Ben & Fiona live in London and have been using RoosterMoney with their two kids, Leo (9) and Manu (5), for a couple of years now. Here they share their experiences, including how they manage online spending on Roblox and Minecraft with the Rooster Card.
1. Did you give pocket money before starting RoosterMoney? If so, what problems did you have? 💰
We gave it informally in the sense the kids were buying things occasionally from the shops and we were buying it for them.
2. Why did you start using RoosterMoney? 📲
As our boys got older we started to have some of the challenges that parents have with them wanting to buy more things, and we wanted to put some structure into that and turn it into a lesson. They were taking interest in some of the games their friends were playing at school, such as Minecraft and Roblox and I wanted to get a grip on that, not only in terms of how often it’s used but also how much it costs. The older one was also starting to venture out with football tours and the like, and the Card was a perfect way for us to give him the pocket money he needed to buy things while he was away. Also grandparents were increasingly giving them cash for birthdays and Christmas, and we wanted somewhere to put it!
3. How do you use RoosterMoney in your family? 👨👩👧👦
We give a set amount of pocket money each week but the boys have to do some tasks in order to get it. As we’ve been spending a bit more time at home recently we’ve found this really useful. Occasionally they top-up their pocket money with extra jobs – this is normally prompted by them wanted to save up for something.
“They were taking interest in some of the games their friends were playing at school, such as Minecraft and Roblox and I wanted to get a grip on that.“
4. How do you use the Rooster Card? 💳
The older boy is on the card, the younger one is getting dragged along by his older brother and he uses the virtual tracker. He doesn’t have the card.
5. What are your favourite things about it? 🎉
They are learning things about earning money. We are also able to control spending really well as I’ve got the Rooster Card hooked into the Microsoft account so if the older one wants to buy game credits, we do it through the Rooster Card.
It’s quite simple to set up, you just add the Rooster Card as the payment option to the Microsoft Account and set the Content Restrictions so that it asks for an approval each time before your child can make a purchase. Then when Leo wants to buy something from the Microsoft Store we have to approve it first by email, and we load the account at that point with the Rooster Card. You can switch all that off of course but we’d rather approve each purchase and have a conversation about it. You can also set screen time restrictions, which we use as well
6. How has RoosterMoney helped your family? Has it made life easier? 🙂
I’m not sure it’s easier necessarily for us, it’s just a lot better. I could just buy them everything with my card. I don’t want to do that however, so we choose to put the Rooster Card in between!
“We are also able to control spending really well as I’ve got the Rooster Card hooked into the Microsoft account so if the older one wants to buy game credits, we do it through the Rooster Card.“
7. How has RoosterMoney changed your kids' understanding of money? Do you feel they're better savers or smarter spenders? 💵
They absolutely understand about earning money and are very keen to take part (some times) in chores around the house. They also understand the process of online spending now, and the potential pitfalls, which we’ve discussed at length.
“They also understand the process of online spending now, and the potential pitfalls, which we’ve discussed at length.“
8. Give us your top pocket money tip? 🐓
Try and make it fit around your existing routine so it sticks. It’s also really useful to get the kids to log into their app and monitor their own pocket money because then they take more ownership.
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A massive thank you to the Allen family for sharing their story! These stories really help other families understand how to get the most out of the app, so please get in contact if you’d like to share your story too.
If you’ve been using our app for a while and would like to share your story, either over the phone, email or video – please get in touch at hello@roostermoney.com
