Cake Budget
how-to beginner 2 minutes

Managing Email Notifications

Control which emails you receive from Cake Budget and customize your notification preferences

Last updated: November 14, 2025

Cake Budget sends helpful emails to keep you informed about your budget activity. Control exactly which emails you receive and customize your notification preferences to match your needs.

How to Manage Notifications

  1. Click Settings in the main navigation menu
  2. Scroll down to the Notification Preferences card
  3. You’ll see 5 toggle switches for different notification types

The 5 Notification Types

1. Rule Email Notifications

What you receive:

  • Email when one of your automation rules executes
  • Shows which rule matched
  • What transaction triggered it
  • What actions were taken (slice assignment, category, etc.)
  • Success or error status

Why you might want it:

  • ✅ Verify rules are working correctly
  • ✅ Catch unexpected rule matches
  • ✅ Stay informed about automatic categorization

Why you might not:

  • ❌ Too many emails if you have many rules
  • ❌ Trust automation and don’t need confirmation
  • ❌ Prefer to check rule history in the app

Default: ON

How to toggle: Click the switch next to “Rule Email Notifications”

2. Funding Schedule Email Notifications

What you receive:

  • Email when a paycheck is detected and matched to a funding schedule
  • Shows which funding schedule matched
  • What transaction triggered it
  • How much was allocated to each slice
  • Confirmation that your budget is funded

Also includes:

  • Auto-contribution success/failure notifications
  • Funding schedule match confirmations
  • Slice funding summaries

Why you might want it:

  • ✅ Confirm paychecks were detected correctly
  • ✅ Verify slice allocations happened
  • ✅ Catch any funding schedule errors
  • ✅ Peace of mind that automation is working

Why you might not:

  • ❌ Get paid frequently (biweekly = 26 emails/year)
  • ❌ Trust automation and don’t need confirmation
  • ❌ Prefer to check funding history in the app

Default: ON

How to toggle: Click the switch next to “Funding Schedule Email Notifications”

3. Auto-Contribution Email Notifications

What you receive:

  • Email when manual auto-contributions run (daily, weekly, monthly)
  • Shows which slice was funded
  • How much was contributed
  • Success or failure status
  • Account balance before/after

Why you might want it:

  • ✅ Verify auto-contributions are running
  • ✅ Catch failures (insufficient balance)
  • ✅ Track savings progress
  • ✅ Monthly reminder of automated savings

Why you might not:

  • ❌ Daily auto-contributions = daily emails (too much)
  • ❌ Prefer to check slice balance history
  • ❌ Trust automation implicitly

Default: ON

How to toggle: Click the switch next to “Auto-Contribution Email Notifications”

4. Weekly Insights Emails

What you receive:

  • Email every Sunday with weekly spending summary
  • Safe-to-Spend snapshot
  • Top spending categories
  • Spending trends (up/down vs previous week)
  • Quick budget health check

Email content:

  • Week’s total spending
  • Top 3 spending categories
  • Safe-to-Spend status (green/yellow/red)
  • Slice funding progress
  • Actionable insights

Why you might want it:

  • ✅ Automatic weekly budget review reminder
  • ✅ See trends without opening the app
  • ✅ Sunday planning ritual
  • ✅ Catch overspending early

Why you might not:

  • ❌ Prefer to check the app on your own schedule
  • ❌ Don’t want weekly email clutter
  • ❌ Already have your own review routine

Default: ON

How to toggle: Click the switch next to “Weekly Insights Emails”

5. Milestone Emails

What you receive:

  • Helpful emails during your trial period and at key milestones
  • Day 3: Check-in based on bank connection status
  • Day 7: Progress stats and feature discovery
  • Day 14: Mid-trial feature highlights
  • Day 14: Trial ending reminder
  • Slice goal achievement celebrations
  • Budget milestones (6 months of budgeting, etc.)

Email content:

  • Progress updates and encouragement
  • Tips for features you haven’t used yet
  • Reminders about trial status
  • Celebrations when you hit goals

Why you might want it:

  • ✅ Learn features during trial
  • ✅ Get reminded about trial ending
  • ✅ Celebrate budget wins
  • ✅ Discover features you’re missing

Why you might not:

  • ❌ Already familiar with the app
  • ❌ Don’t want onboarding emails
  • ❌ Prefer minimal inbox

Default: ON

How to toggle: Click the switch next to “Milestone Emails”

6. Monthly Budget Planning Reminder

What you receive:

  • Email on your chosen day each month (1st, last, or custom day)
  • Current Safe-to-Spend amount
  • Last month’s spending summary and top categories
  • Overspent slices alert
  • Past due and underfunded slices
  • Budget planning tips for the month ahead

Email content:

  • Safe-to-Spend snapshot
  • Last month’s total spending
  • Top 3 spending categories from last month
  • Slices needing attention (overspent, past due, underfunded)
  • Actionable budget planning checklist
  • Link to review your Slices page

Why you might want it:

  • ✅ Never forget monthly budget review
  • ✅ See monthly spending trends
  • ✅ Catch overspending before it’s too late
  • ✅ Proactive slice funding reminders
  • ✅ Build consistent budgeting habits

Why you might not:

  • ❌ Already have your own review routine
  • ❌ Weekly Insights is enough for you
  • ❌ Prefer to check the app manually
  • ❌ Don’t want another monthly email

Default: ON

How to customize:

  1. Toggle the switch to enable/disable
  2. If enabled, choose your reminder day from dropdown:
    • First day of month
    • Last day of month
    • Any specific day (2-30)

Note: Smart handling for months with fewer days (e.g., day 31 in February sends on last day).

