Splitting pocket money, instead of leaving it in one pile
A child gets five francs on Monday. By Friday it's gone. Nobody remembers what on, and nobody did anything wrong. Money that sits in one place only has one use.
Why split it at all
One question turns into four. What do I spend, what do I put aside, what do I leave alone for a long time, what do I pass on. Each one can be talked through with an eight-year-old. Together they add up to a habit, which lasts longer than a good intention.
The four buckets
The same four the app uses. The names and descriptions live in one place, so this page and the app can't drift apart.
- 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.
How you split it
There's no right number for this. An example: four tenths to Saving, three to Payout, two to Investing, one to Gifting. In a week with a birthday in it, it looks different. The split is a decision, not a rule.
It shifts
At eight, Payout is what matters. At fourteen there's often more in Saving, because there's something it's heading towards. That shift is the interesting part. You only notice it once several years sit side by side.
Read on
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.