How much do I pledge on my goals?

• What pledge levels are there?
• Can I change my pledge after my goal starts?
• Can I have a custom pledge amount like $50?

We put a lot of thought (and math) into the pledge amounts. In short, you want to very quickly reach an amount that motivates you to take being on the right side of your bright red line seriously. That's what our pledge schedule is designed to do!

What pledge levels are there?

The available pledge amounts are $0, $5, $10, $30, $90, $270, $810, $2430, and $7290. Normally, you'll begin with a $5 pledge, and with each derailment, the pledge will increase one step in that progression, up to the cap you have set.

For example, if you start your goal with a $5 pledge and a $30 cap, then the first time you derail you'll pay $5, and the pledge at stake will increase to $10. If you derail again, you'll pay $10, and the pledge at stake will increase to $30. Every derailment after this point will cost $30, unless you change your cap, lower your pledge, etc.

If you start at $0 (by clicking the option to "Hold the pledge at $0 for 7 days while I get my feet wet"), then your pledge will automatically increase to $5 after a week.

If for some reason you'd like to see an even higher pledge than the current highest possible pledge, let us know! We're all ears to hear about the use-case, whether you ever expect you'd derail at that amount, etc.

Can I change my pledge after my goal starts?

You can decrease your pledge with a 7-day wait. If you have the fanciest premium plan (Beemium) then you can also increase your pledge at any time, but we think mostly you should just ride the pledge schedule up to your Motivation Point (the point at which the pledge at stake will motivate you into preventing a derailment almost all the time).

Can I have a custom pledge amount like $50?

Pledges increase and decrease along this sequence only, so you can't set up a goal with a pledge of $50. For custom charge amounts, you can use the charge endpoint of the Beeminder API or the IFTTT charge trigger, but this won't replace derailments on your goals.

For example, if you want to charge yourself $50 for your next derailment, and your goal's at $30, then you'd want to pay an additional $20 via IFTTT, not the full $50.

Keywords: money, pledges, stakes