Notifications and emails

Budget Smugglers tells you when something needs a look: a late bill, a savings bonus at risk, an account heading below zero. Alerts show in the bell at the top of the app. You can also get them as push notifications, and some as emails.

The bell#

The bell shows a count of unread alerts for the pool you’re in. Open it to see the latest, or choose See all notifications for the full list. Click an alert to go straight to the page it’s about.

Alerts keep themselves current. When something stops being true, like the late bill gets paid, its alert moves to Sorted on its own. If it comes back, it shows as new again. Mark all read clears the count.

Each alert is marked Info, Warning or Urgent.

The bell also lists the latest entries from What’s new. These never add to the count.

What triggers an alert#

You only get alerts about things your role in the pool lets you see.

Alert	When
A bill looks late	A bill’s due date has passed in the last 30 days and no matching payment has turned up. See bills.
An account could dip below zero	The forecast has an account going negative in the next 30 days.
A savings bonus is at risk	A bonus interest condition won’t be met on the current plan. It turns urgent as the deadline gets close. See savings.
No bonus this period	A bonus condition can’t be met any more.
A term deposit matures	A term deposit is coming up to maturity.
Over a bonus cap	Money above a savings account’s bonus cap is only earning the base rate.
An import is waiting	Something the Sync extension sent couldn’t go straight in, or an upload was left unfinished for an hour. See importing.
Share prices aren’t updating	The pool’s price feed has been failing for a day. See shares.
Super contribution caps	Someone is over, or on track to pass, a contribution cap. See super.
Employer super hasn’t arrived	An employer contribution is overdue.
A super balance is getting old	A super balance hasn’t been updated in a while.

Push notifications#

Push notifications put the same alerts as the bell on your phone’s lock screen or your computer.

Turn it on separately on each phone or browser you want them on. The list underneath shows every device that has them, and you can remove any of them.

On iPhone and iPad, add Budget Smugglers to your Home Screen first: tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. Open it from there and turn push on. This needs iOS 16.4 or later.

Pushes arrive between your send hour (see Delivery) and 10 pm.

Emails#

Choose your emails in Settings › Notifications. They’re your own settings and cover all your pools.

Bill reminders#

Email me about bills coming up sends a heads-up before bills and pay are due. Pick How far ahead, from 1 to 7 days. Tell me about late bills also emails you when a bill’s due date passes and no matching payment turns up. Bill reminders are off until you turn them on.

Weekly digest#

Send me a weekly digest sends a summary on the Day you pick: money in and out, your biggest spending, budgets running over and the week’s bills. It’s off until you turn it on.

Savings alerts#

Email me about savings bonuses and term deposits is on by default. Email about a bonus at risk sets how many days before the transfer-by date you hear about it. Early in the month the forecast is still guessing, so waiting a bit avoids false alarms.

Super alerts#

Email me about super contributions covers overdue employer contributions and caps. It’s on by default.

Delivery#

Send at sets the hour emails go out, in your own time zone. Change your time zone in Settings › Profile. Send me a test email checks they’re reaching you.

Unsubscribing#

Every reminder, digest and alert email has an unsubscribe link. It turns off that one kind of email, and you don’t need to sign in. Turn it back on any time in Settings › Notifications.