Answers to the questions people ask first, for the whole app: the Goals, Challenges and Cushion tabs. If yours is not here, write to filyaevilya21@gmail.com — a real person answers.
On any tab, tap the gear icon in the toolbar (top left on Goals and Cushion, top right on Challenges). It opens Settings. The first section, PENNYJAR PRO, has Unlock Pennyjar Pro and Restore Purchase. Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Support are in Settings, About.
Pennyjar Pro is one payment, not a subscription, and it unlocks all three tabs. If you bought it on another device, or reinstalled, open Settings and tap Restore Purchase, signed in with the Apple Account that bought it.
Yes. Pennyweek (the 52 week and 100 envelope challenges) and Monthsahead (the emergency fund in months and debt payoff) are now parts of Pennyjar: the Challenges and Cushion tabs. The free calculators and printables of those names stay on this site, under the Challenges and Cushion pages of Pennyjar.
Pennyjar is a record of what you set aside. Your money stays wherever you keep it: Pennyjar never holds it, moves it or connects to a bank. “Withdraw” records that you took money out of what you had set aside; it does not take any out for you.
One card that adds up what your goals and your challenges hold. The Cushion has its own numbers: what you typed in as set aside, a typical month and your debts.
There are three kinds: a goal's reminder on its deposit days, a challenge's weekly reminder, and a monthly reminder to update your Cushion numbers. Each arrives at the time you chose. If one did not come, look at these.
A jar cannot go below zero: a withdrawal larger than what the jar held on that day is refused. Check the amount and the date — a withdrawal dated before a deposit cannot use that deposit.
Yes, each deposit and withdrawal can be corrected or deleted later. The same rule holds: a change that would leave the jar with less than zero on some day is refused.
The same arithmetic is on this site: the savings goal calculator and how long will it take to save.
Free Pennyjar runs two goals or jars at a time. A third goal, or putting a goal back from the archive while two are running, opens the purchase sheet; Pennyjar Pro removes the limit.
In the 52 week challenge you save a little more each week: week 1 is your starting amount and week 52 is 52 times it. You can also start with the largest amount, or save the same amount every week. The 100 envelope challenge has 100 envelopes that hold 1 to 100 times your smallest amount, opened in any order. Tap a week to mark it saved; Pennyjar shows which week you are in and how many you have to catch up on.
Say how many are done and Pennyjar marks them for you.
Free Pennyjar runs one challenge at a time. A second challenge while one is running, and the Custom challenge type, open the purchase sheet. With Pennyjar Pro, several challenges can run at the same time and a custom challenge can be 2 to 156 weeks with your own amounts. Putting an archived challenge back, or resetting a finished one, is limited by the same free limit.
A weekly reminder, on the day and at the time you choose. See “A reminder did not arrive” above if it does not come.
The free printable challenge charts are on the Challenges page.
Type in what you have set aside, a typical month (income, needs, wants) and what you owe. Pennyjar shows how many months of spending your savings would last: under a month, short of your target, or covered. Your cushion target is yours to choose, from 1 to 12 months.
One step at a time, in a fixed order: first the month in the black, last the cushion you chose. When the step is a debt, it names the one to start with. When the next step is to set money aside, one tap starts an “Emergency fund” goal on the Goals tab with the amount filled in. The plan is as current as the numbers you last typed in; a monthly reminder asks you to update them.
In Settings, CUSHION RULES, “Where the numbers come from” lists each rule with its source or marks it as an assumption. The sources are US ones, so the rules may not fit another country. The Cushion is a calculation from your numbers, not financial advice, and it says nothing about investing.
Free: your numbers, the months your savings would last, your next step and what is left free each month. Pro: the whole plan step by step with dates; avalanche and snowball compared on your own debts (with two or more debts and money left free each month); and the history of your runway. See snowball vs avalanche for the comparison in your browser.
With Pennyjar Pro, the two export rows in Settings hand a CSV file to the iOS share sheet: one for every goal deposit and withdrawal, one for every challenge deposit. Without Pro, those rows open the purchase sheet; everything stays in the app either way.
Pennyjar keeps your goals, challenges and numbers on the device and does not sync them to iCloud or anywhere else. They move with a device backup or a device-to-device transfer.
Amounts are shown in your region's currency.
Last reviewed 8 October 2026