Introducing pocket money for Daisy (AD)

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I’m often in charge of the money management and budgeting in my home. My husband and I have an account where we pay in for bills, proportionate to earnings, and then we have a joint emergency fund, and individual sinking funds too. These are all great money habits that help us hit our goals, prepare for emergencies and just generally feel in control of our money.

Since Daisy was born in 2016 we have had a couple of money accounts for her. One where we invest regularly, for adulthood, and one where we save money that our loved ones gift to Daisy for her birthday or Christmas.

We will keep these accounts, but now we will allow Daisy to have some of the money from special occasions to spend, within reason, on just about anything she likes.

Now that she is 6, and old enough for her own HyperJar card, we plan to start passing on our good money habits to her at a much earlier age than we learned them ourselves!

What is HyperJar?

HyperJar is a FREE app, providing you with an FCA regulated e-money account that comes with prepaid debit Mastercards for you and any child aged 6-17 you want to add to the account.

Because it’s a prepaid account, there are no credit checks when you sign-up – and no chance of getting into debt or running up an overdraft.

When signing up you’re issued with a sort code and account number, and you can easily transfer money over to this from your main bank account. It’s very straight forward and happens instantly.

Once you’ve got an active account you can take advantage of the free features, such as creating ‘jars,’ which is basically a way of dividing your money for set purposes, such as groceries, days out or anything you fancy really.

You can use your card to spend abroad (with ZERO added fees – unlike most banks), get notifications of every spend and even look into the analytics of your purchasing habits. Which is a great help with future budgeting and spending.

As well as being a money management tool for adults HyperJar also offers FREE kids cards, which is what I want to talk to you about a little more today.

How to add a child to HyperJar

Once I’d ordered my own card, all I had to do was visit my profile, click on Kids Card and hit the + symbol. From there I could order a kids card which only took a few days to get to us.

When it arrived I headed back to the same area in the app to activate the card, by entering the last 4 digits of the card number, and that was it, it was ready to use. Super simple!

The first time Daisy used her own HyperJar card she had to insert it into the card machine, and enter her pin (it’s easy to get a PIN reminder in the app if you ever forget it), but after that the card could be used for contactless payments and anywhere that Mastercard is accepted, including online.

Features I love:

Only or Never Lists

Only or Never lists are a feature which allow me to create a list of shops &/or services that means Daisy can either ONLY use the services/shops on this OR never use it with specific websites.

For example Daisy loves gaming, on the iPad with supervision, and would happily spend her entire allowance on this weekly, if we allowed it. We would like her to have more tangible items with her money, with a little more longevity, and so we discourage these spends.

I was able to click on to the Never list and then scroll down to find the Apple Store and Apple App store. These were very fast and simple to block and Daisy now won’t be able to spend money on these services at all, which is great to know.

I love that not only can I separate out my own grocery spend and ensure that I can only use it in specific stores, but I can also do the same for Daisy’s money, helping her to exercise a little more self-control, even if she may not really want to!

Link card feature

Daisy has now created a few jars to save up for different things. A great HyperJar feature is that she can spend directly from any jar when I link her card to it in the app. We’re planning a trip to the zoo and Daisy is putting aside some of her pocket money in a jar to spend in the gift shop. When we go, I can link her card to the Zoo Jar for that day and whatever she spends will come from the right place. I can change the jar her card is linked to any time, and rename them or delete them easily.

Zero cost

HyperJar is completely free. There is no cost for using the app, or for having the prepaid debit Mastercard, which is fantastic! Just about every app I use seems to come with some sort of subscription, so it is refreshing to find one that is free to use!

No overspending

As there is no credit facility attached to using HyperJar, and no overdraft, no payable fees and the card itself is free too, this means that you won’t unexpectedly overspend or have a bill presented to you. And Daisy can’t run up those terrifying debts you hear about when kids start spending online and making in-app purchases!

My final thoughts:

HyperJar is fantastic, especially if you want to give your child pocket money, or just have a way for them to manage their own money, and don’t want to pay a fee for a service in the process.

Using the prepaid debit Mastercard is a great way for my daughter to become more aware about money, and how to manage it carefully. Knowing I can access the analytics, see all Daisy’s transactions and how much money she has available to spend before we head on a day out, helps me to manage her money with her quickly, and advise her accordingly.

I have been enjoying using the app so far, encouraging Daisy not to spend all of her money the day she receives it, and to learn how to save up for future goals like getting some treats on a holiday we’re planning.

Talking about money with Daisy more has been very eye opening. Initially, Daisy thought she had unlimited money, and then she thought she had to spend the money on basic care needs that we provide, such as food, drinks or even clothing.

Once I explained that this money was for treats, toys, and extras, Daisy was very interested in learning more, and also completing her chores to receive weekly pocket money.

I’ve been able to explain how we’re going on holiday in around a month and that there is a fantastic toy store there. Now Daisy is working weekly on a few basic chores around our house and looking to save up ready for a special purchase in the toy store.

Blocking Daisy from accessing merchants I don’t want her to use has been great, and soon we will be using the card to place an online order for the first time so I can talk more with her about delayed gratification and how you can save money sometimes by waiting a little longer to get the item that you absolutely must have.

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