Money Journey — Family User Guide

Version: 1.2 (updated 22 September 2026)
Audience: Parents, guardians and children
Purpose: A practical guide to setting up Money Journey and using it to build healthy money habits together.

Welcome to Money Journey

Money Journey helps families teach children about money through everyday experiences.

It is not just a place to record a balance. It gives children opportunities to receive, decide, save, spend, achieve and learn, while parents provide guidance and encouragement.

The basic idea is:

My Money. My Challenges. My Goals.

Parents manage the family system. Children manage the money they receive and make age-appropriate decisions about saving, spending, giving and goals.

Contents

Getting Started
1. The Two Money Journey Apps · 2. The Money Journey Model · 3. Getting Started · 4. Create Your Family · 5. Add Your Child · 6. Your Child's Money Journey ID and PIN · 7. Invite Another Family Member · 8. Giving Another Adult Access to a Child

Parent Home & Everyday Money
9. Parent Home · 10. Understanding "Your Balance" · 11. Child Details · 12. Add Money · 13. Pocket Money Using Auto Transfer · 14. Auto Transfers · 15. Managing Auto Transfers · 16. A Good Pocket Money Strategy · 17. Spend, Save and Give Wallets · 18. Child Transfers · 19. Moving Money Into Spend · 20. Spending Money · 21. Wallet History

Challenges & Rewards
22. Challenges · 23. Creating a Challenge · 24. Challenge Ideas · 25. How Children See Challenges · 26. Completing a Challenge · 27. Reward Approval · 28. Reward History · 29. Re-assigning a Rejected Challenge · 30. Chore Challenges and Bigger Goals

Money Requests
31. Money Requests · 32. Responding to a Money Request · 33. When to Use Money Requests

Goals
34. Goals · 35. Saving Towards a Goal · 36. Goal Progress · 37. Completing a Goal · 38. Discontinuing a Goal · 39. Goal Reached

Interest
40. Interest · 41. How Interest Works · 42. When Interest Is Applied · 43. A Simple Way to Introduce Interest

Settings, Login & Notifications
44. Wallet Value Types · 45. Save and Give Wallet Settings · 46. Child Settings · 47. Child Login and Settings · 48. Notifications · 49. Parent Notification Center · 50. Child Notification Center

Learning Missions & Read-Aloud
51. Learning Missions · 52. How a Mission Works · 53. Skills and How They Unlock · 54. XP, Levels and Streaks · 55. Daily Limits and Premium · 56. Turning Learning On or Off · 57. Choosing a Learning Level · 58. Following Your Child's Learning · 59. Read-Aloud and the Listen Button

Strategy, Setup & Troubleshooting
60. A Recommended First Setup · 61. Example Family Setup · 62. How to Use Money Journey as a Parent · 63. Let Children Make Small Decisions · 64. Use Features Gradually · 65. Troubleshooting · 66. The Most Important Idea · 67. Final Thoughts

1. The Two Money Journey Apps

Money Journey is delivered as two separate apps. On your phone's home screen and app store listing, look for:

• MJ Parent — the Parent app
• MJ Kids — the Kids app

MJ Parent

Parents use the Parent app to:

• Set up the family
• Add children
• Invite other family members
• Add money
• Record spending
• Create and manage Challenges
• Approve Challenge Rewards
• Respond to Money Requests
• Create Automatic Transfers
• Configure Interest
• View wallet history
• Manage child access and settings
• Monitor progress and goals
• Follow their Learning progress

MJ Kids

Each child uses the Kids app to:

• View their money
• View Spend, Save and Give wallets
• Transfer money between their wallets
• Spend money
• Create and work towards Goals
• Complete Challenges
• Request Challenge Rewards
• Ask selected Guardians for money
• View Rewards
• View wallet history
• Complete Learning Missions and earn XP
• Have Mission questions read aloud
• Receive important notifications

Children do not manage family administration such as Challenges, Auto Transfers, Interest, Family Members or Sharing.

2. The Money Journey Model

Money Journey is built around a simple relationship:

Parents provide opportunities and money.

Children decide what to do with money they receive.

Money can reach a child through:

• A parent adding money
• An approved Challenge Reward
• An Automatic Transfer
• Interest

Children do not create money. They decide how to use money that has been given or earned.

3. Getting Started

Step 1 — Create your Parent Account

Open MJ Parent and create your account using:

• Email address
• Password

Your email becomes your parent login identity.

After creating your account, Money Journey takes you into family setup.

4. Create Your Family

The first-time setup follows this journey:

Create Account
      ↓
Create Your Family
      ↓
Add First Child
      ↓
Add More Children (optional)
      ↓
Invite Family Member (optional)
      ↓
Parent Home

You only need one child to continue.

You can add more children and family members later.

The person who creates the family becomes the Family Creator. The Family Creator always retains management access.

5. Add Your Child

When adding a child, you can provide:

• Child name
• Optional photo
• Optional starting balance
• Your relationship to the child

Relationships can include Mum, Dad or another relationship such as Grandparent, Guardian, Step Parent or a custom relationship.

The relationship belongs to the adult-child relationship. This means different adults can have different relationships with the same child.

Every new child starts with three wallets ready to use: Spend, Save and Give (see chapter 17).

6. Your Child's Money Journey ID and PIN

When a child account is created, Money Journey generates:

• A unique Money Journey ID (MJ Number)
• A random 4-digit PIN

The Parent sees both on the Child Created confirmation.

