Your Simplifi Spending Plan — More Powerful Than Ever
Have you ever wanted to go back and see how your spending plan worked out a month ago? Or even a year ago? Now, you can. Explore your spending history month by month with the click of a button. See your past spending plan results, release planned spending reserves, and more.
With even more spending plan additions coming soon, Simplifi puts the power of (financial) time travel in the palm of your hand.
Reviewing your past spending plans in Simplifi
On both the web and mobile apps, your Simplifi spending plan now lets you review past months whenever you like.
Check out how you did last month. Or compare this month’s plan to your results from last month to see how you’re trending. By reviewing your previous months, you’ll be able to see where you’re meeting your goals and where you aren’t, helping you plan ahead and stay on track.
For example, you can easily see how well your planned spending has been matching what you really need for things like groceries. If you’re often a bit over, you can add more to your plan to make sure you’re covered. If you’re often under, you can adjust that planned spending down, giving you more to save or spend on other things.
Better yet, by reviewing last month’s plan, you’ll know exactly how much you had left over. Use those unspent funds to boost your savings, or add them to this month’s income to give yourself a bigger cushion and maybe even splurge a little.
Either way, reaching your financial goals has never been easier.
Where to see your previous spending plans
Go to your current spending plan in either the web or mobile app and look for the label with the month and year near the top. Use the arrows near that label to move back in time. Once you’ve gone backward, you’ll be able to use the arrows to navigate forward again too.
What does it mean to resolve outstanding items?
Some months might have a few unresolved items, like planned spending that you didn’t actually spend. (Nice work!) Simplifi will prompt you through the process of closing out those items to give you a better picture of how your spending plan worked out.
Why are there pending transactions?
Sometimes transactions like bill payments take a few days to clear at the bank. These are marked as “pending” because the transaction has been initiated, but not yet completed. That’s perfectly normal, especially in a month that only ended within the past day or two.
Simplifi will prompt you to check back later and then remind you to review your plan again once your pending transactions have gone through.
What about seeing (and changing) spending plans for future months?
Although looking into the future is tougher than looking into the past, Simplifi is going to let you do that too — very soon! Just like you can now review your previous plans month by month, you’ll be able to check out your future plans too so you can plan ahead.
1. Plan as far ahead as you like
Once you can see your future spending plans, you’ll be able to flip through them as far ahead as you want to, viewing and even changing them one month at a time. Plan for next month today, or build out your plan a year or more in advance. The choice is yours.
2. Add or change your planned spending, month by month
Want to add a planned spending item for July and August to cover your kids’ summer camp? Or set aside more for groceries over the winter holidays? With the coming release, you’ll be able to add any future spending to your plan whenever you’re ready — no need to wait until you get there.
3. Adjust for changing income or bills
Want to add your holiday bonus a year in advance? Or review the year ahead to see which months might be tight due to quarterly or semi-annual insurance payments?
You can do that too. By reviewing your spending plan ahead of time, you’ll see where you need to adjust today, even setting up savings goals to make sure you’re prepared.
4. Project all your future spending
When you add all your bills, subscriptions, savings goals, and planned spending to your spending plan, Simplifi can show you with tremendous accuracy how much you’ll have left over each month. By adding the ability to see your future plans, Simplifi’s upcoming release will take that capability to a whole new level.
For example, you’ll be able to look back over past months to see how much you usually spend outside of your bills, subscriptions, and planned spending. Then, add that amount to your future plans as projected “other” spending to see how the future could play out.
By giving you the chance to identify potential problems and adjust ahead of time, Simplifi helps you keep all your financial plans on track and reach your goals with confidence.
5. Maximize your savings with goals you can meet
All too often, most of us turn to credit cards at some point to get through those tight months, whether it’s because of a summer vacation, holiday splurging, or just unexpected car repairs.
By taking control of your spending plan both today and into the future, you can avoid those high interest rates and keep more of your hard-earned money in your pocket, whether that means adding it to your emergency fund, your retirement plan, or your personal brokerage account.
The key to a secure financial future starts today
Simplifi is designed around one simple, elegant idea — that the seeds of your financial future lie in the habits and plans you build today.
That’s why Simplifi makes it easy to stay on top of your finances in under 5 minutes per week. And why our savings goals and achievements reward you just for checking in with the app as well as reaching financial milestones.
In fact, with the ability to view past spending plans, we’ve also added a new Savvy Spender achievement that rewards you for keeping your plan on track.
Want to check out your achievements? Find them under your profile in the Simplifi app!
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About the Author
Erin Michelle Sky
Erin Michelle Sky is a freelance journalist at Quicken covering the holistic human experience in business, career, technology, and personal money management.
She holds an MBA from Georgia Tech and a JD from Emory University, where she was a Woodruff Fellow. Before Quicken, Erin taught math and computer science for Johns Hopkins University, then spent several years working for Fortune 100/500 companies through McKinsey, BellSouth, and Dentons.