'Busy Kid' app helps motivate children to get chores done while earning cash

ORLANDO, Fla. - Daniel and Gabriel Aguilar are mowing the lawn and raking up leaves in their Oviedo neighborhood while raking in some cash.  They're doing their weekly chores with a new twist on their allowance thanks to an app called 'Busy Kid.'

"The best way to describe it is it's your kid's first job with direct deposit," says Gregg Murset a certified financial planner and the guy behind the app.

Murset is helping parents teach their kids good money habits with money earned from chores.  The app gives parents payroll power every Thursday for all completed chores.

"Once that's approved then we pull the money into the busy kid system from your account and divide it up automatically into three big buckets which include saving, sharing and spending, reveals Murset, and what that does is teach a balanced approach every time a kid earns money." 

The boys are learning the value of earning and the responsibility of saving versus spending.

"You can move the money where you want or to your busy kid card if you have one, and go to the store and buy what you want, but you have to be organized with it," says 12 year old Daniel.

Both boys say saving for a rainy day is an important part of the learning process.

"It made me more responsible and made me save up emergency money," reveals 8 year old Gabriel.

Mom Emily sees it as a way to establish smart money habits at a young age.

"They're not going to go and look at a toy on the shelf that's $29.99 when they know they only have $14.99 on their card."

The app is subscription free, but their is a fee if parents want to include a debit card which can be used with the account. They can also use the app to invest a small amount of money in the stock market.

"Kids probably don't know what a 401k is, so now all of a sudden, they're going to know what that is and understand it," says Murset.  "And that's going to change their whole financial life from here on out." 

Busy kids changing their financial future one chore at a time.