Give these details to the child so they can sign in to MJ Kids.

The Money Journey ID does not change.

The initial PIN can later be changed by the child or reset by a parent.

If a parent resets the PIN, the old PIN immediately stops working and a new random PIN is shown once to the parent.

For safety, five wrong PIN attempts in a row lock that child's sign-in for 15 minutes. Resetting the PIN clears the lock straight away.

7. Invite Another Family Member

You can invite another adult using Invite Family Member.

The invitation itself does not decide:

• Their relationship to a child
• Which children they can access
• Their permissions

The process is:

Invitation
    ↓
Invited Adult Creates/Uses Account
    ↓
Request to Join
    ↓
Family Creator Approves
    ↓
Relationship + Child Access

This makes Money Journey suitable for different family structures, including parents, grandparents, guardians and blended families.

8. Giving Another Adult Access to a Child

After approving a family member, the Family Creator can choose:

• Their relationship to each child
• Which children they can manage

Access is managed per child.

A Guardian with access can, according to Version 1 permissions:

• View the child
• Add/spend money
• Approve rewards
• View wallet history

The Family Creator cannot remove their own access.

9. Parent Home

Parent Home is the main daily screen.

It answers:

How are my children doing?

It shows your children first, followed by Parent Tools.

A child summary can show:

• Current Story
• Total Balance
• Your Balance
• Recent activity for your chosen summary period
• Goal progress
• Other Guardians sharing the child
• Quick Add and Spend actions

By default, the summary period is the trailing 7 days — deliberately not calendar "this week". You can change it to 10, 14 or 30 days from Settings; whatever you choose applies across Parent Home. Child Home always shows the trailing 7 days.

10. Understanding "Your Balance"

If more than one Guardian manages a child, each Guardian has their own Guardian Spend Wallet for that child.

Your Balance is therefore your balance with that child, not the child's total balance.

It can be negative, and that is normal.

For example:

• You add $20 for your child.
• Your Guardian Spend Wallet records that contribution.
• Later, the child records $5 of spending attributed to you.
• Your balance moves back toward zero.

It is bookkeeping that helps Money Journey keep track of which Guardian funded spending.

11. Child Details

Tap a child from Parent Home to open Child Details.

Child Details shows:

• Overall balance
• Goals
• Spend Wallet
• Save Wallet
• Give Wallet
• Wallet activity
• Interest earned, when applicable
• Add Money
• Spend Money
• Child Settings

Each wallet has its own history. Money Journey does not combine all wallets into one transaction history.

12. Add Money

Add Money is for giving a child money directly.

Use it for things such as:

• A one-off payment
• Birthday money
• Extra pocket money
• Money for a special occasion
• Money you want to give outside a Challenge

The Parent Money Transaction screen handles both adding and spending.

Typical flow:

Choose Add
   ↓
Enter Amount
   ↓
Choose Wallet
   ↓
Optional Reason
   ↓
Confirm

The default wallet is the Spend Wallet, but the wallet can be changed before confirming.

Parent Tip

Add a meaningful reason when useful.

For example:

Birthday money

or:

Great effort this week

This gives the transaction a story your child can understand later.

13. Pocket Money Using Auto Transfer

Money Journey does not require you to manually add pocket money every week.

Use Auto Transfer to create a recurring payment.

For example:

Weekly Pocket Money — $10 — every Sunday — Spend Wallet

This can turn pocket money into a predictable family routine.

14. Auto Transfers

Auto Transfer is designed for recurring money movements.

Parents can create a rule with:

• Description
• Amount
• Frequency
• Start Date
• Child
• Destination Wallet
• Enabled/Disabled status

Supported frequencies are:

• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly

For weekly transfers, select a day of the week.

For monthly transfers, select a day from 1–28.

Transfers run at 12:00 AM in the family's timezone on the scheduled date.

Examples:

Weekly Pocket Money
$10 → Spend Wallet
Every Sunday

Savings Habit
$5 → Save Wallet
Every Friday

Holiday Fund
$20 → Goal
Every Month

Auto Transfer can send money to the child's Spend, Save, Give or Goal Wallet, depending on the wallets currently available.

15. Managing Auto Transfers

Auto Transfers behave like a library of rules.

You can:

• Create one
• Edit it
• Disable it
• Re-enable it
• Delete it

Disabling pauses future transfers without deleting the rule.

Deleting the rule does not remove transactions that already happened.

If a scheduled transfer is missed because the backend/scheduler is unavailable, Money Journey performs one catch-up execution when processing resumes rather than creating multiple catch-up payments.

Important

Creating an Auto Transfer does not itself notify the child.

The child is notified when money is actually transferred.

16. A Good Pocket Money Strategy

There is no single correct way to give pocket money.

One simple approach is:

$10 weekly pocket money
        ↓
     Child decides
        ↓
Save some
Spend some
Give some

Another approach is to automate saving:

$10 weekly
   ↓
$7 Spend
$3 Save

The purpose is not to force a particular ratio.

The purpose is to help children practise making decisions.

17. Spend, Save and Give Wallets

Money Journey separates common money purposes into wallets.

Spend Wallet

Money available for spending.

Children can spend from Spend without parent approval.

Save Wallet

Money set aside for saving.

Children can move money between their own wallets, subject to the Spend-wallet rule described below.

Give Wallet

Money the child has chosen to set aside for giving.

