Yeah. I’m looking at having to manually set all of this up, myself. It is doable and more time-consuming. And where Simple refugees will probably really feel it is in the lack of flexibility from what we were used to.
And before I dive into this, I reaaaaally want to emphasize that when I joined Simple in 2016, most of what I’ve come to rely on was not there to begin with. Yes, I love it. Yes, I’ll miss it. But these features were rolled out over years, so we have to give Monzo time to make their own evolutions.
So, take your time.
But hurry up. 
OK. Here it is. Breaking down:
SIMPLE’S EXPENSE & SALARY SORTER ONE-TWO PUNCH
Let’s say that I have a bill that is due on the 21st of every month in the amount of $500. (I do, actually, but that’s beside the point, and it’s a fantastic round number to play with).
Current Setup
Setting this up with the current Monzo environment would mean that I need to set up a $125 draw per week (I get paid weekly) into the pot for this expense. This works perfectly for 8 billing cycles out of the year. However, since there are 52 weeks in a year and not 48, this means that for 4 billing cycles, an extra $125 will be deposited into the pot.
While not perfect, this works out OK. The extra $125 four times per year seems like a small detail, and it is, on an individual expense level. But as a reality check, I have 47 active expenses and 8 active goals, all on different funding deadlines. Some are weekly, some monthly, some bi-monthly, some semi-annually, and some annually. While I’m capable of tracking this, it is time-consuming and is exactly the kind of task that computer automation excells at.
Simple’s Setup
Simple’s expense/salary sorter is actually a two-step approach.
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Step one is handled by the expense itself. The expense calculates the number of pay periods between now and the due date and divides that into the outstanding total.
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Step two occurs when the sorter asks the expense what it needs, and then hands it over.
For instance, the ‘ideal’ scenario for the $500 expense I mentioned before would look like this:
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I pay my bill leaving an empty expense.
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The expense runs Step One and sees it that it needs $500 and that there are four paydays left between now and the next due date, and says “$500 / 4 = $125 per payday”
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Payday comes along and the salary sorter runs Step Two and asks the expense, “how much you need, my friend?” and the expense says, “$125, please”, and the sorter drops $125 into the expense.
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The expense runs Step One again and sees that now it only needs $375 to meet the $500 requirement and that it has only 3 paydays to make that happen. That is $375 / 3 = $125/ pay period.
This back and forth is what makes this combo so flexible and powerful.
For instance, let’s say, after the initial $125 dropped into this account, I realize that I have family visiting and am short for my groceries and pull $75 from the expense, leaving only $50.
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The expense automatically runs Step One again and recalculates: I need $500. I have $50. I need to collect $450. There are 3 paydays left. That’s $150/ pay period.
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So, on the next payday, the salary sorter circles back around and asks, “how much you need?” and the expense then says $150.
So adjustments are all made programmatically and are completely self-correcting. There is no manual sorting or recalculating required.
Another alternate scenario is that on the 4 times per year when there are 5 paychecks between billings, the expense would initially calculate 500 / 5 = $100/week needed. So, there are no overages in my expense after it is paid on the 21st.
I was the Director of Product at Simple from 2014-19 and helped build all those things you loved - along with an amazing crew of developers, designers and researchers. Like you, I was crushed about PNC’s decision but we had a blast helping customers feel more confident with their finances. I joined Monzo in May, along with a fellow ex-Simple iOS developer, with a chip on my shoulder to do it again but better and that’s just what I’m going to do.
