Points Expiry¶
Optional. Points that aren't spent within a set number of days fade away, oldest first, with plenty of warning on the child's card. It nudges children to spend on something rather than hoard forever. It's off unless you switch it on.
Setting It Up¶
Settings → Points expiry in the TaskMate panel.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Expire unspent points | Switches the feature on. Every child's current balance starts its clock that day, so nothing already saved expires by surprise |
| Expire after (days) | How long a point lasts unspent. 1 to 730, default 90 |
| Warn the child (days before) | How early the card warns, and when the optional notification goes out. 0 to 60, default 7. 0 turns the warning off |
Switching it off forgets everything it was tracking. Switching it back on starts every balance afresh that day.
How It Counts¶
TaskMate keeps each child's balance as dated lots: "100 points from 20 March, 50 from 25 March". It checks them against the balance every time anything changes, and once a minute.
- Points coming in (chores, bonuses, adjustments) are a new lot dated today.
- Points going out (rewards, penalties, removals, gifts to a sibling, savings-jar deposits) are taken from the oldest lot first, so spending always uses the points closest to expiring.
- Refunds and returned points count as coming in: a refunded reward, a pool refund or an undone penalty starts its clock again that day. They never come back already part-expired.
- Savings jars: points put into a reward's savings jar have left the balance, so they don't expire while they sit there.
- A balance at or below zero holds no lots.
When a lot is older than the expiry period it comes off the balance with a Points expired transaction, which can't be undone, and a taskmate_points_expired event.
On the Child Card¶
Inside the warning window a strip shows "40 Stars expire on Sunday — Spend them or they fade away". It shows on every card design. The same data is on sensor.taskmate_overview, in the child's entry under points_expiry (points, date). It's only there while points are about to expire.
Notification and Events¶
- Points about to expire (
points_expiring): goes to the child, once per expiry date, when it enters the warning window. Off by default; switch it on on the Notifications tab. taskmate_points_expiring: fires at the same moment, whether or not the notification is on.taskmate_points_expired: fires when points actually expire.
Both also appear on the child's activity event entity. See Automations for the payloads.