HearthStack Money
Give household money a plan.
Track the funds your household records, give them a place in buckets, and remember where incoming money should go next time. A shared plan you can actually see, not another bank account to manage.
01 / The household picture
Organize money around how your household uses it.
Tracked funds are the money you have recorded in HearthStack. Buckets give some of it a purpose, like Groceries, Home supplies, or a long-term fund. The rest stays Unallocated until your household decides what it is for.
See bucket balances and recent activity together. HearthStack records your choices; it does not connect to your bank or move money between real accounts.
A simple distinction
In a bucket or still Unallocated.
Both remain part of your household's tracked funds.
02 / Income Rules
Make the allocation decision once.
Put $350 into Groceries every time this paycheck comes in. Or put 10% into Home supplies and 20% into a long-term fund. Save fixed amounts and percentages as rules for an income source, so the plan is ready when you record its next paycheck.
You can also set household-wide rules for qualifying income. If the rules do not assign everything, the rest stays Unallocated. Edit the rules when your plan changes: they affect future income, not the allocations on paychecks already recorded.
03 / Before you record income
See where the paycheck will go before you record it.
Choose the income source, enter the take-home amount, and review the allocation from current rules. For this $2,400 paycheck, the preview shows the fixed Groceries amount, calculated percentage amounts, the allocated total, and what will remain Unallocated. You confirm before the paycheck is recorded.
04 / One paycheck at a time
A default, not a commitment.
A different week might call for a different split. In the paycheck review, open Customize this paycheck, choose bucket amounts or percentages, then select Use this allocation before recording it. Your saved Income Rules still provide the default for future paychecks.
Change this paycheck without changing the plan for the next one.
05 / When plans change
Move money without losing the household context.
Record a transfer between buckets, or between a bucket and Unallocated, when you decide to use tracked funds differently. The movement appears in Money activity and updates the balances in your household record; it is not a bank transfer.
06 / A chance to notice
Review what does not add up.
If planned paycheck allocations exceed the amount entered, HearthStack shows an over-allocation warning before you record it. Transfers can warn when a source may go below zero, and Money calls out negative bucket balances. These are cues to review your record, not overdraft protection or a guarantee about your bank balance.
Included with HearthStack Household
Connect pay to household Money when it makes sense.
In HearthStack Kids, adults keep what a child has earned separate from what has been paid. When recording payment, you can choose a HearthStack Money source and destination—or record cash or another payment method without a Money entry.
HearthStack records payments. It does not send money.
Child-facing Money shows only explicitly shared bucket balances, not transactions or controls to change household Money. Recording pay does not automatically grant balance access.
Explore HearthStack KidsYour rules, your household
Your bank knows where money is. HearthStack remembers what your household decided it is for.
Start with the funds you track. Give some of them a purpose. Keep the rest open for the decisions you have not made yet.