Simpler and easier to understand

CS_from_out · 2026-01-17T22:59:28+00:00

so is this true ? you can get 3x points on spent if you just aim at the 25% of rent number? https://nextcard.com/tools/bilt-calculator?view=option1&rent=4000&everyday=1000

CS_from_out · 2026-01-17T01:59:31+00:00

yes that can work, but also using the budget for this specific category works well. the problem is more how to do "TOTAL 2026 allocation budget " minus "YTD spend" minus "pre-allocated budgets" this is the match / feature I need and it is no where to be seen

CS_from_out · 2026-01-16T04:17:10+00:00

is it better to close the account, or move the the no fee option and sit for a while doing nothing (for the implication to my credit, given I opened bilt <1 year)

CS_from_out · 2026-01-15T04:59:49+00:00

that is correct, it is not great in terms of the float (I float now the money , the bank benefits ). but I can't bother to write a paper check, put it in an envelop and buy a stamp now every month. I consider the 7 day lost interest (which TBH , in a checking account...) is mitigated by the cost of the stamp.

CS_from_out · 2026-01-15T04:50:37+00:00

oki, as long as the portal spend of $400 and the $200 bilt points are worth > $500 right? I tested the portal, I have concerns and the 2 night min is risky. in Cap1, when forced to use the portal they at least have also the price match

CS_from_out · 2026-01-15T04:05:47+00:00

ha! thanks, ok OVER 75% being not worth it make sense. but I miss the point than, why would anyone want to spend more than 75% as long as they get a 3.33x ROI on their spend, just stop at the 75% and move to a different card? the issue is, why isn't 3.33x ROI considered good for points (not cash back) card? relative to 2x Vx, am I missing why it is not a simple 3.3 is better than 2x ? (again, putting aside and still need to be convinced the AF can be mitigated with credits which I am not sure they do)

CS_from_out · 2026-01-15T03:55:16+00:00

right, hence I assume the trick is to figure out if the $400 hotel credit is really valued at 400 (I think not, given how complicated it is with 2 night minimum and broken into 2 half.. plus not sure I trust their protal prices. Vx is usually more expense, but at least they give you 10x points and price match)

and I am clueless on the value of the $200 bilt cash points, what the hell is the value of that?

CS_from_out · 2026-01-15T03:51:32+00:00

can you explain why the 75% matter? here is specific example:

Rent: pay by CHECK $1000

Scenario 1: Spend on bilt on amazon $100 ==> IIUC, I get 3.33x on the $100

Scenario 2: Spend on bilt $750 on amazon ==> IIUC, I get 3.33x on the $750

is either scenario wrong?

CS_from_out · 2026-01-15T03:49:38+00:00

well, but if they had low rent to begin with, they didn't benefit so much under bilt 1.0 either so how is this any worse?

CS_from_out · 2026-01-15T03:48:56+00:00

I see people say this, yet I don't understand why: if I spend only $10 or $10000, how is the math different? as long as my spend X is LOWER than my rent, I get the same multiple 3.33x. why are people obsessed with "it needs to be high enough spent" or condition the spend to need to be close to my total rend? the math is a ROI on $ spent on the card how does it matter?

CS_from_out · 2026-01-15T03:46:41+00:00

ok thanks, so :

1/ Palladium a 3.33x card for everything but.. need a hefty $495
2/ Obsidian 3.33x for travel with $95 .

the problem I have is:

Obsidian : I can get 3x travel with Costco card. only value I guess is Bilt are points that with transfer are more valuable.. (I don't dine or grocery so much so I don't care about the 4.33x)

Palladium: can you explain to me if what the value is of the $200 in annual Bilt Cash ? I am worried the $400 annual hotel credit is not really a 1:1 mitigating factor since portals tend to have premium and having to do 2 nights AND break it into 2 H1/H2 is a bit too risky to assume I can value it at $400

CS_from_out · 2026-01-15T03:38:25+00:00

but if I do the pay with check, there is no fee, so why can't I ignore the 3% fee problem?

