Can I Set a Reminder for the First Monday of Every Month?

Yes — you can set a reminder for the first Monday of every month, but most reminder apps make it surprisingly awkward. Google Calendar handles it cleanly through custom recurrence settings. iPhone Reminders requires a workaround. YouGot is the most direct option: just say it in plain English and it schedules it correctly. Here's how to do it on each platform.

Why "First Monday" Reminders Are Harder Than They Should Be

Most reminder apps offer four recurrence options: daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. "First Monday of the month" doesn't fit neatly into any of them. It's a weekday-relative recurrence — the date changes every month but the day pattern stays consistent.

This matters more than it seems. Rent is often due "by the 1st" — so a reminder on the last working day before the 1st is more useful than a fixed date reminder. Monthly team check-ins frequently get scheduled for "the first Monday" rather than a fixed date. Sending invoices on the first business day of the month means you need Monday-aware scheduling.

Apps that don't support this pattern force one of three bad solutions:

• Set a monthly reminder on the 1st (which may fall on a weekend)
• Set a weekly reminder and manually skip three out of four
• Forget about it and rely on memory

None of those work well. Here's what does.

How to Set a First-Monday Reminder on Google Calendar

Google Calendar is the most capable free option for this recurrence pattern.

1. Open Google Calendar and create a new event or reminder
2. Click the recurrence dropdown (usually set to "Does not repeat")
3. Select Custom...
4. Set frequency to Monthly
5. Select On the first Monday
6. Confirm and save

Google Calendar will generate a recurring event every month that correctly identifies the first Monday, even when months start on different days. The notification fires as a push alert to your phone and Gmail.

The limitation: Google Calendar reminders are push notifications. If you have notification fatigue, silent mode turned on, or you're simply not looking at your phone when it fires, you'll miss it. For high-stakes monthly obligations, push notifications are less reliable than SMS.

How to Set a First-Monday Reminder on iPhone Reminders

Apple's Reminders app doesn't have a native "first Monday of the month" option. The workaround:

1. Create a new reminder
2. Tap the calendar icon to set a date — choose the first Monday of the current month
3. Tap Repeat and select Monthly
4. Tap Custom and set it to repeat on the same weekday ("First Monday")

This option exists in newer versions of iOS but is not prominently labeled. If you don't see a weekday-relative option in the monthly recurrence settings, you may need to update iOS or use a different app. Alternatively, set the reminder in Google Calendar and let it sync to your iPhone via the Calendar app.

How to Set a First-Monday Reminder with YouGot (Easiest)

YouGot handles plain-English scheduling — including natural recurrence patterns — and delivers reminders via SMS, WhatsApp, email, and push notification.

Instead of navigating menus, just type what you want:

"Remind me on the first Monday of every month to review my budget"

YouGot parses the recurrence pattern and schedules the SMS. No custom recurrence menus, no date math, no push notification settings to configure. The SMS delivery is the key advantage for monthly obligations. Because first-Monday reminders are infrequent, they're easy to dismiss or overlook in a cluttered notification center. A text message sits in your messaging app until you act on it.

Try These Reminders

Here are five first-Monday reminder examples you can set right now:

• Remind me on the first Monday of every month at 9am to send invoices to my monthly retainer clients
• Remind me on the first Monday of every month to review last month's bank statement and flag any unusual charges
• Remind me every first Monday at 8am to prepare the team check-in agenda before the morning standup
• Remind me on the first Monday of every month at 7pm that rent is due in two days — transfer funds today
• Remind me every first Monday of the month to audit my active subscriptions and cancel anything unused

Each of these is specific enough to act on immediately when the reminder fires.

Common Use Cases for First-of-Month Reminders

First-Monday reminders are useful anywhere a monthly obligation needs human attention on or before a deadline.

Finances and rent Rent is the classic case. Most leases require payment by the 1st, but the actual prep work — transferring money, confirming receipt — should happen on or before the last business day. A first-Monday reminder gives you early warning before the weekend eats your window.

Invoicing for freelancers and business owners Monthly invoices sent on the first business day create predictable payment timelines. A first-Monday reminder means invoices go out before clients settle into their week and start prioritizing other things.

Team check-ins and standups Many teams run a monthly retrospective or all-hands on the first Monday. A personal reminder to prepare talking points before the meeting keeps you from showing up empty-handed.

Monthly reviews and goal resets Personal productivity systems often reset at the start of the month. A first-Monday reminder to review last month and set this month's priorities keeps the habit alive without requiring willpower.

Monthly recurring obligations are among the most commonly missed reminders — not because they're unimportant, but because they're infrequent enough to fall out of working memory. A single SMS on the right day prevents an entire category of dropped-ball moments.

Why SMS Beats App Notifications for Monthly Recurring Obligations

The less frequent a reminder, the more important reliable delivery becomes. Daily habits are self-reinforcing. Monthly obligations can go 29 days without a nudge — and then need to fire correctly on day 30.

Push notifications have three failure modes:

1. Silent mode — the phone is muted and the notification is never heard
2. Notification fatigue — the reminder appears alongside dozens of other notifications and gets dismissed without being read
3. App deletion — if you uninstall the app, the reminders go with it

SMS doesn't have these failure modes. Texts arrive regardless of which apps you have installed, whether your phone is on silent, or how many other notifications you've received that day. For a monthly obligation with real financial or professional consequences, that reliability matters.

Check YouGot's pricing for SMS reminder plans that work for monthly recurring obligations. More recurring reminder guides are available on the blog.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I set a reminder for the first Monday of every month?

Yes. Google Calendar supports this via custom recurrence settings (Monthly → First Monday). iPhone Reminders has a limited version of this in recent iOS updates. YouGot handles it in plain English — just type 'Remind me on the first Monday of every month to...' and it schedules it automatically without any menu navigation.

Why doesn't iPhone Reminders have a 'first Monday of the month' option?

Apple's Reminders app offers basic recurrence options but lacks native 'nth weekday of the month' scheduling in older iOS versions. Newer iOS releases have improved this, but the option can be hard to find. Google Calendar and YouGot both handle this pattern more reliably and without workarounds.

Does Google Calendar support first-Monday-of-the-month recurrence?

Yes. Create an event, select Custom recurrence, set it to Monthly, and choose 'On the first Monday.' Google Calendar correctly calculates the first Monday of each month going forward. The trade-off is that it sends push notifications rather than SMS, which can be missed in a busy notification feed.

What are good use cases for a first-Monday-of-the-month reminder?

First-Monday reminders are ideal for: sending monthly invoices, preparing for monthly team check-ins, reviewing your budget, paying rent ahead of the 1st deadline, auditing subscriptions, and resetting monthly goals. Any recurring obligation that doesn't fall on a fixed calendar date benefits from weekday-relative scheduling.

Why should I use SMS for monthly recurring reminders?

Monthly reminders fire infrequently, which means missing one has real consequences — a late payment, a forgotten invoice, a missed review. Push notifications get buried in daily app noise. SMS is more reliable: texts arrive regardless of silent mode or notification settings, and they stay visible until you act on them.