What is everyone doing with "available" or "left at end of month"?
DannyB
Superuser ✭✭✭✭✭
In the Spending Plan, after Income after bills & saving, Planned spending, Other spending Simplifi gives us an amount as either "available" for the current month or "left at end of month" for closed out months.
My question to the community is: What do you do with this surplus? (Hopefully no one is running a deficit for this final figure!)
I wondered about this earlier in my experience with Simplifi here and here. But I haven't done anything with or about the available/left at end of month since, even though my intention is to make a conscious choice of what to with any surplus by or at the end of each month.
Out of curiosity I just now I added up my "left at end of month" since January and the total comes pretty close to what I actually have available in my banking accounts excluding amounts set aside for various savings goals and including a few out of Spending plan expenditures during this time period.
So, indeed, I can account for the "left at end of month" but it seems I can do a better job of accounting for it by dealing with it at the end of each month.
So again, I'm wondering about and looking for insights on how my fellow Simplifiers are handling or accounting for any surplus you have at the end of each month.
My question to the community is: What do you do with this surplus? (Hopefully no one is running a deficit for this final figure!)
I wondered about this earlier in my experience with Simplifi here and here. But I haven't done anything with or about the available/left at end of month since, even though my intention is to make a conscious choice of what to with any surplus by or at the end of each month.
Out of curiosity I just now I added up my "left at end of month" since January and the total comes pretty close to what I actually have available in my banking accounts excluding amounts set aside for various savings goals and including a few out of Spending plan expenditures during this time period.
So, indeed, I can account for the "left at end of month" but it seems I can do a better job of accounting for it by dealing with it at the end of each month.
So again, I'm wondering about and looking for insights on how my fellow Simplifiers are handling or accounting for any surplus you have at the end of each month.
Danny
Simplifi user since 01/22
”Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions.” ~A.A. Latimer
Simplifi user since 01/22
”Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions.” ~A.A. Latimer
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@DannyB,
My answer isn’t going to be of much use to you. Unfortunately, right now, I’m ignoring that number altogether. I haven’t given it much thought.
Hate to say it, but I fall more in the “running a deficit” camp right now as this will attest…
I’m more focused on learning the Savings Goals, figuring out a workable Cash Envelope setup for our grocery budget, and simply entering day-to-day transactions.
Someday, I hope to get to the point where this number doesn’t remain unloved.Chris
Spreadsheet user since forever.
Quicken Desktop user since 2014.
Quicken Simplifi user since 2021.2 -
Personally, I do the same thing I've done for years (long before Simplifi) and I write my leftovers down in a notebook each month. I then add each month together so I know where I'm at for the entire year.
Yes, I know it's probably not the best method considering I have financial management tools at my disposal, but I can't seem to get away from it. There's something satisfying about writing it down each month and being able to open my notebook and quickly see how I did each month and what my total surplus is for the year.
I also track my deficits this way; if I overspent one month, I'll deduct that amount from where I'm at for the year.
As a side note, even if Simplifi offered rollover abilities, I would probably stick to my notebook method.
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I'm thinking about setting up a Saving Goal and sweeping the "surplus" into it at the end of the month. I'm hoping this will give me a way to track these funds in Simplifi.
Couple of Considerations
1. The timing of releasing unused funds from Planned Spending categories.
2. The surplus will possibly/typically be held in different bank accounts. Not a big deal but something to consider.
Danny
Simplifi user since 01/22
”Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions.” ~A.A. Latimer2 -
I follow an every dollar has a job mentality. So for my everyday checking, I keep a couple bucks in it for cushion (a certain bill is higher than expected, need to go over in a category) but otherwise my every day checking I exact to my monthly budget.
For any surplus at the end of each month, it directly gets sent to my savings account.
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So far my Savings Goal idea is a bust. I haven't been able to figure out how to bring past "left at end of month" surplus back into Simplifi even through a Savings goal. And since Simplifi only sees available money for the current month the "surplus" cash in my bank accounts can't be moved into a savings goal.
Maybe I could create a one-time manual income event equal to the "surplus" for this month and then I could move that "extra income" into a savings goal. Perhaps I will have to make several income events for the "surplus" as it is scattered among several different bank accounts.
I'll play around with it a little more... but may end up with a new sheet in my budget spreadsheet to keep track of this "surplus."Danny
Simplifi user since 01/22
”Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions.” ~A.A. Latimer1 -
Here is a feature request that would allow for a great way to handle or account for “left at end of month” surpluses.
It’s as simple as allowing users to make a date change for contributions to Savings Goals.
https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/2867/change-date-of-savings-goal-contribution
Danny
Simplifi user since 01/22
”Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions.” ~A.A. Latimer1 -
Thanks for sharing and tying all the various posts together. I voted!
Chris
Spreadsheet user since forever.
Quicken Desktop user since 2014.
Quicken Simplifi user since 2021.2 -
Continuing the conversation from back in November.
I took the idea from @Coach Natalie of recording surpluses and deficits in a notebook except I added a sheet to my budget planning spreadsheet and recorded a summary of each month in 2022 using the numbers from my Simplifi Sending plans.
This gave me an at-a-glance view of each month's net income, overall spending and surplus/deficit. This data flows into a summary table that gives me annual totals and a monthly averages for Net Income, Bills, Subscriptions, Savings Goals, Planned Spending and Other Spending.
Bottom line:- Our "Left at end of month" total for 2022 was 47% of our total net income for the year.
- Our annualized average monthly expenses came in at ~ $4000 less then our planned annual budget (~$335/mo)
- This fits perfectly with our retirement spending plan.
I still haven't come up with any particular way to handle or move left at end of month money funds back into Simplifi for the next month(s). At this point it won't be a big deal since our monthly income will change to a more "just-in-time" model as we transition from income producing to retirement dipping with the goal being that our income pretty much match our outflow month-to-month and year-to-year.Danny
Simplifi user since 01/22
”Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions.” ~A.A. Latimer2
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