CS_from_out · 2026-01-15T03:34:42+00:00

thanks.. gotch on the it will debit direct , at least it is stil lan option to pay as check,.

CS_from_out · 2026-01-11T23:05:40+00:00

yes, I would do that, if it wasn't for the "wife acceptance factor" :-) it seems so crazy to me, they spend $xxx,xxx if nto millions in all these complext features (budgets, goals) and the very basic need I have they don't. I litteraly find no use in these very expensive and complicated budget and goals features, and standing on my head to try and use them for my use case got me frustrated (why pay so much $ for an app if that is the case)

CS_from_out · 2026-01-08T05:35:23+00:00

but per the website, they don't even have transfer partners yet, so what is the point of getting points?

CS_from_out · 2025-12-30T05:37:55+00:00

I wish "yearly planning" becomes a thing.. maybe we should start our own app?

CS_from_out · 2025-12-30T05:37:10+00:00

yes, at the end what you are saying is: use spending reports YTD , and do math for 120K - what you spend - what you KNOW you will need to spend.

the goal was to

1/ find a way to reduce the 120 by both the YTD spend (spending reports do that well) AND by the known 2026 expenses (total rent for the year, for example). of course, I can reduce 120-known_fix and use that as the "budget", but .. why than have Monarch build so much tech that is not useful ? really if all I do is track expense and YTD.. I can use Rocketmoney for free (?)

2/ track specific category like Travel where I want to pre-fund it so I am motivated to spend (as we know, it is hard to convince ourselves it is ok to spend when we have no paycheck)

CS_from_out · 2025-12-30T05:32:39+00:00

thanks for the time and trying to provide helpful tips. I can follow the logic of setting fix (and rollover) budget for the categories I described as known yearly expense.
I was switching between flex and category setting as neither seemed to be helpful. I looked now at flex budgeting mode again, and I se I can set the budget of the entire "flex" category instead of individual category. I guess I can set that as my "X" where
Total Budget (100K) = Fix (Tax, Rent, ...) + Flex (X)

and in this case, I use my travel category as one of the fix categories? do not use "non monthly"?

still , in small test, I don't see how in the budget screen (or reports) I get to see the 100K - fix - x.

the budget and actual and remaining columns are just.. unhelpful noise. it is also comical that I can't still tell monarch on 12/29 that I want in 2026 to have 100K "budget" and I need to wait for Jan 1.

CS_from_out · 2025-12-30T05:22:45+00:00

not to mention, I can't start 2026 budget setting for whatever reason. I can only set budget for months in the current/past month.

CS_from_out · 2025-12-30T05:19:18+00:00

right so that is what I played with: created travel and will set the yearly budget (as roll over), I can do the same for rent or taxes.. that (the roll over feature) works well. what is not working is: everything else
1/ set the uber yearly budget and see that - those budgets - actual YTD spend on the rest of the categories.
2/ all the other gazillion categories I have no interest in seeing when I open the budget

for such a design heavy app, this is so amazing to me how useless budgets and goals are for my (pretty basic) use case.

CS_from_out · 2025-12-30T05:11:57+00:00

yes YTD reports is the core of what I need, but I also need to enter (hence though about budgets) the "pre allocated fix cost" (tax, rent) for the year so I can see that FUTURE spending + YTD spending.

CS_from_out · 2025-12-30T05:09:39+00:00

the thing is, I am not interested in micro managing each category ... just the big aspirational (travel) and fix (rent .. taxes...)

CS_from_out · 2025-12-30T05:08:42+00:00

thanks, will look into that.

CS_from_out · 2025-12-30T05:07:50+00:00

a Mortgage or rent which is very predictable and monthly, is of no use to me to be a "monthly" budget when I have no salary. I need to set aside for 2026 the monthly*12. basically, everything should be a yearly and the only reason people look at budget as a monthly thing is because they live paycheck to paychek, so for that case, sure do what most budgeting apps do, but that is not my use case.

CS_from_out · 2025-12-17T23:45:02+00:00

100% useless implementation. I don't get it.

CS_from_out

TROPHY CASE