Alerts
Alerts tell you when your spending drifts off pace or a bank stops syncing. There are seven types, all on by default. They show in the Alerts bell and, if you turn them on, as push notifications. FIYR never sends alerts by email.
Alerts watch whether you are on pace for the month, not individual transactions. They look at where a category, or the month as a whole, is heading compared with your budget or your usual.
The seven alert types
| Alert | Fires when | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Budget pace | A category with a budget is projected to finish the month over budget. Recurring bills count as they are; only everyday spending is projected forward. | 15% over |
| Spending trend | A category is running above its own usual, compared at the same point in the month over the last 3 months. Works without a budget. Needs at least 2 months of history and a usual of $50 or more. | 40% above |
| Month-end cash flow | Your projected month-end net (income minus spending, including bills and paychecks still to come) is below your buffer. | $0 buffer |
| Daily burn rate | Your last 30 days of spending per day is above your 90-day pace. The 90 days include those 30, so 15% here means a real rise of roughly 24%. | 15% above |
| Weekly burn | A Monday note on last week (Monday to Sunday) when spending per day moved against the four weeks before, up or down. At most one a week. | 10% change |
| Monthly spending pace | The whole month is on track to cost more than your 12-month average. Waits until at least 5 days into the month. | 15% over |
| Bank connections | A linked bank has stopped syncing or its access is about to expire. | On |
Change what you are alerted about
- Open Settings and choose Alerts (under Money).
- Use the switch on any row to turn that alert off or on. The Alerts switch at the top turns all of them off at once.
- Change a threshold in the box under a row, for example "Alert when projected over by 25%".
- Adjust Noise limits if you want fewer alerts (see below).
- Click Save settings. FIYR checks again straight away with your new settings.
Noise limits
- Ignore overages under ($50)
- An alert needs to be worth at least this many dollars. Going 40% over a $20 category is not news.
- Most category alerts at once (4)
- If several categories are off pace, only the ones furthest over in dollars are shown.
- Don't alert before day (7)
- Early in the month a single purchase can make projections look wild, so pace alerts wait until this day. Bank connection alerts and the weekly note are not affected.
When alerts are checked
There is no fixed schedule. FIYR checks your alerts:
- After your bank sends new transactions through our bank connection partner, Plaid.
- When a bank connection needs attention.
- When you open the app.
- A few seconds after you edit a transaction, so recategorizing something updates your alerts.
- When you click Save settings or Check now in Settings, Alerts.
The weekly note arrives at the first check after Monday morning, once your quiet hours end (8am by default). In practice that is the next time your bank syncs or you open the app.
Where you see them
On a computer, click Alerts at the bottom of the sidebar. A red number shows how many are open. On a phone, tap More, then Alerts. Each alert can have these buttons:
- Fix connection: for bank alerts. Opens Linked Accounts so you can reconnect.
- Model this: opens Ask Fiyr with a question about the alert already written, so you can see what fixing it would do.
- See details: for category alerts. Opens that category's page, which also has a chart of this month against your usual.
- Dismiss: hides it.
The Past tab keeps alerts you dismissed and ones that resolved on their own (for example, after you recategorized a transaction).
Push notifications, not email
Alerts always appear in the bell. You can also get them as push notifications on your devices. FIYR does not email alerts.
Common questions
Why do I get no alerts in the first week of the month?
Pace alerts wait until day 7 because early projections are noisy. You can change this with Don't alert before day in Settings, Alerts. Bank connection alerts and the weekly note are not affected.
An alert disappeared. Where did it go?
The condition cleared, for example after you recategorized a transaction or your spending slowed. You will find it in the Past tab marked Resolved.
I dismissed an alert and it came back.
Pace alerts come back only if they get clearly worse (crossing 25% or 50% over). Bank connection alerts come back after 7 days while the bank still is not syncing.
Do alerts get emailed?
No. Alerts appear in the Alerts bell and, if you turn them on, as push notifications.
How do I turn alerts off completely?
Settings, Alerts, switch off Alerts at the top, then click Save settings.
Still stuck?
Email us. A real person who builds FIYR reads every message.