What is a reminder and when to use it

A reminder in FamSpend is a thing to do with a deadline, that can be assigned to a family member, and is not tied to a monetary amount. It's there for the things that aren't expenses but that you don't want to forget — the kind that usually end up in a side note, a shared calendar, or worse, only in one person's head.

Three typical cases

1. Call the accountant about tax forms — has to be done by the end of the month. You don't know yet whether there's anything to pay, and either way the action is "make the call", not "pay".

2. Boiler maintenance check — fixed yearly deadline. It's not a planned expense: the amount depends on what they find. It's an action to do by October 15.

3. Call the doctor for Luca's vaccine booster — a family to-do with a deadline. The appointment might even be free; what you need is the reminder, not a monetary entry.

What a reminder contains

• Title — the action (e.g. "Call accountant about tax forms")
• Due date — when it has to be done by
• Person assigned (optional, but useful for families)
• Cost center (optional, to group with related expenses)
• Estimated amount (optional, if you already have a range — handy if you later convert the reminder into an expense)
• Email notification — a day before the due date, whoever is assigned gets an email. If they miss it in-app, it lands in their inbox.

What a reminder is not

If the thing is money you'll spend (even when you don't yet know the exact amount), it's not a reminder: it's an expense with a TBD amount. The distinction matters and changes where you'll find the item in FamSpend — see Reminders vs Planned expenses for the practical rule.

Converting a reminder into an expense

When the reminder does turn into an expense (the accountant sends the invoice, the plumber leaves the receipt), you close it directly as an expense in a single step:

1. Open the reminder from the Home row or from /reminders and tap "Record as expense".
2. The same modal you'd use to create a new expense opens, with the fields pre-filled from the reminder: title, assigned person, cost center, due date, and — if you set one — your earlier estimate as the suggested amount.
3. The expense is set as paid by default (toggle it off if it's not paid yet). Adjust the real amount, save, and in one click the expense is created while the reminder is closed.

No double entry, no lost history: the reminder stays in your timeline marked "recorded as expense" and the action is fully tracked. Full walkthrough in Recording a reminder as expense.