Overhaul of the spending plan to a budget friendly view...

eadkins20

After using simplifi for about 6 mo now, I just cannot seem to look past the way the spending plan works. It's not a great system for someone who wants to loosely track how much I spend in the month as a budgeting tool (and I realize maybe that's not it's intention) and I routinely get tripped up on tracking some of my spends due to limited features and the way it categorizes them. I often myself confused when logging in, still 6 mo later and I can't seem to figure out why the UX is so bad that its difficult to understand. It's frustrating none the least and I guess I'm just not the target audience of this product.

I really wish there was just a simple budget feature that could be implemented into this app. That's it. Not to be a broken record but mint's budget feature was my main draw and simplifi overly complicates it for no reason.

Coach Jon

Hello @eadkins20,

Thanks for the feedback! I understand the Spending Plan can be confusing at first to get used to, but we believe it is a great tool to utilize in Quicken SImplifi for tracking your Spending and Income. You may also use the Reports tab in Quicken Simplifi to track how much you spend in a month if you have not given that a shot yet. https://help.simplifimoney.com/en/articles/4592676-using-reports-in-quicken-simplifi

Thanks,

Coach Jon

RockLee

For me, I really just want to see how much I'm spending for the month. I don't use the Spending Plan, instead I use a watchlist that includes all the spending categories. I really like this method over Mint, it really gives me all the info I need on the one screen with a graph of prior months. Also an average per month which you don't even get on the Reports.

One warning that messed me up, "Spent so Far" amount is NOT what you have spent so far but also includes upcoming bills & payments and also "Projected" is probably going to be a nonsense amount for you! Why Simplifi???

Coach Jon

Hello @RockLee,

I am glad you are utilizing our Watchlist feature as well. Yes, the watchlist does show a projection of how much you’ll spend this month if you were to keep spending at the current rate.

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 Quicken Simplifi uses that average to project forward for the number of days remaining in the month.

Additionally, we also have an idea post that you may want to vote for and follow here that aligns with what you are wanting in Quicken Simplifi!

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/4588/watchlists-better-calculations-for-projected-amount-edited

Thanks,

Coach Jon

RockLee

Hello @Coach Jon

Actually This Month is a label for three amounts: "Spent so far", "Projected" and "Target". Thanks for the link to the thread, I think it sufficiently sums up the issues with the amounts "Spent so far" and "Projected".

DannyB

An odd request as the Spending Plan is the core feature that sets Quicken Simplifi apart from other apps. I found the Spending Plan to be an elegant and intuitive way to organize my personal day-to-day money management.

Wedo778

I'd much rather a separate, annual budgeting area be added than to change the existing spending plan to a traditional budget.