A new child starts with all three wallets on. Parents can enable or disable Save and Give for each child.

The Spend Wallet is always the core wallet and cannot be disabled.

18. Child Transfers

Children can transfer money between their own wallets and Goals.

For example:

Save → Goal
Give → Save
Goal → Give
Spend → Save

These ordinary transfers do not require parent approval.

This is an important part of child ownership.

19. Moving Money Into Spend

Money Journey treats moving money into Spend from another wallet differently.

For example:

Save
 ↓
Spend

The child must ask the parent.

This is not designed as a punishment or hard restriction.

It creates an opportunity for a conversation:

"Why do you want to use your savings?"

The child is given ownership while the parent gets involved when a more significant spending decision is being considered.

20. Spending Money

Children can spend directly from the Spend Wallet.

No parent approval is required.

A spending transaction requires:

• Amount
• Optional note describing what was bought

No category, receipt, photo or proof is required.

If multiple Guardians exist, the child records who actually spent the money (for example Mum or Dad). If there is only one Guardian, that Guardian is identified automatically.

The transaction immediately reduces the Spend balance and appears in Wallet History.

21. Wallet History

Each wallet has its own history.

The Wallet screen shows the three most recent transactions.

Choose History to see the complete history.

This means a child can answer:

"What happened to the money in this wallet?"

without mixing it with transactions from other wallets.

22. Challenges

Challenges are one of the main ways Money Journey connects responsibility and rewards.

Parents create Challenges.

Children complete them.

Parents decide whether the resulting reward should be approved.

The basic flow is:

Parent Creates Challenge
        ↓
Assigns Child
        ↓
Child Sees Challenge
        ↓
Child Completes It
        ↓
"I Did It!"
        ↓
Reward Request
        ↓
Parent Responds
        ↓
Reward Added / Request Resolved

23. Creating a Challenge

Go to:

Parent Home → Parent Tools → Challenge Library

Create a Challenge with:

• Title
• Reward amount
• Frequency
• Optional notes
• Assigned children

The frequency can be:

• One Time
• Daily
• Weekly

Weekly Challenges have a selected day.

You can assign one Challenge to multiple children.

You can also create separate Challenges with different rewards for different children.

24. Challenge Ideas

Examples:

Everyday Responsibility

🧹 Make your bed

Reading

📚 Read for 20 minutes

Household Help

🐱 Feed the pet

Weekly Challenge

🧹 Clean your room

Personal Development

📖 Read every day this week

The best Challenges focus on useful behaviours, not simply on making money.

25. How Children See Challenges

Children see currently available Challenges directly on Child Home.

There is no separate "All Challenges" screen.

Children see Challenges that are:

• Assigned to them
• Active
• Available today

Future Challenges are not shown.

Completed Challenges disappear from the active list.

The child-facing Challenge does not need to show the technical frequency setting. The child should focus on:

What do I need to do?

rather than:

How was this configured?

26. Completing a Challenge

When the child believes they have completed a Challenge, they choose:

I Did It!

Money Journey then asks for confirmation:

Did you complete this Challenge?

The child chooses:

Yes, I Did It!

or:

Not Yet

If they choose Not Yet, nothing changes.

If they confirm:

• The Challenge leaves the active list
• A Reward Request is created
• The child sees it under Rewards/Pending Rewards
• The parent receives the request

The child does not receive the money immediately.

27. Reward Approval

Parents manage Reward Requests from:

Parent Home → Parent Tools → Pending Rewards

A parent can:

Approve

The requested reward is paid.

Approve Different Amount

The parent can choose a different amount.

A reason is required so the child understands why the amount changed.

Reject

The parent can reject the reward.

A reason is required.

The child receives the result.

28. Reward History

On the child's side, Rewards have:

• Pending
• Completed
• History

Completed means the request has been resolved. It does not necessarily mean money was paid.

For example, a rejected reward still appears as Completed because the request has been resolved.

There is no separate Rejected section.

29. Re-assigning a Rejected Challenge

Rejecting a reward does not automatically reassign the Challenge.

If appropriate, the parent can explicitly choose Re-assign Challenge.

This creates a new Challenge occurrence.

The rejected Reward Request is not retained as a separate resolved Reward record in that case.

30. Chore Challenges and Bigger Goals

A Challenge can also be used to build a larger achievement.

For example:

Weekly Challenge: Complete 5 chores
Bonus: $3

This can encourage consistency rather than rewarding only individual tasks.

Parents can use Challenges in different ways depending on their parenting style.

31. Money Requests

Money Requests are different from Challenge Rewards.

A Challenge Reward says:

"I completed something you asked me to do."

A Money Request says:

"I would like some money for this reason."

The child can choose:

• Amount
• Reason
• Which Guardian(s) should receive the request

The reason is required.

Only the selected Guardian(s) see the request.

32. Responding to a Money Request

Parents find requests under:

Parent Home → Parent Tools → Pending Requests

A selected Guardian can:

• Approve the requested amount
• Approve a different amount
• Reject the request

A parent does not have to provide a reason for any of these actions.

The money, when approved, is added to the child's Spend Wallet.

If more than one Guardian was selected, the first selected Guardian to decide resolves the request for all selected Guardians.

A child can cancel their own pending Money Request before a Guardian decides.

Cancelled or resolved Money Requests are not kept as history.

33. When to Use Money Requests

Money Requests are useful when a child wants to ask for something outside their normal money routine.

