Money Saving Jars for Kids

One of the goals for the hubby and I is getting out of debt, especially with hubby retiring from the military this year.  As we have been working on a game plan, I always keep in the back of my mind that I do not want my two children to have to deal with debt when they are older. Now I know that it could happen, but I want to teach them now on saving money, tithing, and spending money.  Then one day strolling through Pinterest I found what I needed to implement. Don't you just love Pinterest?!?!
When I saw these jars I knew this had to be done in our home.

I love how the jars in the picture have their own holding place and the names of the children on the crates. I just love it!  Makes me so giddy with excitement!!!

One thing that I have learned with Pinterest is that it can cost a lot to make the projects that are posted. I decided that we did not need the crates, and I did not need to go out and buy the machine to make the cute letters for the labels.  I decided I was going to do this frugally.  After looking through my items at home, I did not find any jars that we could use to begin this project.

So, I went to the Dollar Tree and was going to purchase a total of six jars. Three for my son and three for my daughter. Just like the picture has. My daughter, who was with me, says "mom why do we need three jars?" I began to answer when she also says, "can we not leave our spending money in our wallets?" At first I was beginning to respond with "no, because the picture...." Then I stopped and realized that she had a point. We did not need six jars. We just needed four jars. My little frugal girl...I just love her!

I was so excited about this project. I could not get home fast enough! When I finally arrived (about 20 minutes from my purchase) home, I began working on the jars project. I grabbed some printer paper that was in our scratch paper pile and cut small "labels" for the jars. Instead of making name tags or using a crate I decided that I would use a different color marker for each child. Of course that was easy, since I only have two children.

On each label I wrote "saving" and "tithe."  Then I taped the label on each jar. I did tape the entire label, not just the edges. This way the tape added a little bit of protection from wear and tear because we will be using these for a long time. We will.

The entire project took just a couple of minutes and my favorite part was when we added the blessings' money to each jar. On Sunday when we went to church the blessings went straight to their jars and pulled out their tithe money. The hubby and I believe that it is important that we teach our children to tithe at least 10 percent of their "income."  We believe it will teach them to give willingly and plus the Bible states we should tithe 10 percent of our income.

The "save" jar is just that. It is NOT to be used to save for a toy. Their spending money is used for that. Their save jars are for their first car.  We told them that when they reach 16 years of age and are ready to purchase their first car we will match what they have saved. Of course my daughter does not like the idea, but I told her when that time comes she will be happy.  Just as tithing they are to save at least 10 percent.

The blessings' spending money, which is 80 percent of their "income," will be kept with them in their wallets. They have a choice to spend the money when we are out at the stores or they can save some of their spending money for a toy that they would like. This will make them think before they buy an item and make them proud when they finally pay for their item with their own cash.

THIS WORKS FOR ME!