Cape Cod 5’s My Budget tool is designed to help you set and achieve your financial goals. You can:
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Create a budget for your specific needs.
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Monitor your spending habits.
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Link accounts from other financial institutions to create an accurate picture of your spending and saving habits.
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Set goals and monitor progress/completion.
Access the My Budget Tool
Online Banking
To access Cape Cod 5’s My Budget tool through Online Banking, click on any of your accounts from your Dashboard and then click the My Budget tile.
When you’ve finished working with My Budget, click the home icon at the top of the Overview to return to your Online Banking Dashboard. If you’ve been in My Budget for more than 10 minutes, you’ll need to log back in to Online Banking for security purposes.
Mobile Banking
To access My Budget in Mobile Banking, tap My Budget in the main menu.
When you’ve finished working with My Budget, tap Close in the upper left-hand corner.
Explore My Budget Overview
The Overview tab of My Budget displays a number of features. Here, you can view and access your:
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Spending habits – The default view breaks down your tagged transactions by category over a selected time period (1 week, 1 month, 3 months, or 6 months). Use the gear icon to select the accounts you wish to review. Click View Analyzer to identify spikes and trends in your spending.
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Budgets and progress – If you’ve added one or more budgets, the default view displays the total of all your budgets, whether you’re under or over budget, and by how much. Click View Budgets for a complete breakdown of your individual budgets.
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Cashflow – The default view shows the last three months of activity across all accounts. It tracks monthly income and expense totals and displays trends for each. Click View Cashflow for a detailed view of your daily balances.
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Net worth – The default view is a snapshot of your total net worth across all Cape Cod 5 and linked accounts. Click View Net Worth to see overall trends in your total net worth.
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Account balances – The default view is a list of your current Cape Cod 5 and linked account balances. Click View Accounts to see and change which accounts are showing.
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Transaction history – The default view is a list of the most recent transactions across all Cape Cod 5 accounts. Click View Transactions to see a longer transaction range or to export to Excel and/or an accounting software.
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Goals and progress – If you’ve added one or more goals, the default view displays the progress of each of your current goals. Click View Goals to see all of your current and completed goals broken out by account, and add additional goals and alerts.
Link an Account
You can link accounts at other financial institutions to My Budget to create a consolidated view of your finances. This will enable you to better monitor spending, adhere to budgets, and have provide a more accurate view of your net worth.
Use the following steps to link an account to My Budget.
Step |
Action |
|---|---|
1 |
Access My Budget. |
2 |
Click the more icon on the top right of the screen.In Mobile Banking, open the menu. |
3 |
Select Link Account.The Add an Account screen appears. |
4 |
Select one of the financial institutions or type the name in the search field, click Search, and select the desired institution from the results.If the financial institution has multiple entries, be sure to select the correct one, e.g., if a bank exists in multiple countries, select the entry for the United States.The Connect to *financial institution* screen appears. |
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Enter your User Name and Password for their online account services and click Connect.A list of accounts for that financial institution appears. |
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If you don’t want a specific account linked to My Budget, deselect the checkbox for that account.The Accounts screen will appear and will display all Cape Cod 5 and linked accounts.Balances from other institutions will be visible. |
Monitor Cashflow
Cape Cod 5’s My Budget tools offers a Cashflow feature to help you understand your current finances, stay on top of bills that are due, and keep an eye out for money coming in.
Understanding your cashflow consists of a few different pieces:
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Your current balance – The total balance of your Cape Cod 5 and linked accounts on the current day.
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Anticipated income – The money you expect to receive, e.g., recurring paycheck, tax refund, etc.
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Anticipated bills – The items you know need to be paid. This can be recurring bills, e.g., cable, rent, etc., or one-time payments, e.g., annual service, a one-off purchase, etc.
Cashflow will predict how much money you’ll have available for your use over the next six months.
View your Cashflow
To view your Cashflow, access My Budget and click the Cashflow tab at the top of the screen.
The Cashflow section provides a snapshot of your current Cape Cod 5 account(s) and any linked accounts (Today’s Balance) and provides you with a projected running balance based on your entered income and bills. It also identifies days that your balance is projected to be negative, if applicable.
