Pocket money, neatly split.
batzenbox is the pocket-money notebook for families. Each week you split the pocket money across four buckets. The app works the interest out from what you recorded.
For parents who have kept this in a spreadsheet so far. We did too, for years. Then we corrected a week from March. After that the interest was wrong in every row below it.
What a spreadsheet is good at
It costs nothing, it belongs to you, and everything sits on one sheet. For the first few months you need nothing else. We didn't miss a thing for a long time.
The interest comes from the history
Nobody types the interest in. The app works it out from the history every time. Correct a week from months ago and the figures after it settle again on their own.
- After 52 weeks
- CHF 3.86 Interest Contributed CHF 260.00 Balance CHF 263.86
- After 520 weeks
- CHF 431.10 Interest Contributed CHF 2'600.00 Balance CHF 3'031.10
How the interest is worked out, with an example Why a spreadsheet stops keeping up with the interest
Four buckets
Each week you split the pocket money across four buckets:
- Payout 30%
- goes straight into their pocket.
- Saving 40%
- for something bigger later. Earns interest.
- Investing 20%
- stays put until they turn 18.
- Gifting 10%
- for other people. Goes to an organisation eventually.
And what shifts over the years
A spreadsheet shows weeks. Whether a child saves more today than two years ago, it does not show. We added that up by hand every time, across four hundred rows.
| Bucket | Year 1 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Payout | 40% | 20% |
| Saving | 30% | 45% |
| Investing | 20% | 25% |
| Gifting | 10% | 10% |
No pressure
Exact to the Rappen. Nothing counts how many weeks you have managed in a row, and nothing pushes anyone to save or to spend. Miss a week and you have a gap. The gap does not turn red.
What parents ask before they start
We missed a few weeks. Can we add them later?
Yes. The year grid shows every open week. You fill them in when you get to it, even months later. Catching up is the normal case here.
And if an amount is wrong?
Then you change the entry. Any week can be edited or deleted, even far back. The app then recalculates the interest from the history.
How much pocket money is normal?
That's your call. For a starting point, there are Swiss guideline figures by age. The app doesn't prescribe an amount.
Does our kid need their own login?
No. You keep the book, and your kid looks at it with you. There are no kid accounts.
Is a bank account connected?
No. batzenbox moves no money and pays nothing out. The app records what you handed over at home. The money itself stays with you.
Who pays the interest?
You do. The family is the bank. You set the rate, and the app works out from the history how much it comes to.
Can the two of us run it together?
Yes. You invite the other parent with a link. After that you both see the same thing, and both of you can record.
What does batzenbox cost?
Nothing today. Whether it will cost something one day, and how much, isn't decided yet. So we don't promise anything.
Where does our data live?
The database is in the EU. What you record is seen only by your own family.
Start with this week.
batzenbox is the pocket-money notebook for your family: four amounts a week, and the interest comes from the history. Set up your family, put in the first week. That's all it takes.
batzenbox came out of our own family. Who is behind it is in the legal notice.