Hi, you are reading the Tageba blog where I explain what the allowance accounts are about and how they work, and I talk about kids and finances in general.

The idea for Tageba started on a nice summer family trip. We were out in the open, and after an exciting and exhausting day of hiking, we stopped by a little shop to get some snacks.

My tired daughter suddenly jolted to life when she saw some small trinkets the shop was selling to tourists. I knew she had some money saved up in her allowance piggy bank, back home. What I did NOT know was how much exactly it was, and whether it would cover the costs of the plushie toy she had cast her eyes upon.

I had two options: Buy it and hope that I hadn’t overdrafted her piggy bank (and conveyed that finances isn’t such an exact science after all). Or deny her wish, although she might actually be liquid enough to afford the toy, just to be on the safe side.

That’s when I had the idea of an online account for kids. It wouldn’t be a ‘real’ account, i.e. it wouldn’t actually store money – I don’t think it would be a good idea to have kids’ money online. But it would keep track of my kids’ allowance, sort of like an online piggy bank. And when they actually deposit into or withdraw from their online account, they come to me and give me money or get money from me.

It’s a simple concept, but when you think about it, it can be useful in many ways. It teaches kids not just about money, but also about being online and how to manage an online account safely and securely.

And it can be nicely automated: I can’t forget about my kids’ weekly allowance anymore, and I can even pay interest on their account balance. Which is a nice incentive for them to save money.