Why there's no bank login
Apps like Lunch Money or Monarch link to your bank and pull in every transaction. That's handy, and it costs a subscription and a lot of trust. The Snapshot goes the other way: you type a few numbers once a month and nothing leaves your phone or computer. Typing them is part of the point. Ten minutes with your own numbers teaches you more than a feed that fills itself.
What the numbers mean
- On track to save: take-home pay, minus every bill, minus your plan for each category (or what you've spent, if that's more), as a share of take-home pay. Saved so far only counts what's gone out already.
- Not planned yet: income with no bill and no category. Give it a job (TFSA, FHSA, cushion) before it turns into spending.
- Cash cushion: chequing and savings divided by one month of bills and planned spending. Three to six months is the usual target.
- Net worth: everything you own on this page, minus everything you owe.
Set up your month
- Put in your take-home pay and your bills. Tick the ones already paid.
- Give each category a plan. Whatever's left under "Not planned yet" goes to an account on purpose.
- Once a week, update "spent so far" from your bank app. When the month ends, start the next one: your plan carries over and the month is saved under "Your months".
One idea, one move, one number every Sunday. Five minutes. No picks, ever. Join free and get the 64-page Field Guide.
Where this comes from
- CRA: TFSA, if you over-contribute: 1% of the highest excess in each month it stays in. Withdrawals come back as room on January 1 of the next year.
- CRA: Participating in your FHSAs: $8,000 of room a year starting the year you open your first FHSA, up to $8,000 carried forward, contributions count for the calendar year (deadline December 31), 1% a month on an excess.
- CRA: How contributions affect your RRSP deduction limit (modified January 29, 2026): the deadline is 60 days after the end of the year, moved to the next business day on a weekend (March 2, 2026 for 2025; March 1, 2027 for 2026, as on our money calendar).
- CRA: RRSP excess contributions: above a $2,000 cushion, an excess is taxed 1% a month.
- The card interest line uses a 20% yearly rate as a typical figure. The fee line uses a 2% MER as an example. Neither is your rate: check your statements.
- Your numbers are saved in this browser's storage so they're there next time. Clearing your browser data, or "Clear everything" above, removes them. Nothing is sent to Planted North.