For example:

"Can I have $8 for this book?"

The parent can then decide whether to:

• Approve it
• Approve part of it
• Reject it

This creates a natural money conversation.

If a child is asking too frequently, the Parent can disable Allow Money Requests for that child.

Existing pending requests are not removed by disabling the feature.

34. Goals

Goals are owned by the child.

A child can create a Goal for something they want to achieve.

Examples:

• 🎮 A game or console
• 🚲 A bicycle
• 🎧 Headphones
• ✈️ A holiday
• 🎁 A special gift

A Goal includes:

• Name
• Optional icon
• Target amount

The child decides what they want to save for.

35. Saving Towards a Goal

Once a Goal exists, the child can move money into it from their own wallets.

For example:

Save Wallet
    ↓
Nintendo Switch Goal

The Goal shows progress such as:

$30 of $40

The child can increase or decrease an active Goal's target.

The target cannot be reduced below the amount already saved.

36. Goal Progress

Child Home shows Active Goals.

Completed and Discontinued Goals are kept as history and can be viewed in the Goals experience.

This creates a record of achievements.

A child can look back and see:

"I saved for this and achieved it."

That sense of achievement is an important part of Money Journey.

37. Completing a Goal

In Version 1, only a parent can complete a Goal.

When a parent completes a Goal:

• The Goal's saved balance is moved to that completing parent's own Guardian Spend Wallet for the child.
• The historical target is synced to the amount actually saved.
• The action is confirmed because it is irreversible.

A Goal can therefore be completed even if the child saved slightly more or less than the original target.

38. Discontinuing a Goal

A parent can also discontinue a Goal.

When a Goal is discontinued:

• The Goal leaves the active journey.
• Its remaining balance is returned to the child's Spend Wallet.
• The Goal remains visible in Goal history.

This prevents money from becoming inaccessible just because a child no longer wants the original goal.

39. Goal Reached

When a Goal crosses its target for the first time, Money Journey can notify Guardians who have access to that child.

For example:

🎉 Goal Reached!
Leo's "New Shoes" goal just reached 100%.

This is intended as a celebration and a prompt for the family to recognise the child's achievement.

40. Interest

Interest is a parent-managed family feature.

Parents can configure Interest and select which children participate.

Children do not configure Interest themselves.

The child sees the result rather than the administrative settings.

For example:

Interest earned this week
+$0.35

or:

Interest earned this month
+$1.20

41. How Interest Works

Money Journey calculates interest from the combined balance of all non-Spend wallets — Save, Give and Goal wallets together — priced at the moment the calculation runs.

Every wallet except the Spend Wallet earns interest:

• Save Wallet
• Give Wallet
• Goal Wallets

Future Goal Wallets automatically participate when Interest is enabled for the child.

If a calculation is ever delayed by more than a day (for example the backend was briefly unavailable), each missed day is priced using that day's own end-of-day balance rather than today's balance repeated for every missed day — so a gap never produces duplicated or inflated interest.

The child sees the total interest for the current Interest period rather than separate interest figures for every wallet.

42. When Interest Is Applied

At the end of the configured Interest period:

1. Money Journey calculates the interest.
2. One Interest transaction is created.
3. The interest is added to the child's Spend Wallet.
4. A new Interest period begins.
5. The child receives an Interest notification.

Parents do not receive routine notifications for normal Interest applications.

The child can see the Interest transaction in normal wallet activity/history.

43. A Simple Way to Introduce Interest

Parents can explain it simply:

"When you keep money in your savings, Money Journey can give you extra money for keeping it there."

Then use the Interest feature to demonstrate that saving can produce growth over time.

The app deliberately hides the complex bookkeeping from the child.

44. Wallet Value Types

Money Journey can represent a child's wallet using a selected Value Type.

Version 1 supports:

• Money ($)
• Star (⭐)
• Heart (❤️)

The Parent selects one Value Type for the child.

The selected type applies to all of the child's wallets.

This can make Money Journey useful for families who want to experiment with different reward concepts while keeping the same underlying experience.

45. Save and Give Wallet Settings

Parents can enable or disable:

• Save Wallet
• Give Wallet

New children start with both on. These settings apply individually to each child.

The Spend Wallet cannot be disabled.

Goal Wallets are managed through the Goals experience rather than these wallet toggles.

46. Child Settings

Parents can manage child-specific settings from:

Parent Home → Child Details → Child Settings

These include:

• Save Wallet
• Give Wallet
• Learning (Allow Learning, read-aloud, the daily Mission limit and the Learning level)
• Allow Money Requests
• Manage Sharing
• Money Journey ID
• Reset Child PIN

47. Child Login and Settings

Children log in using:

Money Journey ID + PIN

After successful login, they go directly to Child Home.

From their profile/avatar, children can:

• Change their avatar
• View their name
• Change their PIN
• Log out

Children cannot change their name.

Changing a PIN requires the current PIN, the new PIN and confirmation.

Other Settings in MJ Kids

In Settings a child can also:

• Turn push notifications on or off
• Turn Read questions to me on or off (see chapter 59)
• Choose how many days of Earned, Saved and Spent the Home screen shows: 7, 10, 14 or 30
• Turn on Face ID or fingerprint sign-in, on phones only, after confirming their PIN once

PIN Safety

Five wrong PIN attempts in a row lock sign-in for that child for 15 minutes. A parent who resets the PIN clears the lock straight away.