See the full guide: Monthly Budget Planning Reminder

AI Features Toggle (Separate Card)

AI-Powered Financial Insights

What it controls:

  • Whether AI insights generation is available
  • Opt-in to sending anonymized data to OpenAI
  • Enable/disable AI features entirely

Located in: “AI Features” card (below Notification Preferences)

Why separate: This controls feature access, not just email notifications.

How to toggle: Click the switch next to “AI-Powered Financial Insights”

Note: Requires active paid subscription (Starter, Budget Pro, or Family).

See AI-Powered Financial Insights for more details.

Unsubscribe from All Marketing Emails

If you click “Unsubscribe” in any Cake Budget email:

  1. Opens unsubscribe page
  2. Click “Unsubscribe from All Marketing Emails”
  3. Confirms unsubscription

What gets disabled:

  • ✅ Weekly Insights Emails → OFF
  • ✅ Milestone Emails → OFF

What stays enabled:

  • ✅ Critical account emails (password resets, security alerts)
  • ✅ Transactional emails (subscription receipts, payment issues)

Note: You’ll need to log in to re-enable these notifications in Settings.

Transactional Emails (Cannot Disable)

These emails are always sent (required for account function):

Account Security:

  • Password reset requests
  • Email change confirmations
  • Security alerts
  • Account deletion confirmations

Subscription & Billing:

  • Payment receipts
  • Subscription confirmations
  • Payment failure notices
  • Plan upgrade/downgrade confirmations

Critical Alerts:

  • Bank connection expired (needs reconnection)
  • Plaid errors requiring action

Why you can’t disable: These are necessary for account security and service delivery.

For Active Budgeters

Enable all notifications:

  • Rule Notifications: ON
  • Funding Schedules: ON
  • Auto-Contributions: ON
  • Weekly Insights: ON
  • Milestone Emails: ON
  • Monthly Budget Reminder: ON (day 1 or last day)

Why: Stay fully informed about all budget activity.

For Set-It-and-Forget-It Users

Minimal notifications:

  • Rule Notifications: OFF
  • Funding Schedules: OFF
  • Auto-Contributions: OFF
  • Weekly Insights: ON (weekly check-in only)
  • Milestone Emails: OFF
  • Monthly Budget Reminder: ON (day 1 for planning)

Why: Trust automation, but keep monthly and weekly planning reminders.

For Inbox Zero Enthusiasts

Critical only:

  • Rule Notifications: OFF
  • Funding Schedules: OFF
  • Auto-Contributions: OFF
  • Weekly Insights: OFF
  • Milestone Emails: OFF
  • Monthly Budget Reminder: OFF

Why: Check app manually, no email clutter.

Note: You’ll still receive transactional emails (receipts, security, etc.).

For Trial Users

Learn the app:

  • All notifications: ON

Why: Understand what automation is doing, learn features, get reminders.

After trial: Adjust based on preference.

Pro Tips

💡 Start with All ON: During your first month, leave all notifications enabled to understand what automation is doing.

💡 Disable Gradually: Turn off notifications one at a time to find your preferred balance.

💡 Keep Weekly Insights: Even inbox-zero people benefit from a Sunday spending summary.

💡 Disable After Setup: Once automation is working reliably, you may not need confirmation emails.

💡 Re-enable for Troubleshooting: If something seems wrong, turn on relevant notifications temporarily to debug.

💡 Check Spam Folder: If you’re not receiving emails, check spam first before assuming notifications are off.

Common Questions

Q: Can I customize which rules send notifications? A: Not individually. The toggle controls ALL rule notifications. To avoid email overload, delete unused rules.

Q: How often do weekly insights send? A: Every Sunday. Only one email per week.

Q: Can I delay milestone emails? A: No, but you can disable them entirely to opt out of the onboarding email sequence.

Q: What if I accidentally unsubscribed? A: Log in to Settings → Notification Preferences and re-enable the toggles you want.

Q: Do notifications sync across devices? A: Yes! Preferences are stored in your account and apply everywhere.

Q: Can I customize email content or frequency? A: Not currently. You can only enable/disable entire categories.

Q: Will disabling notifications affect automation? A: No. Rules, funding schedules, and auto-contributions still run—you just won’t get email confirmations.

Q: How do I report email bugs? A: Email support@trycakebudget.com with details (missing expected email, receiving after unsubscribe, etc.).

Take control of your inbox: Customize notification preferences today in Settings at trycakebudget.com

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