Bet On Yourself · iPhone · 18+
Do it and you pay $0. Miss it and it's charged, and 80% of it goes to a charity you pick.
Every Sunday night I write a beautiful plan, in the good pen, and by Wednesday it's under a pizza box. Lists didn't work on me. Streaks didn't work on me. Twenty of my own dollars sitting on my card with a clock running did. So I made the app.
i'm the Teller. i write it down.
He watches while your dare is live and keeps the receipt. He has never once been impressed.
Slide up, the ladder lights up rung by rung like a tiny runway. Up to $50 by default, you can raise your max to CA$250. Please don't on day one.
One minute to 48 hours. Pick how long it actually takes you, not the guy in the ad.
Twelve little ticks, the screen goes warm. Lift early and nothing happens. Panic right after? There's an undo.
Like a hotel deposit, in Canadian dollars. Do the thing, it's released, nothing charged. Miss, it's charged.
My favorite part. The edge of the screen drains like a bath, the phone goes in your pocket, you go. Want out while it's live? Withdraw, free, $0.
Honor system. Tap i did it, it's released, nothing charged. The Teller does a tiny hop. He'll deny it.
the money
a story, made up
Sam isn't real, I made Sam up to show a few weeks with the app, it's not a testimonial. You know a Sam though. Sam owns a foam roller still in the plastic. I am, honestly, a Sam.
Sam bought running shoes in March. Good ones, the box has a little window. They live in the box by the door, and Sam steps over it every morning like a sleeping dog that wants a walk.
One Tuesday Sam drags up to CA$20, a dinner Sam would be annoyed to lose. Then down to a 45 minute clock, because Sam has no idea how long a 3k takes and suspects the answer is rude.
Thumb down, the ring fills. Locked in. Twenty bucks set aside on Sam's card, nothing charged. Waiting. Smug.
Phone in the pocket. Sam runs, Sam hates it, a man walking a very old pug passes Sam twice, and the pug isn't even trying. You don't have to love it. That was never the deal.
38 minutes later, wheezing, Sam taps i did it. Released. $0 charged. Sam eats a banana standing up in the kitchen like it's a medal.
Three more at CA$20, all released. Then one rung up to CA$50 for a 5k. The three clean ones rule. My rule, not a study.
Thursday. 5k, CA$50, two hour clock, plenty. Halfway along the route is a bakery, and at four the cardamom buns come out, coiled tight, crackly sugar on top, the middle so soft it pulls apart in long buttery ribbons that steam when you open them. Sam stops for one. Then a second one. The clock runs out somewhere in bun two. Sam taps no, I didn't, and it's charged: $40 to Start2Finish, the kids' running and reading charity Sam picked, $10 runs the app. The receipt goes to the witness, Sam's sister Priya, a dental hygienist who has never missed a flossing appointment in her life. She texts back one word. "Bun."
The part I care about most. Sam didn't jump to CA$100 to make it back, that's chasing, watch for it in yourself. Back to CA$20, a longer clock, and an if-then first: if I see the bakery, then I cross the street. Released. $0. The shoe box went in the recycling.
Sam's made up. The app and the buttons are real.
run your own with a friend
The original idea: miss your run and the money goes to a friend. Your buddy gets a beer, plus a week of being unbearable about it, which is the real prize.
That version still exists. The app and its little server are open source, run your own copy with a friend: github.com/tonymach/BetOnYourself. (The repo might be private for a bit while I tidy it.)
Bet On Yourself is a commitment device, not gambling. There's nothing to win and no odds, the only way to pay is to not do what you said you would. For adults 18 or older (or the age of majority where you live, if higher). Stakes are in Canadian dollars, up to CA$250 a dare. If money on the line has ever been hard for you to stop, this isn't for you, and that's totally okay. In the US you can call or text 1-800-MY-RESET, any time; elsewhere, your local problem gambling helpline.
bet on yourself