48. Notifications

Notifications are designed to tell families when something meaningful happens.

Parent Notifications

Examples include:

• A child completed a Challenge and requested a reward
• A child's Goal was reached
• A child asked to start Learning and is waiting for you to choose a level

Parent notifications are an information layer. They do not replace the normal Pending Rewards or Pending Requests workflows.

Child Notifications

Examples include:

• New Challenge
• Reward Approved
• Reward Approved for a Different Amount
• Reward Rejected
• Money added
• Auto Transfer completed
• Interest added
• Money Request response
• Goal reached

The child does not need a notification-settings screen in Version 1.

49. Parent Notification Center

Parents can open the bell icon from Parent Home.

The Notification Center shows notifications newest first.

Unread notifications have an indicator.

Tapping a notification marks it as read.

The notification itself is not an action hub; parents continue to the relevant feature when they need to act.

For example:

Reward Request notification
→ go to Pending Rewards

50. Child Notification Center

The child also has a Notification Center accessed through the bell icon.

Unread notifications show a badge.

Notifications provide useful context without exposing parent administration.

For example:

💰 Money Added
$5.00 was added to your wallet.

or:

🌟 New Challenge
Mum created a new Challenge for you.

51. Learning Missions

Learning Missions are short, interactive money lessons that children complete in the MJ Kids app.

Each Mission is a small real-life story followed by a few questions and instant feedback. There are no lectures and no worksheets. A child meets a situation, makes a choice and finds out why.

Things worth knowing:

• Missions are educational only. No real money moves, and nothing in a Mission changes a child's balances.
• Missions are chosen for the child automatically, one at a time, based on what they have already shown they understand.
• A parent starts Learning for each child by choosing a starting level (see chapter 57).
• The library covers 14 money skills, from earning, spending and saving to budgeting, giving and staying safe with money.
• The first Missions are the basics: what money is, coins and notes, prices and paying. They are short and written in very few words, so younger children can manage them.
• Answers are always chosen from a few options. Children never type.

On the child's Home screen, the Learning card shows their XP level and their next Mission. Tapping it starts the Mission.

Until a parent has started Learning, the card reads Ask your parent to start (see chapter 57).

Money Journey's Missions are designed to align with the New Zealand and Australian financial-education direction and with OECD financial literacy frameworks. The Learning page on the website explains this in more detail.

52. How a Mission Works

A Mission follows the same steps every time.

1. Introduction. A short introduction says what the Mission is about. The child taps the start button.
2. Questions. One question at a time, sometimes with a short story first. The child picks an answer and taps Submit.
3. Hints. A question may have Need a hint? A hint helps, but a correct answer with a hint counts for a little less than one without.
4. Feedback. After each answer the child sees whether it was right and why.
5. A similar question. After a wrong answer the child is offered Want to try a similar question? It is optional good practice, and a good answer there still counts.
6. Mission Complete. The child sees their score, the XP they earned and their progress in that skill, and can go straight to the next Mission.

Reasonable choices

Real money decisions rarely have exactly one right answer. Where several choices are sensible, a choice that is reasonable but not the strongest is marked as a reasonable choice and earns partial credit. It is never scored as simply wrong.

If a Mission does not click

There is no "Mission Failed" in Money Journey.

If a Mission shows that a child needs more foundation first, nothing turns red and nothing is lost. The Mission comes back after a short wait, about a day, so the idea has time to settle. A second try earns a little less XP than a first one.

Finishing early

Some Missions are short and easy, written for younger children. If a child gets the first two questions right without using a hint, the Mission ends early with You already know this! They earn half the XP for it, and it does not count toward the daily limit.

Do this twice in one skill, or once in each of three different skills, and the easy Missions in that skill are no longer offered on their own. They move to Practice (see below).

"I know this!"

On the introduction of some easy Missions there is an ⚡ I know this! button. It opens a short challenge: three harder questions about that skill, with no hints, and the answers are only revealed at the end.

Get all three right and the easy Missions in that skill move to Practice. Miss one and nothing is lost: the child carries on with the Mission as normal and can try the challenge again a week later. A challenge is not a Mission, so it earns no XP and does not change the child's progress in a skill.

Practice and reviews

When a child has something to practise, the Learning card on Home shows 🔁 Practice with a number. Tapping it lists up to 20 items of two kinds:

• Practice. An easy Mission the child skipped past. It waits there for as long as they like.
• Review. A Mission finished a while ago, ready for another go: about two weeks after a score under 90%, or about a month after a higher score.

Practice and reviews earn half the XP of a first go, and the Mission shows a small Review or Practice tag. A review can only raise what the child has already shown they understand. It never lowers it and never locks a skill again.

If a child has reached the daily limit, easy Missions wait until tomorrow, but reviews stay open.

53. Skills and How They Unlock

Every Mission builds one of 14 skills.

Six Foundation skills are open from the first day:

• Earning
• Spending
• Saving
• Budgeting
• Giving
• Money Safety

The other skills unlock automatically as a child shows real understanding of the skills they build on. A skill unlocks once the child has completed at least three Missions in each skill it depends on and understands that skill well, with average mastery of around 70% or more. A nine-year-old therefore never meets Investing before the basics are in place.

When a new skill unlocks, the child receives a notification: New Money Skill!

Children only ever see the skills that are open to them. Skills that are still ahead are not shown on the child's side.

Parents can see how each skill is going in Child Details → Learning (see chapter 58).

