I love the music star, i never had any trouble with the buttons, although it seems they are different from other versions' buttons. I find the games relatively fun, not as great as v4 games though. I've never run out of money, just feed the tamagotchi baby food through toddler age and by then you should have some money to buy food, once your tama reaches adulthood it will earn a good bit of money, and you'll never run out again.
Overall I was pleasantly surprised by the music star, because it was waaay better than v5s which i didn't like as much. i have two, and they're fun when you're in the mood, but if you want to get good families it's a lot of work to raise familly bond.