Allowance Star

HOW IT WORKS

• Set up each child with a starting balance and weekly or monthly allowance
• No bank account required — Allowance Star is for simply keeping track
• Subtract purchases (e.g.,spent $12 for a toy on Amazon)
• Add gifts and other income
• That’s it! Allowance Star handles your child’s allowance automatically

BENEFITS

• Allowance Star is a simple way to track your child’s allowance and savings
• Virtual allowance is automatically added on a weekly or monthly basis
• Subtract expenses for purchases made with cash or on a parent’s credit card, Amazon account, iTunes account, or anywhere else
• Add income like cash gifts and payments for jobs or chores
• Safely prepare kids for the reality of having money they can’t hold in their hands
• No special usernames or passwords
• No bank account required
• No piggy bank required

WHY USE ALLOWANCE STAR?

Think about how kids buy things today — it’s often through a parent because kids are not old enough to have a credit card, Amazon account, or app store account. Kids have difficulty keeping track of cash. Parents have difficulty keeping track too! Use Allowance Star to encourage your child to save while keeping track of their allowance, savings, and spending in one easy place.

Examples:

Keep track of your child’s purchases
• Your child has saved her allowance and now has $50
• She wants to buy a toy that costs $12
• You find it together on Amazon and buy it with your Amazon account
• Use Allowance Star to log that purchase

Give your child cash
• Your child wants $20 cash to go to the movie with friends
• You give her a $20 bill and say “we’ll take it out of your allowance savings”
• Use Allowance Star to subtract that cash

Manage gifts and other deposits
• Your child gets a $10 bill for his birthday
• He wants to add it to his allowance savings and hands it to you
• Use Allowance Star to add the $10 cash gift

Allowance Star makes it easy to automate your child’s allowance and keep track of the inflow and outflow of their money. 

COMMON QUESTIONS

Shouldn’t kids have a bank account or debit card? 
Eventually, yes. But there’s a period of time where you, the parent, are the bank. You’re the one with the Amazon or iTunes account, credit card, and cash. Allowance Star is a simple way to keep track of your child’s funds during that stage of their life.

Does this connect to a bank account? 
No. Allowance Star keeps track of your child’s savings and spending without requiring a bank account or credit card. It’s a safe and secure way to help families manage allowances. 

What does this teach kids about money? 
When money is not tracked, kids don’t have visibility into how much they have and the impact of spending and saving. Allowance Star gives kids and parents that visibility and makes it easy to keep track.

Can I pay my kids for chores or other incentives?
Sure! You can use whatever incentive system you like. You can log funds that your child receives for a job, chore, or incentive in Allowance Star.

Is this app for kids or parents? 
Both — but mostly parents. Some kids don’t have their own devices. For those that do, we may make a kids’ version eventually. For now, this app is for the parent’s device to help them keep track.

Why did you make Allowance Star?
When we first started giving our kids an allowance, we kept track on a piece of paper on the fridge. This helped our kids see how much they had and understand the impact of their spending. We wanted to create an app that was as simple and helpful as a piece of paper on the fridge.

Is Allowance Star private and secure?
Yes. You don’t need to make a special account or connect Allowance Star to your bank. We are purposefully not on “the cloud.” All of your info is stored locally on your device. Make sure you back it up!

Why isn’t Allowance Star free?
We worked hard to make Allowance Star as simple as possible. For a one time charge, you can use Allowance Star forever on your device.