diff --git a/dot_local/scripts/zsh/aliases.zsh b/dot_local/scripts/zsh/aliases.zsh
index cadc876..2d6a867 100644
--- a/dot_local/scripts/zsh/aliases.zsh
+++ b/dot_local/scripts/zsh/aliases.zsh
@@ -3,5 +3,25 @@ alias rm="garbage put"
 alias cm="chezmoi"
 alias kill-gpg-agent="gpgconf --kill gpg-agent"
 
-ced() { chezmoi edit $1 && chezmoi -v apply }
+function ced() {
+    # if the file doesn't exist, prompt to make a new one
+    if [ ! -f "$1" ]; then
+        read "?$1 doesn't exist.. create file? [yN] " yn
+        case $yn in
+            [Yy]* )
+                echo "creating new file"
+                install -D /dev/null $1
+                echo "\n" > $1
+                chezmoi add $1;;
+            * )
+                echo "nah"
+                return;;
+        esac
+    fi
+
+    chezmoi edit $1
+    echo "applying changes..."
+    chezmoi apply
+}
+
 cpush() { chezmoi git add . -- -A && chezmoi git commit -- -m "update" && chezmoi git push }
diff --git a/dot_local/scripts/zsh/executable_check-update.zsh b/dot_local/scripts/zsh/executable_check-update.zsh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae3cc9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dot_local/scripts/zsh/executable_check-update.zsh
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+function checkUpdate() {
+    lastUpdateFile=$HOME/.config/last-system-update
+
+    if [ ! -f "$lastUpdateFile" ]; then
+        echo "this system hasn't ever been updated using system-upgrade.sh"
+        echo "run system-upgrade.sh now"
+        return
+    fi
+
+    lastUpdate=$(cat $lastUpdateFile)
+    now=$(date "+%s")
+
+    if [ $(( $now - $lastUpdate > 604800 )) ]; then
+        echo "this system hasn't been updated for over a week"
+        echo "run system-upgrade.sh asap"
+        return
+    fi
+}
+
+checkUpdate
+
diff --git a/dot_zshrc b/dot_zshrc
index 119a86b..e2518e8 100644
--- a/dot_zshrc
+++ b/dot_zshrc
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 source $HOME/.local/scripts/zsh/zsh-prelude.zsh
+source $HOME/.local/scripts/zsh/check-update.zsh
 
 export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 export ZSH="/home/michael/.oh-my-zsh"