Built from real family life

I built Harthena to solve problems we were facing in our own family.

We wanted to teach our children the value of money, help them use it responsibly, and give them a little more independence. But in real life, pocket money was messy. We would give them coins, they would rarely have them when we were out shopping, and we would end up trying to remember what they had spent or what we owed them when we got home.

I also kept forgetting when pocket money was due, or exactly how much had been given. Before long, the system lost momentum.

So I built a small app on our home server called Bates PM — Pocket Money — using a symbolic image of my two little ones. I made it work offline too, so we could still record things when we were out and about.

Once that started helping, I realised pocket money was only part of the problem.

We also wanted better ways to involve our children in family tasks, without turning everything into nagging or abstract chore charts. That became Harthena's family tasks feature: a way to manage expected tasks, optional tasks, and meaningful rewards chosen by each family.

Then came meals. Like many families, we have fussy eaters. We wanted our children to be more involved in planning, cooking, choosing healthier meals, and celebrating what we made together. Now they can help shape the meal plan, suggest ideas, and add photos of family favourites to the meal library.

At that point, it was no longer just a pocket money tracker. It had become a family organiser: a helper for money, tasks, meals, routines, and everyday family life.

— Anton, Harthena founder