Reminders
A reminder is a notification-only nudge you attach to something that already exists, like a transaction, an account, or an envelope. It does not post a transaction and it does not move money. If you want CentBase to create a transaction for you on a schedule, that is a scheduled transaction. See Scheduled transactions. Reminders are lighter: just a ping that says "pay the electricity bill tomorrow at 9 am."
Scheduled transactions already have their own built in reminders. The Reminders feature on this page is separate. These are pings you create yourself and attach to any transaction, account, or envelope, even when no schedule exists.
TL;DR
- A reminder is notification only. It shows an alert at the date and time you pick, with the name and note you wrote. It never posts a transaction.
- Every reminder is attached to something you already have. Pick a transaction, an account, or an envelope as its owner. The reminder borrows that owner's icon and color so you recognize it at a glance.
- Create one from More then Reminders and tap the add button, or open any transaction, account, or envelope and look for its Reminders entry. Pick the owner, then set the date, time, name, optional note, and how often it repeats.
- The Reminders list shows your reminders soonest first. Once a reminder has nothing left to fire, it shows a Fired pill so you know it is done.
- Reminders use your phone's notifications. Keep the Push Notifications switch on and allow notifications when asked, or you will not get alerts. If something is not working, check Preferences then Troubleshoot notifications.
Where to find it: More then Reminders, or any transaction, account, or envelope then Reminders
What reminders are and what they are not
| Concept | What it does | Where to learn more |
|---|---|---|
| Reminder on this page | Sends a notification at the time you pick, once or on repeat. Nothing is posted. | You are here. |
| Scheduled transaction | Creates a real transaction for you on each scheduled date, and can also send a reminder before it posts. | See Scheduled transactions. |
| Credit card due reminder | A reminder the app manages for you for card statements. You can see it in the list but you do not edit it there. | Manage it from the card account itself. |
If you want money to move on its own, build a schedule. If you want a ping without moving money, create a reminder.
Creating a reminder
From the hub
- Open More then Reminders. This hub shows every reminder from all owners in one place.
- Tap Add reminder. Because the hub does not know what the reminder is for yet, it first asks you to choose.
- Pick what this reminder is for: Transaction, Account, or Envelope. Each choice opens the right picker so you can find it.
- For Transaction, you get a searchable list of your transactions, newest first. For Account or Envelope, you get the usual account or envelope picker. Tap the one you want.
- The form opens with that owner already linked at the top. You cannot change the owner after the form opens. If you picked the wrong one, close and start again.
What is this reminder for: Transaction, Account, or Envelope
Picking a transaction: search at the top, scroll through the list below
From a specific owner
Many pages have their own Reminders entry. For example, open a transaction, an account, or an envelope and look for Reminders. There the owner is already known, so tapping add goes straight to the form with no picker step.
The form
At the top you see a small chip that says Linked to and shows the owner you picked, with its icon, name, and a short detail line. You cannot change it here.
Fields from top to bottom:
- Reminder name. Required. This is what the notification title shows. For example, Pay the electricity bill. If you leave it empty you will be asked to enter a name.
- Note. Optional. Extra details for the notification body. Leave it blank if you do not need it.
- Date. Tap to pick a date. When you are adding a new reminder it starts as today. When you are editing it shows the current date.
- Time. Tap to pick a time. It defaults to 9:00 AM. The reminder fires at this local time.
- Repeat. Choose how often it repeats. Pick One time for a single alert, or pick daily, weekly, monthly, every two months, quarterly, every six months, yearly, every two years, every three years, or every five years. One time fires once. Any other choice keeps repeating.
Actions at the bottom:
- Add reminder when you are creating, or Save reminder when you are editing. This saves your changes. If something is missing you will see a message that says it could not be saved.
- When you are editing, you also get a Delete button. You will be asked to confirm. Deleting removes the reminder and its future notifications, but it does not delete the transaction, account, or envelope it was linked to.
You will see a short confirmation after each action: Reminder added, Reminder updated, or Reminder deleted.
Add mode: owner chip on top, name and optional note, date and time pickers, Repeat selector, Add button
Edit mode: same fields filled in from the existing reminder, with Save and Delete
The Reminders list
You will see the list in two places. The layouts match, with one small difference in the hub.
List for one owner
When you open Reminders from a specific transaction, account, or envelope, you see that owner's details at the top as a header, then all reminders for that owner sorted soonest first. Each row shows the reminder name, when it will fire next, a bell icon, and a three dot menu with Edit and Delete. Tap a row to see its details, like date, note, repeat, and what it is linked to.
Hub that mixes all owners
More then Reminders shows every reminder together. At the top you get filter chips to narrow the view: All, Transactions, Envelopes, and Accounts. Each row also shows a small badge that tells you the owner type, Transaction, Account, or Envelope, so you can scan quickly. The three dot menu and detail view work the same as the single owner list.
What each row tells you
- When the reminder still has future firings, the subtitle shows the next firing date and time. If it repeats, the repeat interval is added, for example Sep 12, 2024 at 9:00 AM and Monthly.
- When there is nothing left to fire, the row shows a muted Fired pill and the subtitle changes to Fired followed by the last firing date. A one time reminder set in the past shows as Fired right away. A repeating reminder shows as Fired only when no future occurrence remains.
- The bell icon is filled while the reminder is still pending and muted once it is Fired.