54. XP, Levels and Streaks

Learning is meant to feel like progress, not a test.

• XP. Each completed Mission earns XP. The child's total is shown on the Learning card on Home.
• Levels. Every 100 XP is a new level, shown as Level 3 on the Learning card. This is the child's XP level. It is not the same as the Learning level a parent chooses (see chapter 57), which the child never sees.
• Streaks. Completing at least one Mission on consecutive days builds a streak: 🔥 3-day streak! Days are counted in the family's own time zone. Miss a day and the streak starts again, and the longest streak is remembered.
• Personal bests. The child's Learning screen shows Total Missions, Best Week, Best Day and Best Score, and celebrates a New personal best this week!
• Skills. A child can see how many Missions they have completed in each skill and tap a skill to see those Missions.

A child is only ever compared with their own past. There are no leaderboards and no comparisons with other children.

55. Daily Limits and Premium

To keep Learning to a healthy amount each day, Money Journey limits how many Missions a child can complete in a day.

• Free: 2 Missions a day
• Premium: up to 5 Missions a day by default

With Premium, a parent can set the limit for each child anywhere from 1 to 20:

Child Details → Child Settings → Learning → Daily Mission Limit

Good to know:

• A day runs to the family's own local midnight.
• A Mission started again after a wait counts toward the limit like any other.
• A quick pass ("You already know this!") and a review do not count toward the limit. A practice Mission does, like any first try.
• When a child reaches the limit they see a friendly message. On the Free plan it says to come back tomorrow. With Premium it says to check with a parent.
• A Mission that has already been started can always be finished, even if the limit is reached part-way through.
• Premium applies to a child if any Guardian with access to that child has Premium.

The full list of what Premium includes is on the Compare Plans screen in the Parent app.

56. Turning Learning On or Off

Learning is on for every child by default. A parent can switch it off for one child:

Child Details → Child Settings → Learning → Allow Learning

When it is off, Missions are hidden from that child's Home screen.

Nothing is deleted. Mission history, XP, streaks and progress all come back exactly as they were when Learning is switched on again.

57. Choosing a Learning Level

Every child starts Learning in a different place. A child who already knows what a budget is does not need to begin with "What is money?", and a child who is just starting should not meet trade-offs on day one.

A Learning level tells Money Journey where your child should start. You choose it once. Money Journey then keeps it fitting as your child learns.

Learning starts with a parent's yes

A child cannot begin Learning until a parent says yes. This is deliberate: it is the moment you choose where they start.

1. The first time, the Learning card on your child's Home reads Ask your parent to start. They tap it, then tap Ask my parent.
2. You get a notification: [Child] would like to start Learning. Your child's card on Parent Home says 🎓 Waiting for Learning Approval, and Child Details shows a card with a Choose a level button.
3. Choose a level, or Not sure, and save. Saving your choice is your approval. Learning starts straight away.
4. Your child's Learning card changes to show their first Mission, and may say Learning is ready!

While they wait, your child sees We asked your parent and Waiting for your parent 💛. After a day they can Ask again, which sends you another reminder.

You do not have to wait for a request. You can start Learning for your child at any time:

Child Details → Child Settings → Learning → Learning level

Adding a child asks nothing about levels. A child who has already done Missions carries on as before and is never held up.

The five levels

Each level describes where your child is, not how clever they are.

• 🌱 Explorer. Learning what money is, needs and wants, simple earning, spending and saving. Roughly ages 5–8, school Years 1–3.
• 🧱 Builder. Using money in everyday situations: simple budgeting, spending and saving choices. Roughly ages 8–10, Years 4–5.
• 🎯 Planner. Planning for goals, comparing choices, budgeting and understanding trade-offs. Roughly ages 10–12, Years 6–7.
• ⚖️ Decider. Thinking through consequences, opportunity cost, prioritising and more complex money decisions. Roughly ages 12–14, Years 8–9.
• 🚀 Trailblazer. Longer-term planning, risk, interest and financial responsibility. Roughly ages 14 and up, Year 10 and up.

The ages and school years are only a rough hint. Money Journey never asks for your child's age and never stores it. Choose the level that matches how confident your child already is with money.

Try a Mission first

Not sure what a level is like? Every level on the level screen has a 👀 Try a Mission button. It opens a real Mission that a child at that level would start with, so you can try it yourself.

• Answer one question at a time, tap Check answer and see why.
• Tap Need a hint? on any question to see the hint your child can ask for.
• Nothing you do is saved. There is no score and no XP, nothing appears in your child's history, and it does not start Learning or change the level.

Not sure

🤷 Not sure is always there. Money Journey starts your child at the beginning and moves them ahead as they show what they know, with a quick pass or ⚡ I know this! (see chapter 52).

Not sure is not a lower level. It simply lets Money Journey find the right place. Nothing is ever lost, and you can choose a level later.

What a level changes

• Missions written for a lower level than the one you chose are not offered automatically. They move to Practice, where your child can still do them for half the XP of a first try. Nothing is deleted.
• Missions your child has already done are never affected.
• You can change the level at any time and it takes effect straight away. Raise it and lower Missions move to Practice. Lower it and the Missions that were skipped are offered again, in order. Money Journey asks you to confirm first.
• A child is never stuck. If a skill has nothing left at their level, they are offered the best Missions that skill still has.