Add income or a bill
To best use the predictive feature of this tool, add anticipated income or bills to the running calendar.
Use the following steps to add income/bills.
Step |
Action |
|---|---|
1 |
Access My Budget. |
2 |
Click the Cashflow tab at the top of the screen.In Mobile Banking, open the menu. Tap Cashflow. |
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Click Add Income/Bill.In Mobile Banking, tap +. |
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Select Add Income or Add Bill from the pop-up list. |
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Enter the name of the item in the corresponding field, e.g., paycheck, electric bill, etc. |
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Enter the anticipated amount in the corresponding field. |
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Select the Frequency from the drop-down menu. |
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Select the date you’d like to start recording the amount. |
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Click Save.If you’re adding a bill, you’ll also need to select whether or not you’d like to create an alert. If you choose to create one, you’ll receive it 5 days before the bill is due. |
Monitor your Cashflow
Once you’ve added all of your income and bills, Cashflow will provide you with projected balances. Navigate to My Budget > Cashflow to monitor it, e.g., watch your balance grow or monitor for unexpected declines in your balance.
Be sure to continue to provide up-to-date information so the Cashflow can remain as accurate as possible. Use the following suggestions to stay on track:
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Add income or bills as needed – Click Add Income/Bills to add new items to your cashflow.
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Update/delete inaccurate income or bills – Select the item from the running calendar and update as needed, or click Delete to get rid of it.
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Mark your income as received or your bills as paid – Select the item from the running calendar and select that it’s been Received/Paid and click Save.
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Watch for upcoming bills – Click Show Income/Bills to see when upcoming bills are due.
Tip: Cape Cod 5’s Online and Mobile Banking Payments feature makes paying bills easy.
Add and Maintain a Budget
The first step to saving money is to identify how much money you make and how much you spend (and how you spend it). You can then decide how much you’d like to budget to spend and save. The My Budget tool within Cape Cod 5’s Online and Mobile Banking helps you to achieve this. As your needs change over time, you can continue to track and update your budgets using the tool.
Use the following steps to create a budget.
Step |
Action |
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1 |
Access My Budget. |
2 |
Click the Budgets tab at the top of the screen.In Mobile Banking, open the menu. Tap Budgets. |
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Click Add Budget.A list of tags appears for spending/savings categories. If you’ve tagged your transactions in Online Banking, your average monthly amount for those tags appears. For more information on tagging transactions, see “Tagging Transactions.” |
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Select the check boxes for the desired tag(s) and click Next. |
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To change the default Budget Name, select the text and enter the desired name. Otherwise, continue to the next step. |
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Enter your Monthly Limit in the corresponding field and click Next.Only include whole dollar amounts. |
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Indicate if you’d like to create an alert for your budget and click Next.Alerts notify you when you’re approaching your spending limit for the month. |
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Select the account(s) from which you’d like to contribute toward this budget and click Finish.If you chose to set up an alert, you’ll enter a phone number (SMS text), email address, or both, and click Save to set up the alert. This contact method will be used for all future budget and goal alerts. |
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The Budgets screen appears and displays the total for all budgets you’ve set up, as well as each individual budget. |
Once you’ve added one or more budgets, it’s easy for you to monitor them to ensure you stay on track with your spending and saving. You may edit your budgets at any time.
Use the following steps to maintain and edit your individual budgets.
Step |
Action |
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1 |
Access My Budget. |
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Click the Budgets tab at the top of the screen. |
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Click on the budget you’d like to edit.A graph displays your spending over the current month and prior 5 months. You can use this data to help decide how you need to change your budget, e.g., if you’ve spent well under your budget in prior months, you want to reduce the budget amount. |
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Click Edit Budget. |
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Make any desired changes to the budget and click Save. If you no longer need the selected budget, click Delete to remove it.The Budgets screen displays with the updated budget. |
Add, Monitor and Achieve a Goal
Add a Goal
Defining specific goals can help to keep you on track with your budgeting. The My Budget tool allows you to set two types of goals:
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Savings Goals – Set aside money for a specific purpose, e.g., vacation, wedding, rainy day fund, etc.
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Payoff Goals – Pay off or pay down a Cape Cod 5 loan or line of credit (or other loans that you have setup and linked to your Cape Cod 5 Online Banking account).
