Financial literacy, not play money
A comprehensive financial literacy dashboard for families who care about how their kids think about money — not just how they spend it.
The problem
When a number ticks up in an app, nothing actually changed. Kids learn to swipe, not to weigh.
A frictionless tap hides the real cost. The dopamine of buying never meets the discomfort of parting with cash.
Auto-allowances and silent transfers skip the conversation. The lesson is the conversation.
The hybrid model
Every digital transaction has a physical counterpart. The dashboard is the ledger of truth — the cash makes it real.
Tracks every penny. Pay slips, ledgers, charts, AI explainers.
The chore is done. The cash is real. The kid holds it.
Four jars: Spend · Save · Invest · Give. Scan the QR, reconcile in seconds.
The five pillars
Work has a price. Effort compounds.
"Mow the lawn → £5 pay slip → £5 in the EARN jar." Kids set rates, log hours, negotiate raises. Mastery counts unlock automatic increases on birthdays.
Trade-offs you can feel.
Bills, wants, goals — every category is visible before the swipe. A wishlist auto-calculates how many weeks of work an item really costs.
Time in the market beats timing it.
"£20 in an index fund at age 10 → ~£90 at age 30 at 7% real return." Live market data, term deposits with real interest, and dividend reinvestment.
Generosity is a money skill too.
Pick a cause. Donate from the GIVE jar. Optional parent match. Print a reference letter for school portfolios.
Parent-as-insurer. Risk made visible.
Insure the bike, the phone, the laptop. Kids pay a tiny weekly premium from their Spend jar; parents approve claims. Premiums scale with age — youngest get the simplest formula, teens see the full risk model.
Why investing matters
Saving keeps the money safe. Investing puts it to work. Over 10 years at a 7% real return, the gap is not a rounding error — it's a different life.
Compound interest
Returns earn returns. The first £100 of growth pulls the next £100 along faster.
Time beats timing
The biggest variable isn't picking winners — it's how early you start.
Diversify
A basket of companies (an index fund) is steadier than betting on one. Kids learn this on the Grow page.
Two views
Per kid
Net worth, week summary, recent ledger, upcoming bills, AI explainers calibrated to their age.
NEW · family combined
Household net worth, per-kid leaderboard, side-by-side weekly bars, savings-rate comparison, allocation donuts, wishlist roll-up, and the family bank ledger.
What's inside
A week with TreeHouse
Mon
Log chores
Kid claims tasks. Parent approves.
Wed
Print pay slip
Gross, tax, round-up, net — itemized.
Thu
Cash to jars
Split across the four QR vaults.
Sat
Family review
Open /family. Compare. Talk.
Sun
Invest decision
Pick what to buy on /grow.
FAQ
The demo family is preloaded. Open it, poke around, then make it yours.
Client-side. No accounts. No ads. No selling kids data.