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Using Watchlists

Learn how to create and use Watchlists in Quicken Simplifi

Natalie avatar
Written by Natalie
Updated over 2 months ago

Overview

Quicken Simplifi’s Watchlist feature is an easy-to-use tool that helps you track and monitor specific areas of spending. Watchlists include interactive graphs that instantly show you your spending for the month and helps keep you on track.

Creating a Watchlist

Watchlists can be created using specific Categories, Payees, or Tags. You can decide if you'd like to set a monthly target for each area, and Simplifi will keep an eye on your spending for you.

  1. Hover over the panel on the left-hand side and select Watchlist.

  2. Click the + New Watchlist tile or the blue + Watchlist button in the upper right.

  3. Choose how you'd like to create your Watchlist by selecting Category, Payee, or Tag.

  4. Give your Watchlist a Name, and then select the drop-down menu and check the boxes beside the items that you'd like to include. You can also select an Emoji for your Watchlist.

  5. If you'd like to give your Watchlist a Target, select Set and then enter the Amount.

  6. Click Create when done.

You can create as many Watchlists as you'd like, and Quicken Simplifi will do the tracking for you! You can also enable Watchlist Notifications so you'll be notified when you're nearing or have reached your target amount.

Using a Watchlist

Once you’ve created a Watchlist, you can monitor your spending for that area by viewing the information on the Watchlist's tile. Here, you'll see how much you've spent for the current month, as well as an average total for the period shown, a year-to-date total, and a projection of how much you’ll spend this month if you were to keep spending at the current rate.

You can also click on the tiles to get an interactive view of your activity for each area. Here, you'll see a graph that is broken down by month, with bars that represent your spending for each month, and a line that displays how close you are to your target when applicable.

To get an even closer look, you can click on any of the bars displayed in the graph to see a list of all of the transactions for that month.

Watchlist Calculations

The Monthly Average displayed for Watchlists uses the available transaction data for up to 12 months, including the current month. With the exception of the current month, Quicken Simplifi will not use partial months in Watchlist calculations, however, a 5-day buffer will be allowed. For example, if you have transaction data starting on October 5th, then October will be included. However, if the transaction data doesn't start until October 6th or later, then October will not be included in the calculations.

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.

To learn more about using Watchlists on the Quicken Simplifi Mobile App, please click here!

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