Comments on: Help Your Children Visualize Money Mangement with the Four Jars Approach

By: Meaghan

Meaghan — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:38:17 +0000

Nice post! Teaching children about the value of a dollar and how to budget/ allocate money is a very important lesson. Learning now can help keep them out of debt later!

By: Travis

Travis — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:37:58 +0000

While I’ve never heard it given the name “jars approach,” nonetheless I’m well familiar with the method you’re using here. It is a nice reminder for children, and even adults I’d say! Seems like a lot of them are worse than kids are at spending more than they have, and could probably do a nice reminder here and there on their spending habits.

By: Jason @ One Money Design

Jason @ One Money Design — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:19:23 +0000

Michelle, I have two young children and I’m thinking of soon starting a similar approach with our older one. Versus 4 jars, I’m going to use a 3 penny bank approach with giving, saving and spending banks which I think are good principles to teach at a young age.

In terms of tracking money, I like Mvelopes. You can use electronic envelopes (instead of physical) to manage your money. They work just like physical envelopes in that you can transfer money between them if needed.

By: Jane Vedell

Jane Vedell — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:31:06 +0000

I use Excel, too. Usually, when I’m on the computer, I’ll pull up my budget sheet and see where I’m at. It’s an Excel version of your jar method though I’d always thought of them as buckets.

I’ve got one savings account, but lots of different buckets of what I’m saving for monthly. For example, the twice yearly car insurance, yearly car registration, and car repair go in one bucket. Another is for yearly medical expenses. Another for my yearly bunny expenses. And so on. Along with my monthly expenses. That way I see how much I actually have for each bucket.

By: Jodi

Jodi — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:35:34 +0000

I love the four jars idea and will be trying it out over the weekend with my kids. I don’t know if the tax thing will go over too well though but we shall see!

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:31:46 +0000

I use Excel, not so much because I love it but because it’s simple and the quickest way for me to log in an expense (once I set it up of course).

Mint’s another good tool that many people love.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:08:56 +0000

I think Mint is great too, but unfortunately I can’t get it to synch with my checking account (I’m told it’s because of the security features on my bank’s website). It seems that Mint isn’t doing much to solve the problem, so I’d have to switch banks to be able to get any real use out of Mint! Such a shame, because Mint really does have some cool ways to visualize your money.

By: Mike Piper

Mike Piper — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:29:29 +0000

Excel rocks my world. Perhaps it works better for me than for others because I pretty much think in terms of spreadsheets. (Ah…the life of an accountant.)

By: Daniel @ Sweating The Big Stuff

Daniel @ Sweating The Big Stuff — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:46:17 +0000

When I was young, I got 4 dollars, and I was free to do anything I wanted with it. I saved it. I guess that explains why I read a lot of personal finance blogs.

I really like Mint, they have tons of visual tools which is nice because something different appeals to each person based on their tastes. Seeing numbers doesn’t always have an impact, but like you said, the thermometer type tracker really helps me stay within my budget and see how I’ve done.

By: Matthew Hall

Matthew Hall — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:43:53 +0000

Recently I guest posted a similar system that I use with my kids – the four money box system. Ours are called ‘Save’, ‘Invest’, ‘Give’ and ‘Crazy’ : http://www.bhatt.id.au/blog/4-money-boxes-pocket-money-system-for-children/
These seem to work pretty well at that age – unfortunately I haven’t yet found a great tool to handle the more complex finances of being a grownup!