Who in your household/family tested Soldo and how did you use the family spending account?
I tested the Soldo card along with my two younger daughters, aged 17 and 10. I am disabled and whilst I either do my main shop online or with my husband’s help, there are always bits and pieces to pick up during the week. Often, one or other of my younger daughters will come to the supermarket with me (I am able to drive) and then go in and pick up my shopping from the store for me. However, I rarely keep cash in the house and then it becomes difficult to get to the cash machine to give whoever is going shopping some money. With Soldo, I found I could deposit enough money for the top up shopping into my Soldo account and transfer some to each of the two girls accounts so that either of them could go and do my shopping and pay for it with their Soldo card.
Did using Soldo help you to budget and control yours/your DCs/someone you employ in your household’s spending?
I didn’t request trialling Soldo to help budget, but it did help my family have the money to do the shopping without me needing to get cash out to give to them, or to pay them back later (and possibly round up the cost, thereby giving my daughters “extra pocket money”). However, one month I let my 10 year old daughter have her £10 pocket money on the card, rather than in cash. This coincided with her being allowed to go to the local shops with friends for the first time. I had noticed a few transactions pinging up via the app on my phone during the first week she had pocket money but didn’t take too much notice until, less than a week after being given her money, my daughter announced that I needed to top up her card as she only had 89p left. I checked and she had spent nearly £16.00 at our local shop in under a week. Ironically, it was a lesson on budgeting for my daughter – just swiping a card didn’t seem like spending money and a few pounds here and there soon mount up. I didn’t top up the card and, when she received money from a different source, I did take back a little of what she had overspent. It did prove a valuable lesson to my daughter (and to me) and we agreed that the following month she would have her pocket money in cash and the card would only be used when buying things for me.
How easy did you find Soldo to use?
I found Soldo very easy to use once set up. My only very slight niggle was that, having set up the payment into my Soldo account, I made my next payment and the details had changed. This was resolved swiftly but was inconvenient.
Did you use the Soldo app? How useful did you find it?
I used the Soldo app as the main way of monitoring spending and allocating funds into my daughters’ accounts. To be honest, apart from to transfer money from my bank account into my Soldo account, all my interaction with my Soldo account was via the app installed on my phone. It was so easy to use and so up-to-date – if I waited in the car whilst my daughter did a little shopping, I knew exactly how much she had spent before she even got back to the car. The app was easy to use and I found it extremely useful.
If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Soldo to a friend or family member? Why?
I would recommend Soldo to others, particularly if they have children. It is a great way to give children independence and responsibility for their own spending, but under the supervision and control of a parent.
Will you continue to use Soldo, now the trial has ended?
I will continue to use Soldo though the trial has ended. Even if I wasn’t disabled, I find it a useful way to give my daughters some independence with money, whilst keeping an eye on their spending. It is also a great way to teach them about managing finances.