Spend save give jars

What It Means

Spend save give jars are three labeled containers a child uses to divide the money they get from an allowanceAllowanceA set amount of money a child gets on a regular schedule to manage, often with an agreement about what it has to cover. See more, gifts or small jobs. One jar is for spending now, one is for saving toward something bigger, and one is for giving to a person or cause they choose. Some families call the third jar "share," and University of Minnesota Extension describes the same idea as a save, spend, share bank.

How It Sounds at Home

• "Half goes in spend, the rest gets split."
• "You can't touch the save jar until we hit the goal."
• "Who do you want your give jar to go to this year?"

The Breakdown

Worked example. Maya is 8 and gets $5 a week. She and her dad agree on 40% to spend, 40% to save and 20% to give, their own choice, since there's no official split.

Maya is saving for a $24 art set, so the save jar gets there in 12 weeks.

What the result means. Twelve weeks gives Maya a real goal to wait for, while the spend jar lets her make small choices along the way. If a goal would take most of a year, a nearer one first keeps the jar from feeling stuck.

Setting it up

1. Use three clear jars, or a box with three slots, and label them Spend, Save and Give.
2. Each time money comes in, sit down together and divide it.
3. Talk about what the save jar is for, and when it builds up, move it into a savings accountSavings accountA bank or credit union account for money you're setting aside for later, which earns interest and is insured up to federal limits at insured institutions. See more.
4. Let your child choose where the give jar goes.

Good to Know

University of Minnesota Extension's guide suggests making the jars together from a cardboard box or three containers with lids, helping your child decide how to divide each amount, and moving the savings into a bank account once it builds up. The CFPB's Money as You Grow program says the most important part of an allowance, for a child's development, is talking with you about their plans for the money. No official source sets the percentages, so pick a split your family can explain and adjust it as your child gets older.

Related Terms and Categories

• Allowance

  A set amount of money a child gets on a regular schedule to manage, often with an agreement about what it has to cover.

• Chore money

  Money a child earns for jobs around the house, often paid for extra work beyond the chores everyone in the family is expected to do.

• Financial literacy for kids

  The money skills, habits and knowledge children build over time, from waiting for something they want to budgeting, saving and weighing choices.

• Kids savings account

  A bank or credit union savings account opened for a child, usually jointly with a parent or as a custodial account, where the child's money earns interest.

Household money and budgeting