Private pockets and allowances

Not every dollar in a household is shared money. This release gives each person a private pocket: a small book of their own that nobody else in the household can see, join or even tell exists. It suits an allowance, pocket money or personal spending. And with Pay allowance, the household can hand someone their allowance in one step: it comes out of a household envelope and lands in that person's pocket at the same moment.

What's new

• A private pocket for each person. It opens from Settings and is made the first time you open it, with a 👛 Spending envelope and a piggy bank of its own.
• Clearly marked. Inside the pocket the header reads "Private pocket" and a bar says "Private. Only you can see this book.", with a button to go back to your household.
• Pay allowance. From any envelope's spend sheet, pay a member their allowance. The household sees a spend such as "Allowance → Rudo", and the same amount arrives in Rudo's pocket as a cash in from "Allowance from" the household.
• One undo for both sides. Undoing the allowance in the household's Activity also takes it back out of the pocket.
• In the API and command line too. Agents can pay an allowance, and a pocket is marked private so they never pick it by default.

How to use it

1. Open Settings and, under People, tap "Private". Your pocket opens.
2. Use it like any table: Cash in, Spend, Move cash, Count cash. Tap "Back to" your household on the bar at the top to return.
3. To pay an allowance, open an envelope in the household and tap "Spend". Under the title, tap "Pay allowance".
4. Pick who gets it under "Who gets it?", enter "How much?" and an optional note, then tap "Pay allowance".

Good to know

• The pocket never appears in the household switcher, in the household's Activity or exports, or in the weekly email.
• The Spending envelope starts with no monthly budget. You can set one.
• An open pocket closes after 12 hours without use, so the next day starts on your household.
• Allowances can't be edited. Undo the allowance and pay it again instead. The pocket can't undo its half on its own: undo it in the household that paid it.
• Pay allowance only appears in a shared household, not in a pocket or the sample household.
• Deleting your pocket deletes everything in it. Allowances you were paid stay in the households that paid them.

Go deeper

• Cash envelope budget for couples: how a shared envelope budget works.
• How to make budgeting fun: giving the kids an envelope of their own.
• The dura command line: dura allowance and reaching your pocket with --household Private.