- Name
- Anko
- Who
- A small living anchor
- Character
- Calm, reliable, friendly
- Always wears
- A violet scarf
- Carries
- A cream diary
- Loves
- Small wins
Set an amount for each missed task. Break your word — the money goes to your goal fund. Keep it — it stays with you.
Clean up your photo gallery. Start running. Finally take that course. The problem is rarely motivation — you just need a push to do it today instead of someday. If this sounds familiar — this is for you.
Not "My tracker" — something concrete you'll see every day.
One small concrete action, not a vague intention.
Completed — the money stays with you. Missed — you honestly add it to your goal fund.
In habit trackers, pressure comes from a lost streak — it's visual, reversible, easy to forget by tomorrow. In Anchor, pressure is real: money that actually goes to your goal fund.
“When a stake is expressed in money rather than abstract progress, your brain perceives a possible failure as a real loss right now — and that changes the actual decision in the moment: to do it or not.”
People react roughly twice as strongly to losses as to equivalent gains — the loss aversion effect.
Kahneman and Tversky, prospect theory, Nobel Prize in Economics. Unlike Beeminder or StickK, where money goes to third parties — in Anchor the penalty stays with you.
It works because of three things together.
One small task, one personal challenge. If you want — invite a friend by code, and the challenge becomes shared automatically. No separate "group mode" — the same tool that grows with you.
A trip together. Time with friends. That expensive thing you've been debating at home. The fund grows with every missed task — anyone's.
My husband really wanted an expensive projector, I didn't want to spend that much. Instead of arguing, we created a shared challenge “For the projector”. In 5 months we saved enough and bought it — and the purchase didn't feel expensive because I'd already mentally said goodbye to that money.
From Anchor team's experience, shared challenge
Anchor doesn't watch or punish immediately. You confirm whether you completed the task and whether you paid.
Anchor's mascot is a calm companion for everyday self-discipline: glad about small wins and still warm after a miss.
It started as a simple observation: an intention backed by nothing is easy to postpone. An intention backed by money — that's different. We tried it: small goals, small amounts, and you choose where the money goes. At first we tracked everything manually in a Telegram channel called "Discipline Bank" — it worked, but was tedious: checkmarks, calculations, forgotten debts. Anchor is the same thing, just without manual work.
After 8 months of daily use of this approach — before the app existed:
The goal is chosen upfront and coded into your challenge name — it's always visible. Ideally, you actually set the money aside on a separate account or in an envelope. Anchor doesn't technically force payment — it works on honesty, and we present this as trust in an adult rather than a flaw in the system.
Any intention you keep postponing — from cleaning your photo library to exam prep. For vague goals like "learn a language" there's a "fixed time" technique: the task is set not for results, but for 30 minutes with a timer.
There's a grace day — a buffer where you can catch up retroactively in the morning. No midnight penalties for forgetfulness.
Yes, fully in Ukrainian. English is also supported.
Honestly: soon, no exact date yet — Anchor is getting ready to launch on the App Store.