Loading and empty states
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| A spinner in the middle of the screen | Your reminders are still loading. |
| No reminders in the hub | You have not created any reminders yet. The screen says No reminders and invites you to add one. |
| No reminders for this owner | This transaction, account, or envelope has no reminders yet. Add one to get notified about it. |
| A list with rows and dividers | Your reminders, soonest first, with Fired pills where finished. |
Even when the list is empty, the add button still works.
Per owner list: owner details on top, then that owner's reminders with Fired pills
No reminders here yet: the empty state before any reminder exists
Fired reminders carry the muted pill and a Fired date in the subtitle
How notifications work
Reminders use your phone's normal notification system.
- The title of the notification says what kind of owner it is and the name you wrote, for example Transaction reminder: Pay the electricity bill. If you added a note, that appears in the body. Tapping the notification can take you back into the app.
- All reminders share the same notification channel as schedule nudges, called Scheduled reminders.
- If you turn off the master Push Notifications switch in Preferences, reminders will not be scheduled and any pending alerts are canceled. Turn it back on to resume.
- Reminders fire at the local date and time you picked. If the app was closed when the time passed, you will still get the notification the next time you open the app. You do not need to keep the app open.
Permissions
The first time a feature needs to send a notification, the app asks for permission once per install.
- You see a prompt that says Enable notifications with a short explanation. You can tap Enable or Not now.
- If you tap Enable, your phone shows its system permission dialog. On Android this also covers exact timing so reminders arrive right on time.
- If you tap Not now, the reminder is still created but no alert is scheduled until you grant permission. You will not be asked again automatically.
You can check everything in one place. Go to Preferences then Notifications and open Troubleshoot notifications. You may see messages like:
- Push notifications are turned off. Enable them to receive reminders.
- Notification permission was not granted.
- Exact alarms are not enabled. Allow Alarms and reminders for this app to get reminders exactly on time.
- Sample notification sent. Check your notification shade.
For the same switch and the same troubleshooting screen as it applies to schedules, see Scheduled transactions and Settings.
The once per install prompt: Enable grants permission, Not now dismisses it
Troubleshooting
| You see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Reminder never fires | Notifications are off, permission was denied, or exact alarms are not enabled on Android. | Open Preferences then Notifications then Troubleshoot notifications. Turn Push Notifications on, grant permission when asked, and on Android allow Alarms and reminders for CentBase. |
| Reminder shows as Fired right after you create it | You set the date and time in the past. A one time reminder in the past has nothing left to fire. | Pick a future date and time, or choose a repeat so a future occurrence exists. |
| Tapping a reminder row does nothing | The detail view is not available from that entry point. | Open it from the owner's own Reminders list, or from the notifications area. The three dot menu for Edit and Delete still works. |
| Hub shows no reminders after you just created one | You may be viewing a filtered chip, for example Accounts while the new reminder is for a Transaction. | Switch the hub filter to All. |
| Message that says Could not save the reminder | Usually the name was empty, or something went wrong saving. | Fill in the Reminder name and try again. |
| Delete confirmation sounds worrying | It says this removes the reminder and its scheduled notification. It does not delete the owner. | Confirm if you want to remove just the reminder. The linked transaction, account, or envelope stays. |
| An app managed reminder cannot be edited | Some reminders, like card due reminders, are view only in the hub. | Manage those from the account's own settings, not from the hub. |
Summary
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Reminder vs scheduled transaction | A reminder only notifies. A schedule posts the transaction. |
| Owner (transaction, account, or envelope) | Every reminder belongs to one, fixed when you create it. |
| Reminder name + Note + Date + Time + Repeat | What the notification says and when it fires. Default time is 9:00 AM. |
| Fired pill | Nothing left to fire. |
| Push Notifications switch + permission | Both must be on or no alert arrives. |
| Troubleshoot notifications | Fixes the switch, permission, exact alarms, and sends a test. |
Sample use cases
- Remind me to pay rent on the 28th at 9 am. Open this month's rent transaction, go to Reminders, tap add. The owner chip already shows that transaction. Set Date to the 28th, Time to 9:00 AM, Repeat to Monthly, name it Pay rent, add a note like Transfer from Checking. Each month at 9 am you get a notification. No transaction is posted automatically. You still record the payment yourself.
- Ping me when this credit card statement closes. Open the credit card account, go to Reminders, tap add, set Date to the statement day, Time to 9:00 AM, Repeat to Monthly. You can keep this alongside the app's own due reminder and add context like screenshot the statement.
- Do not let me forget to review the Groceries envelope. Open the Groceries envelope, go to Reminders, tap add, set Date to Sunday, Repeat to Weekly, name it Review groceries. Every Sunday at 9 am you get a nudge that points back to that envelope.
- A one off nudge for a future purchase. Open More then Reminders, tap add, choose Transaction, search and pick the transaction for next week's order, set Date to the day before, Time to 6:00 PM, Repeat to One time. It fires once and then shows as Fired.
- I closed the app and missed the alert. Reminders that fired while the app was closed are not lost. On next launch the app still shows you what fired so you can follow up. A reminder you created with a past time at creation does not create a missed alert. It just shows as Fired.
See also: Scheduled transactions for when you want CentBase to post the transaction for you, Transactions for what a linked transaction is, and Settings for the Push Notifications switch and Troubleshoot.