Budgeting for kids: The 3-jar money system (2024)

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The sooner you teach your children the basics about budgeting, the better, and the 3-jar money system is a simple way to get kids started.

The 3 Jar Money System

The 3-jar system is a popular way to begin teaching children how to budget. With this system, you give your child three clear jars, each representing a different fund: spending, saving, and giving. The child will then divide their money into the jars with your guidance. Budgeting their money in this way teaches children to actively plan for their current and future wants. Encourage your child to stick to their budget. If they fall short in one category, the goal is to help the child modify their behavior or budget instead of pulling from another jar. For example, if your child would like to spend more money than they have in the spending jar, they should re-prioritize their wants, earn more money, or rethink their budget instead of pulling from the saving or giving jars.

The Saving Jar
The saving jar teaches kids to set and work toward goals. This shouldn’t be money put away for a nebulous purpose. It should be specific. Does your child want to save up for a new game? Or perhaps a certain toy? Help your child determine what they want and then, every time they go to separate their money into their jars, remind them that the more money they’re willing to give up now, the sooner they can reach this goal.

It could help to create a general “rule” with your child, like 30% of their money should always go to saving or for every $2 in the spending jar, one should go to saving—however you and your child decide to prioritize and divide the money is fine. The goal is to impart the importance of saving and begin building the habit.

The Spending Jar
The spending jar is all about what kids want to buy right now. This is how they finance little things like candy bars or trinkets at the grocery store. This budget can also include budgeting for bigger things like clothing, school supplies, or other necessities if you decide you want your child to help pay for some of those things.

The Giving Jar
The giving jar encourages children to think about others. Help them choose a cause that’s important to them, perhaps a charity that supports an animal they like or a Secret Santa fund for a family in your community. The giving jar can also go toward gifts for other people—a birthday gift for a friend, a thank you present for a teacher, etc. When it comes time to donate the money they’ve saved, do your best to find a way to show them the impact of their generosity. Even a little goes a long way, and this is a great way to teach that principle.

The Investing Jar (Optional)
Another option is to include a 4th jar dedicated to investing. This could be something to consider for older children. The idea is for your child to set the money aside and you to help them invest it, perhaps by buying a few shares with their money in your portfolio. This crucial life skill helps people build their wealth and secure their future. While it’s always important to be careful, learning the basics early will help increase your child’s confidence and start them off on the right foot. If you feel unsure about how to start teaching about investing, check out this article about teaching children about money.

Moving Forward

Once your child gets the hang of the 3-jar money system and begins to master general budgeting concepts, the next step will be to bring them, and their jars, into a local financial institution to open their first account. This will give you the chance to teach them about interest and how storing their money at a bank or credit union will keep it safe.

With the money in an account, you can then help your child create more categories for their budget. Can they divide their spending budget into further categories? Can they create a fund for each individual savings goal? The 3-jar system is just the beginning or a lifetime of careful budgeting and money management.

Budgeting Parents Saving

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Budgeting for kids: The 3-jar money system (2024)

FAQs

What is the 3 jar system to teach kids about money? ›

The 3-jar system is a popular way to begin teaching children how to budget. With this system, you give your child three clear jars, each representing a different fund: spending, saving, and giving. The child will then divide their money into the jars with your guidance.

What is the mason jar money method? ›

With the mason jar money method, you'll set a savings goal, make a deposit plan and commit to adding a predetermined amount of cash to a mason jar each month. You can use that money to jump-start debt repayment or an emergency fund, or to cover a luxury purchase.

What is the jar method? ›

The jar method works by splitting up your money into many different categories. At the beginning of the month, or whenever you get paid, instead of having one bank account balance, you divide up the money you received into your jars.

What is the money jar system? ›

It's called the JARS money management system. Basically, using this system, you split your money up into six different accounts, and you have percentages of your money to put into each account. You can use bank accounts or actual jars. So what are these jars and what percentage of your income goes into them?

What is the 50 30 20 rule? ›

The 50-30-20 budget rule states that you should spend up to 50% of your after-tax income on needs and obligations that you must have or must do. The remaining half should dedicate 20% to savings, leaving 30% to be spent on things you want but don't necessarily need.

What are the three 3 measures of money explain what is included in each measure? ›

M1 consists of coins and currency, checking accounts and traveler's checks. M2 is a more broad definition of money. M2 = M1 + small savings accounts, money market funds and small time deposits. M3 is even more broad and includes M2 + large time deposits, large money market funds and repurchase agreements.

How do you use the jar method? ›

Implementing this method is easy. You'll start with three glass jars: one labeled saving, one labeled spending, and one labeled giving. Each time your child receives money— whether it be a gift from a relative, their weekly allowance, or running a lemonade stand— help them divide the cash into the three jars.

What is the best way to guess the amount in jar? ›

So, multiply the radius number by itself, and, to get a rough estimate, multiply this number by 3. EXAMPLE: With a radius of 5, your formula would be: Pi x 52 = 3 x 25 = 75 So, a single layer of items in the jar should be about 75 items.

How many dollar bills fit in a Mason jar? ›

Mason Jar: I used a quart size jar with a standard size lid (not wide mouth). You can also use a pint jar. Dollar Bills: Use whatever bills you'd like to give! A quart size jar holds about 40 bills and a pint size jar holds about 20 bills.

What is the jar test method? ›

Jar testing is a pilot-scale test of the treatment chemicals used in a particular water plant.It simulates the coagulation/flocculation process in a water treatment plant and helps operators determine if they are using the right amount of treatment chemicals, and, thus, improves the plant's performance.

What is the jar theory? ›

Developed by Jeremy Wright in 2002, the Pickle Jar Life Theory emerged as a contemporary response to the challenges of managing time in an increasingly busy world. The core idea of the theory is that time is finite and needs strategic allocation if we want to make the most of it.

How do you calculate items in a jar? ›

Divide the volume of the jar by the average volume of the item. This will provide you with the maximum number of pieces of items that can fit in the jar.

What is the 3 jar method? ›

The 3 jar system is a popular way to begin teaching children how to budget. With this system, you give your child three clear jars, each representing a different fund: spending, saving, and giving. The child will then divide their money into the jars with your guidance.

How to use money jar? ›

Money Jars Method Explained

Play: 10% of your income should be set aside as “play” money. This is anything that you don't need but that can lend to your quality of life. The goal of this account is to have no restrictions — or guilt — on how you spend your money.

Is money jar legit? ›

Money Jar is 100% Irish owned and provides an Irish IBAN (International bank account number) with every account.

What is the 3 piggy bank system? ›

The “Three Little Piggies” Piggy Bank System: Saving, Spending and Sharing. Creating a piggy bank system is a great way to show your child the process of putting money towards different purposes- basically how to budget!

What are the 3 forms and 3 functions of money? ›

To summarize, money has taken many forms through the ages, but money consistently has three functions: store of value, unit of account, and medium of exchange. Modern economies use fiat money-money that is neither a commodity nor represented or "backed" by a commodity.

What are the 3 money buckets and what should be in each of them? ›

The 3 Bucket Strategy is a well-known financial planning method that categorizes assets into three separate 'buckets': short-term income needs, intermediate requirements and long-term necessities.

How does money jar work? ›

What is Money Jar. A Money Jar account provides an Irish IBAN (International Bank Account Number), a physical bank card "Mastercard", and it's mobile app supports both Apple and Google pay.

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