As you’re setting a goal, you’ll determine how much you need to achieve it. My Budget will help you figure out how much you need to contribute each month to reach the goal based on your timeline.
Tip: It’s best to use a savings account for savings goals. If you have a large savings goal, e.g., wedding, college, vacation, consider opening a new savings account dedicated to this goal.
Use the following steps to add a goal:
Step |
Action |
|---|---|
1 |
Access My Budget. |
2 |
Click the Goals tab at the top of the screen.If using Mobile Banking, open the menu. Tap Goals. |
3 |
Click Add Goal.If using Mobile Banking, tap the + icon, then tap Add Goal.A list of common goals displays on the screen. |
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Select your desired goal.Goals to pay off loans can only be selected if you have loans or lines of credit at Cape Cod 5. |
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To change the default name, select the text and enter the desired name. Otherwise, continue to the next step. |
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Select the account you would like to use for the money you are saving or the loan you’ll be paying off.If you’re creating a savings goal, it’s best to select a savings account rather than a checking account. |
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If you’re setting a savings goal:
The default amount is the entire balance of the deposit account.If you’re setting a payoff goal, the payoff amount will automatically be entered in this field. |
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Select the desired completion strategy.To accomplish your goal by a certain date:
The Goal Summary calculates the amount you need to save or pay each month to accomplish your goal in the given timeframe.To save or pay a certain amount each month:
The Goal Summary calculates your completion date.For payoff goals, your completion date and monthly payments must meet or exceed your loan agreement |
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Select whether you’d like to create an alert to remind you about your goal and click Save.If you chose to set up an alert, you’ll enter a phone number (SMS text), email address, or both, and click Save to set up the alert. This contact method will be used for all future budget and goal alerts.The Goals screen appears with a list of all goals you’ve set, along with their progress.The monthly savings or payment amounts are rounded up to the next $10 amount. |
Monitor and achieve a goal
Once you’ve set a goal, you’ll want to set yourself up for success to achieve it. Setting up automatic transfers and monitoring your goals’ progress are the best ways to help you achieve the goals you’ve set.
Set up automatic transfers:
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Use the Transfers function in Online and Mobile Banking to establish recurring transfers.
If you have multiple savings goals set for the same account, any deposits or transfers made into that account will be split evenly among these goals.
Check the progress of your goals:
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The Goals Progress section on the My Budget Overview gives you your completion percentage and how much you’ve saved/paid toward each goal.
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Access My Budget > Goals to view the progress of each goal, as well as how much you need to save/pay each month to stay on target.
To modify a goal, click on it and make the desired changes.
Look out for alerts when you achieve milestones on your goals:
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If you set up alerts when you add a goal, you’ll receive alerts when you hit 25%, 50% and 80% of each goal.
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When you’ve completed a goal, you’ll also receive a notification celebrating your accomplishment. Return to My Budget > Goals to mark it as complete, modify it or set the next goal for yourself!
View Net Worth
Your net worth is a calculation of your assets and debts/liabilities. The Net Worth section on the overview shows your total net worth, total assets and total debt. It will also show the change (as a percentage) over the last 3 months.
Click View Assets to see a more detailed view or to link or add assets and liabilities held at other financial institutions.
Add, Modify or Delete Alerts in My Budget
Alerts are notifications designed to keep you updated on progress toward your goals, help your spending stay on budget, and remind you of bills that need to be paid. You can select the alerts you wish to receive and adjust or delete them to fit your needs.
Use the following steps to add alerts in My Budget.
Step |
Action |
|---|---|
1 |
Access My Budget. |
2 |
Click the more icon.If using Mobile Banking, open the menu. |
3 |
Select Alerts. |
4 |
Click the + symbol. |
5 |
Select an Alert Type from the drop-down list. |
6 |
Select the desired options under Alert Options. |
7 |
Select your contact preference(s). |
8 |
Click Save. |
Use the following steps to modify or delete an alert in My Budget.
Step |
Action |
|---|---|
1 |
Access My Budget. |
2 |
Click the more icon.If using Mobile Banking, open the menu. |
3 |
Select Alerts. |
4 |
Select the desired alert. |
5 |
To modify the alert:
To delete the alert:
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