Actual vs Budget Tracker with MTD tracking

ajthurst7

I’m one of the new users that had to make the move from Mint. I think this platform is great! However, it really could use a true actual vs. budget tracker. I used the budget tracker solely for my variable expenses. You could customize which categories to track and how much to assign to each category. It would also be nice to have a line on the budget to indicate how far you are into the month so you can tell if you’re on track or you need to watch your spending.
It would also be nice to be able to track our total budget. That way if we over spend in one category, we can make sure to underspend in other categories to not go over the total budget for the month.

The Planned Spending section can be used similarly the way it is currently, however it doesn’t have the indication on how far you are into the month to see how you’re pacing, and if you over spend in a category it increases your total planned spending amount, making it difficult to track whether you’re on track overall for the month.

User5939

Also a mint user coming to Simplifi.

CPACook

Also a former Mint user and loved it for many years. Agree totally with request for budget/actual functionality.

BrandonG

Also a Mint user and a CPA and surprised by how poor the budget presentation is in Simplifi. I would literally just copy from Mint. The Spending Plan is way too convoluted for folks that just need to see their spending against a budget.

DannyB

Hi @ajthurst7

Welcome to Q-Simplifi and I'm sorry you are losing Mint as I can tell from my reading in this forum the past few weeks how much you and others liked the Mint platform.

I've read your proposal a couple of times but not sure I'm understanding what you are asking for that isn't already available though perhaps in a different format.

As far as having "a line on the budget to indicate how far you are into the month so you can tell if you’re on track or you need to watch your spending." again, all information about how much you have available in any given Planned Spending category is MTD information. Having an additional line to tell you what day of the month it is seems a bit redundant, though perhaps it would be visually satisfying.

When I look at my planned spending page, I can see at a glance that I am within "budget" unless I see one category with a glaring read bar graph which indicates in no uncertain terms that I am over budget for that category. This may or may not indicate over budget for my overall spending plan since if I'm under spent in any or all other categories by the amount I am over in the one I'm still within my overall budget.

I don't understand your conclusion, "…if you over spend in a category it increases your total planned spending amount." In the 2 years I have been using Q-Simplifi, I have never seen that happen. If I do overspend in a category, in order to stay in "budget" I simply make adjustments to my categories to accommodate the overspending in one category by taking allotted funds from other categories and then reduce spending in those other categories for this month just that way you say, "…if we over spend in one category, we can make sure to underspend in other categories to not go over the total budget for the month.

"It would also be nice to be able to track our total budget." I think you are indicating some kind of graph maybe that adds up all your bills, subscriptions, transfers that affect your net worth, savings contributions and all planned spending categories as you "total budget." Again, this information is very much present. But instead of going at it the way Mint must have, Q-Simplifi gives you the information so that you know what's left for the month after all your fixed and flexible expenses are accounted for.

Finally, all this data for the whole Spending Plan is by design MTD. When I look at my spending plan on any given day of the month, I am looking at my month-to-date data. It's just presented in a way that is different from what you have been used to. I will humbly suggest that you give it some time and you may find that this is different but not as inadequate as it may appear at first glance.

Ben1

Planned spending + spending categories do a similar job as the mint budgets.

However, there were additional features in Mint budgeting that made it a little more seamless.

Budget suggestions would be great.. and I'd like to add a larger number of categories and just fit more in one screen.

I set up a lot of categories but it feels a little complicated to click through them and check.

However, I do appreciate the notifications when I'm running over one.

rjcherian

Is there a way to create a goal under the spending plan similar to goals section. To see if we are hitting our budget for each month with our different spend categories. I know YNAB already does this.

DannyB

Hi @rjcherian

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking here, but the first thing to remember is that each personal finance app has it's own distinct features that are based on an underlying "philosophy" or method/purpose. To get the same features in the same layout in any app you would actually have to use that app. What I do is look at an app and compare it's features NOT to what other apps do or don't do but based on what I want an app to do or on how a particular app works for me. I have found that Simplifi as it is designed works great and I use it because it does what it does and not what other apps do.

Now to your suggestion. Here is a comment on Reddit by simplifiDev

First of all, thanks for your comments! They’re very insightful into how people think about Spending Plan when first entering the product. That said, Spending Plan is not intended to be a Mint-like [insert YNAB-like] budget. It is intended to be an overview of your finances for the month. We intentionally have not put limits on your income and spending and instead wanted to allow you to see things from a holistic level. Your “other spending” is intended to be your “everything else” spending. Planned spending is the closest thing we have to a budget, but we try to accommodate you if you do go over. I agree, we could redesign planned spending to allow for more planned items on the screen.

We also automatically take out your planned items from your overall budget because we want to show you how your planned items fit into your overall spending for the month. Starting from 0 will not happen because that isn’t the intent of planned spending. We want to allow you to think about your plan before you have actually spent anything.

If you want to have something akin to a traditional budget, you can definitely use watchlist and track your spending in your category, tag, or payee, including income. But yea, Spending Plan is not a budget, it’s a plan!

This is one of the best "official" statements on the "philosophy" behind Simplifi.

rjcherian

What I am asking is for an option to set a budget for different categories and compare it to what I am actually spending based off my transactions

UrsulaA

You can set a watchlist with a target for categories, sub categories, tags or payees. That will compare actual versus target.

UrsulaA

The summary of planned spending on the web app is a good step towards this request.

I would like a similar summary for bills, showing the following

Upcoming/Unpaid, equivalent to available above, which represents expected bills for the month

Total of bills/subscriptions Paid, equivalent to Spent so far above

Bills and Subscriptions Total, equivalent to total allotted adding up the bills and subscriptions for the month

michaelhubbard

I am an ex-Mint user and think that Simplifi could make improvements in tracking categories to monthly budgeted amounts. I can't claim authorship, but this is what I have in mind.