Asking
For the months that are not like the other months.
If someone listed you
Receiving side
You ask for an amount, with a reason.
It goes to the person who listed you. Nothing is sent yet.
You can cancel it while it is PENDING.
If nobody answers, it expires. That is not a refusal.
If it is approved and paid, it lands in your account with a record.
If you run the pot
Giving side
It arrives as an ask, with the amount and the reason.
You approve or decline. Neither needs a conversation.
Approving does not move money by itself — APPROVED and PAID are separate states.
You see every ask you have ever answered, and what happened after.
Declining is a complete answer. No reason is required and none is requested.
Nobody answered is not the same as no. An expired ask and a declined ask are different family facts, and the app never renders them the same way.
Who can ask
The owner decides, per person
Someone without permission to ask sees no button — and no explanation either, because “you are not allowed to ask” is not a message anyone should receive from their family’s software.