No new money this week: spending percentages need a base amount
By Erik Nilsen · Kroni2 min read
Your child can spend money during a week without receiving new money. Choose the correct base if you want to describe spending as a percentage. A zero denominator does not produce an ordinary calculated percentage share.
Separate earlier money from new receipts
In a hypothetical example, your child starts the week with 30 units from earlier periods. They receive zero new units and buy an optional item for 20. The arbitrary figures are invented.
The cash calculation is 30 + 0 − 20 = 10 units remaining. Your child spent 20 despite receiving nothing new this week. Attempting “20 divided by 0” does not give a defined percentage of the week's new income. Do not label it zero per cent spending.
If you instead ask how much of the opening money was spent, the base is 30. The share is 20 / 30, or two thirds, approximately 66.7 per cent. That refers to opening money rather than new income.
Name the base before comparing
A practical snag is an adult or child writing “spent zero per cent” because no allowance arrived. Check the actual payment first. Zero in the received column does not remove the expense of 20.
Simply write the amounts: opening 30, received 0, spent 20, remainder 10. You do not need percentages when the base does not suit the question. The remaining 10 are also not automatically new saving; they are earlier money still retained.
When comparing weeks, use the same clearly defined base or compare money amounts. Do not quietly use new income for one week and opening cash for another.
Ask your family: “A percentage of which money, and is there a base amount greater than zero?”
Clarify what the virtual balance represents
Kroni keeps track using a virtual balance and does not transfer money. Cash your child has received and amounts an adult still owes are different things. This exercise concerns money actually received. Agree how it fits your record so the same amount is not counted both as received and still unpaid. Read about allowance in Kroni.