It adjusts by itself

You choose the level once and Money Journey never asks you about it again. After your child has started, it moves the level up or down for them when their recent Missions clearly say so:

• Up one level after 3 Missions in a row at 90% or more. A quick pass counts as full marks.
• Down one level after 3 Missions in a row under 40%.

Only a first try at a Mission counts. Reviews, Practice and second tries do not. The level moves at most once a week, and only up into a level that has Missions to offer.

A move is quiet. There is no notification and your child sees nothing. Every move is written in the change log, with the reason, so you can always see what happened.

To switch this off for one child:

Child Details → Child Settings → Learning → Adjust level automatically

With it off, the level changes only when you change it. The switch appears once a level is chosen. A child on Not sure has no level to adjust, and moves ahead through quick passes.

Seeing and changing the level

• Child Details. The Learning section shows your child's level, for example 🧱 Builder, with a Change button.
• Learning History. At the top, the Learning level card shows the current level, a Change button, how many Missions the level has moved to Practice, and the Level changes log, for example "🌱 Explorer → 🧱 Builder · 3 Oct · you", or "🧱 Builder → 🎯 Planner · 12 Oct · automatic: Finished 3 Missions in a row at 90% or more." Nothing is ever hidden or rewritten.
• Level chips. Each Mission in Learning History carries a small chip with its own level, such as 🎯 Planner, so you can see at a glance whether your child is working at, above or below their level.
• Child Settings. Child Settings → Learning is one screen with everything about Learning for that child: Allow Learning, Read questions aloud, the Daily Mission Limit (Premium), the Learning level and Adjust level automatically.

What your child sees

Your child never sees their level: not its name, its number or its chip. A level is where Money Journey starts, not a grade, and children should not feel placed or compared. They see their Missions, their XP and their progress.

The Level 3 on your child's Learning card is something different. It is their XP level (see chapter 54).

Choosing well

• Choose by confidence, not by age. A confident eight-year-old and an unsure ten-year-old can both start in the right place.
• If you cannot decide between two levels, pick the lower one, or choose Not sure. Quick passes and the automatic adjustment will move your child ahead.
• Use Try a Mission on the level screen to see what a level is like before you choose.
• Nothing you choose is permanent. It is easy to change later, and your child never loses progress.

58. Following Your Child's Learning

Money Journey shows parents what their child has been learning and gives you something to talk about.

In Child Details

Child Details → Learning shows:

• The child's Learning level, with a Change button
• The child's current streak and their longest streak
• A table of skills with the number of Missions completed and the Mastery in each, shown in colour bands

Tap See All › to open the full Learning History.

In Learning History

Learning History shows Total XP, Total Missions, Best Week, Best Day and Best Score, and every completed Mission, most recent first. Tap a skill to see only the Missions from that skill.

At the top is the Learning level card: the current level, a Change button, how many Missions the level has moved to Practice and the list of Level changes. Each Mission also carries a small chip with its own level, such as 🎯 Planner (see chapter 57).

Tap See what they answered → on any Mission to see, question by question:

• Their answer
• Also reasonable, when another choice would have been sensible too
• Why, the explanation the child saw

Talk about it

Every Mission comes with a conversation starter, shown to the child as Talk about it with a grown-up. A few minutes of conversation turns a screen lesson into a real one.

Good ways to use it:

• Ask your child to tell you what the Mission was about
• Ask what they would do in the same situation
• Connect it to something real, such as a shop trip or a Goal they are saving for

59. Read-Aloud and the Listen Button

Some children cannot read yet, and others simply prefer to listen. Money Journey can read Missions aloud.

Read-aloud uses the built-in speech of the child's device, or of the web browser. Nothing is recorded, and no extra account is needed.

The Listen button

A 🔊 Listen button appears on every part of a Mission:

• The introduction
• Each question and its answers
• Hints
• The feedback after an answer
• The Want to try a similar question? screen
• The Mission Complete screen

Tap it to hear that screen read aloud. Tap it again to stop.

While it reads, the answer being read is framed in blue, so a child can follow along. The button to press next, such as Let's Go! or Continue, is read and framed in blue as well.

Reading automatically

A child can also have everything read to them without pressing anything.

The first time a child opens a Mission, MJ Kids asks out loud: "Do you want me to read to you?" with two big buttons, Yes and No. It asks only once. The answer is only a starting preference. Money Journey never asks a child's age.

Changing it later

• Your child: Settings → Reading → Read questions to me
• A parent: Child Details → Child Settings → Learning → Read questions aloud

Until your child answers the question, the parent switch says they have not chosen yet.

If there is no Listen button

• Some browsers and devices have no built-in speech, so the button is hidden there.
• Read-aloud needs a current version of the apps. Update MJ Kids and MJ Parent if you cannot see it.
• Check the device volume and that it is not on silent.
• On the web, a browser may need a tap on the page before it will speak.

60. A Recommended First Setup

You do not need to configure every feature on the first day.

A simple first setup is:

Step 1

Create the Parent account.

Step 2

Create your child.

Step 3

Install MJ Kids.

Step 4

Give the child their Money Journey ID and PIN.

Step 5

Add a small amount of money.

Step 6

Create one simple Challenge.

Step 7

Help your child create a Goal.

Step 8

Let the child decide how to divide their money between Spend, Save and Give.

Step 9

After the family is comfortable, introduce Auto Transfer and Interest.

61. Example Family Setup

Here is one possible setup:

Weekly Pocket Money

$10 every Sunday

Automatically transferred to Spend.

