How I Teach My Kids About Money With 3 Jars — Simple Family Method
I tried to teach my kid about money with a talk. Big mistake. I sat him down at 7 years old and said, “Let’s talk about saving.” He stared at me for 30 seconds then asked, “Can I go play now?” I realized I was teaching like school, but money is learned by doing, not listening, especially at 7. So I stopped talking and bought 3 clear plastic jars from dollar store for $3 total. That $3 taught more than my 20-minute talk ever did in my personal experience.
The jars are simple and visible. I labeled them with tape and marker: SAVE, SPEND, SHARE. No fancy words like invest or donate yet, because those words mean nothing to a 7-year-old in my view. Save is for later big want. Spend is for now small want. Share is for someone else. Clear, see-through, so he can see money grow or shrink. That visibility is the whole teaching in my experience. Kids trust what they see, not what you say.
We started with $5 a week allowance, not tied to chores. Chores are part of being in family, not paid job in our house — personal parenting choice, every family different. $5 is small enough that mistakes don’t hurt much, big enough to make choices. Rule: when he gets $5, he decides how to split into 3 jars, but must put at least $1 in each. No other rule. He decides rest. First week he put $3 in Spend, $1 Save, $1 Share. Of course. Spend is exciting.
I wanted to correct him and say “You should save more.” I bit my tongue. My job is to let him choose and feel result, not to control split. That was hardest part for me. I grew up tight, so seeing $3 go to candy felt wasteful. But it’s his $5, his choice, his learning. If I control, he learns to please me, not to manage money. So I said, “Okay, $3 spend, got it,” and watched.
What Happened First Month — Personal Story
Week 1: He spent $3 on small cars at dollar store same day. Happy for one day, then cars broke. He looked at Save jar with $1 and said, “I wish I saved more.” I said, “You can next week, different choice.” No lecture. Just reflection. Week 2 he did $2 Save, $2 Spend, $1 Share. Slight shift. He was learning from his own feeling, not my words. That shift felt more durable than if I had forced 50% save rule I saw online.
Week 3 he wanted a $18 Lego set. Save jar had $3. Not enough. He asked, “Can you buy it?” I said, “You have save jar, how many weeks if you save $3 a week?” He counted — 6 weeks. He groaned. 6 weeks is forever at 7. He asked if he could put more in Save. I said yes, you decide. Week 3 split became $4 Save, $0 Spend (he had leftover from last week), $1 Share. He chose waiting over instant. That choice came from want, not from my rule. That’s why it stuck.
By week 6 he had $16 in Save, bought Lego himself. He carried jar to store, counted $16 in front of cashier, cashier smiled and said “You saved that yourself?” He puffed chest out. That pride — “I saved that myself” — is worth more than Lego in my personal view. He played with Lego for weeks, not days like dollar cars, because he waited and chose. Waiting made value bigger, same lesson my parents taught me with $10 on table.
Share jar was interesting. At first he didn’t get it. “Why give my money away?” I didn’t preach. We walked past animal shelter donation box and he asked what it is. I said, “Some people give $1 to help dogs.” He thought, then put his Share $1 in. Later he saw dog picture on thank-you note from shelter and felt proud again, different pride. Save pride is “I did it.” Share pride is “I helped.” Both needed in my view. Now Share jar goes to different places — sometimes friend birthday gift, sometimes shelter, sometimes extra snack for class. He decides.
Our 3 clear jars - Save, Spend, Share - $5 allowance split - Photo: Rich Minds Team - Personal experience
From The Rich Daily Team: We also use 3 jars in our experience — we added clear tape so kids see coins stack. What helped us was not tying to chores — chores are family help, allowance is learning tool — personal parenting choice, every family different. We also let kids make “bad” spend choice first month, so they feel result, not lecture. Personal trick only, results vary, not parenting advice.
Why 3 Jars Worked When Talking Didn’t — For Us
First, visible. Kids don’t understand numbers on app. They understand jar getting full. Seeing coins grow is dopamine that’s healthy. My kid shakes Save jar and smiles. That physical feedback teaches more than abstract number in my experience. We tried app for kids once, he forgot it existed in 2 days. Jars on shelf, he sees every day when getting cereal.
Second, choice not control. I only require $1 minimum each jar, rest he decides. That small autonomy makes him own it. If I forced 50/30/20 like adult budget, he would resist. $1 minimum is low enough he can’t fail, but teaches habit of splitting. Autonomy builds ownership. Ownership builds care in my personal view.
Third, small amount, big lesson. $5 is small, so mistakes are small. $3 wasted on broken cars is $3 lesson, not $300 lesson at 18. I’d rather he wastes $3 at 7 and learns waiting feeling than wastes $300 at 18 and learns shame. Small stakes now prevent big stakes later in my experience. That’s why I started early, small.
Fourth, no shame talk. When he spent all Spend quickly, I didn’t say “See, you should have saved.” I said, “How did that feel after?” He says feeling. I reflect. That no-shame talk keeps money talk safe at home, same as my parents did with $40 grocery talk at dinner. If money talk feels safe at 7, it might stay safe at 17 in my hope.
What Changed After 6 Months — Personal Reflection
After 6 months, his splits changed on own. Now average is $2.50 Save, $1.50 Spend, $1 Share without me saying. He learned his own pattern — he likes saving for bigger Lego, not small cars. That’s his value, not mine. I didn’t teach value, I gave tool and he found value. That’s more powerful than me assigning value.
He also started asking “How many saves?” before wanting toy. He counts weeks. That waiting math is budgeting in kid language. He’s doing mental math without calling it budgeting. Last week he said, “If I save $3 for 4 weeks I have $12, plus $8 I have now = $20, enough for that book.” That sentence is budgeting, saving, addition, patience all in one — from 3 jars and $5.
Share jar taught empathy in small way. He decided to use Share $8 to buy cookies for class. Not because I told, because he wanted to. He came home saying “Everyone said thank you.” That thank you is different dopamine than buying for self. I think kids need both dopamine types to have healthy money relationship later in my personal view.
If you want to try, start with 3 clear jars or cups you have, tape and marker, $1-5 a week if you can, $1 minimum each jar, let kid decide rest, let them feel result, no shame talk. That’s it. No need to buy course or app. Jars on shelf teach daily without you saying a word, same way my parents taught me with $10 on table.
My 3 Jars Checklist — Personal Example
✅ 3 clear jars — SAVE, SPEND, SHARE — dollar store — visible on shelf
✅ $5/week allowance — not tied to chores — family choice — small stakes
✅ Rule: at least $1 in each jar, rest kid decides — autonomy
✅ Let them make “bad” spend first month — feel result, not lecture
✅ Wait math — “How many weeks to $18?” — kid budgeting language
✅ Share is kid’s choice — shelter, friend gift, class cookies — empathy practice
Try 3 jars this week with what you have at home. No need perfect labels. Let kid split small amount and feel what happens. That feeling teaches more than talk.
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⚠️ Personal Experience Disclaimer: This article reflects my personal family experience and is for educational purposes only — not professional financial or parenting advice. Every child and family is different. Allowance approaches vary. All examples (e.g., $5 allowance, $18 Lego) are personal illustrations — not advice, results vary, not typical. Please use own judgment for your family. Read full Disclaimer here.
