intuit pulled the rug on us, and it sucks! I've tried several platforms and they all have their own quarks and shortcomings… I think Simplifi has some low hanging fruit that would increase usability, but it's good enough for my uses.
I don't fully understand some of your issues, but with transaction rules, I found it just as easy in mint to accidentally apply a rule to all transactions. And the one thing I would say about Simplifi is that rules work!!! Mint's rules only worked about half the time for me.
- You can un-click the make a rule checkbox to change the default
- You can make recurring income "Series" on specific dates
- I don't follow your "pending bank account balances".
- Spending Plan has been buggy lately, they are aware. Spending plan does not have rollover, many complaints about it.
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@watkino, thanks for sharing your feedback!
I'd suggest checking out these existing topics and resources to help with the issues you outlined:
Let us know if you have any additional questions!
-Coach Natalie
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I agree with the paychecks thing. My wife and I both get paid on the 15th and the last day of the month. When we set them up in Simplifi, they aren't even showing on the same dates, let alone the 15th and the last day of the month. Additional options for setting dates for recurring items would be great.
As for automatically applying rules, I'm guessing you're talking about when you edit a transaction? There is a checkbox there for whether or not to create a rule for it. Unfortunately, the status of that checkbox is whatever you had it set to last time you edited a transaction. So, if you edit one, and want to create a rule from it, next time you edit one you need to turn it back off.
My spending plan does show recurring bills, but they are in the bills section, not the planned spending section, and I find that this works well for me.
As for future balances, you should be able to select an account on the left, and then see a graph of your projected balance.
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