Optional Chores

Make bed
$1

Feed pet
$1

Clean room
$3

Weekly Challenge

Complete five chores this week
Bonus reward: $3

Savings

Child decides:

Save $4 of each $10 pocket-money payment.

Goal

🎮 New Game
Target: $60

Interest

Parent enables Interest for the child's Save, Give and Goal wallets.

The result is a simple learning cycle:

Receive
   ↓
Decide
   ↓
Earn
   ↓
Save
   ↓
Spend
   ↓
Achieve
   ↓
Learn

62. How to Use Money Journey as a Parent

The app works best when parents use it as a conversation starter.

Instead of only saying:

"You need to save."

Ask:

"What are you saving for?"

Instead of:

"You spent too much."

Ask:

"Do you think that was worth it?"

Instead of:

"You earned $5."

Ask:

"What did you do to earn it?"

The app provides the structure.

Parents provide the teaching.

63. Let Children Make Small Decisions

Money Journey is intentionally designed to give children genuine ownership.

Money in Spend can be spent without parent permission.

Children can move money between their own wallets.

Children can choose their Goals.

Children can ask for money.

Parents step in where a conversation is useful, such as moving savings into Spend or responding to a Money Request.

The goal is not to eliminate mistakes.

The goal is to let children learn from manageable decisions.

64. Use Features Gradually

A family does not need to use everything.

Simple Family

Use:

• Add Money
• Spend
• Save
• Goals

Chore-focused Family

Add:

• Challenges
• Reward Requests

Pocket-money Family

Add:

• Auto Transfer

Saving-focused Family

Add:

• Goals
• Auto Transfers
• Interest

Learning-focused Family

Add:

• Learning Missions
• Read-aloud, for younger children
• Choosing a Learning level

More Advanced Family

Use the complete system:

• Pocket money
• Challenges
• Rewards
• Money Requests
• Savings
• Goals
• Auto Transfers
• Interest
• Spending
• Giving
• Learning Missions

Money Journey adapts to the family rather than requiring every family to use every feature.

65. Troubleshooting

My child cannot log in

Check that the child is using:

• Their Money Journey ID
• Their current PIN

The child does not use the parent's email and password.

If the PIN has been forgotten, a parent can use:

Child Details → Child Settings → Reset Child PIN

My child forgot their PIN

A parent can reset it without knowing the old PIN.

A new random 4-digit PIN is generated.

The previous PIN stops working immediately.

My child is locked out

Five wrong PIN attempts in a row lock sign-in for 15 minutes. Wait for the time to pass, or reset the PIN from Child Details → Child Settings → Reset Child PIN to clear the lock straight away.

My child cannot start a Mission

Check:

• Learning is switched on: Child Details → Child Settings → Learning → Allow Learning
• A parent has started Learning by choosing a level (see chapter 57)
• The daily limit has not been reached (2 a day on the Free plan)
• A Mission that did not go well may be waiting about a day before it comes back
• The Learning card on the child's Home explains why when there is no Mission to start

My child's Learning says "Ask your parent to start"

Learning starts when a parent says yes. Open the notification, or go to Child Details and tap Choose a level, or use Child Settings → Learning → Learning level. See chapter 57.

My child's Learning says they have finished every Mission, but they have not started

That message comes from an older version of MJ Kids, which does not know that a parent must start Learning first. Update MJ Kids and MJ Parent, then choose a level for your child in MJ Parent. See chapter 57.

My child's level changed by itself

That is the automatic adjustment. Every move is listed under Level changes in Learning History, with the reason. To stop it, switch off Child Details → Child Settings → Learning → Adjust level automatically. See chapter 57.

There is no Listen button

The device or browser may have no built-in speech, or the app may need an update. See chapter 59.

My child's Challenge disappeared

If the child selected Yes, I Did It!, the Challenge intentionally leaves the active list and becomes a Pending Reward.

Check Rewards/Pending Rewards.

My child completed a Challenge but didn't receive money

Completing a Challenge creates a Reward Request.

The parent must respond to it.

Check:

Parent Home → Pending Rewards

My child asked for money

Check:

Parent Home → Pending Requests

Only Guardians specifically selected by the child receive that Money Request.

Why can't my child move savings directly into Spend?

Moving money into Spend from another wallet requires a parent conversation.

This is intentional.

Why isn't a Goal shown as a wallet?

Money Journey deliberately presents Goals separately from standard wallets.

The Goal has an internal wallet for accounting, but the child sees:

My Wallets

and:

My Goals

This prevents the same money from being presented twice.

Why didn't my child get a notification when I created an Auto Transfer?

Creating the rule does not notify the child.

The child is notified when the Auto Transfer actually adds money.

66. The Most Important Idea

Money Journey is not about teaching children financial theory first.

It is about giving children safe opportunities to experience money.

A child can:

Receive → Decide → Save → Spend → Achieve → Learn

Parents:

Guide → Encourage → Discuss → Celebrate

Together, those small experiences can become lifelong habits.

67. Final Thoughts

Start small.

Give your child their first amount of money.

Create one Challenge.

Let them choose one Goal.

Let them decide what to save and what to spend.

Then gradually introduce automatic pocket money, savings transfers, Interest, Challenges and Money Requests as your family becomes comfortable.

There is no perfect Money Journey.

There is only your family's Money Journey.

Learn money. Build habits. Grow together.

Money Journey