The Blue Pig: Save Share Spend (Invest)

As a youth director, I had the privilege of working with Thrivent Financial and some of their employees. One of their resources so impressed me that I saved it for the day I might have kids and need to teach them about money. It was a blue piggy bank with 3 separate compartments labeled: save, share and spend. Along with it came a booklet of ideas and practical ways to utilize it for teaching young children money management. I kept that blue pig and gave it to our daughter when she was very little. She loved the pig and quickly grew to understand how to save, share and spend. Whenever she received a gift of money from her grandparents, I would help her break it down into smaller bills and change, so she could split it between those 3 compartments.

When she was very young, it was usually an equal split. As she got older, we started using a 50:25:25 ratio. And sometimes, to my surprise, she would simply skip “spend” and put 50:50 in the “save” and “share” slots. Those were proud momma moments for sure. Once she started doing various chores and helping with extra household tasks, she would put her earnings in her blue pig, conscientious about which slot received which amount. One time, she had a small lemonade stand on our block and donated all the proceeds to her Share fund which she then donated to an organization that provides wigs for kids with cancer, along with 12 inches of her beautiful red hair. Another proud momma moment indeed.

That blue pig became the visual behind our conversations about money and how to manage it. Spending didn’t really take a lot of explanation and like most children, she grasped that pretty quickly. As she got older, she learned that when the “spend” compartment was empty, she had no money to spend. I remember a time in Target when she didn’t have any money, and the fit was real! I asked her about her blue pig. Her eyese were full of tears as she told me the “spend” part was empty. It would have been so easy for me to buy that little tricket and be her hero. But I knew that for her to understand the importance of spending only what she has I had to stick to my guns.

There were times she would see the larger amounts in “save” or “share” and would ask to use that money for shopping. It provided a great opportunity to talk to her about the need to leave that money untouched and simply do a few more chores to build back up her spending power. And when we first started teaching her about saving, she didn’t quite understand that this meant long-term saving. She first thought it was like saving for a shopping day with grandma. Same with “share”. She understood the concept of sharing very quickly, but who to share with took a bit more conversation. She once gave $20 from her “share” to her cousin, insisting he needed it more than her, because without it he couldn’t afford a Star Wars lego set he had his eye on. Eventually, she understood that “sharing” was about charity and was for her choice of causes, like her church or an organization like the Humane Society. It was for blessing others with her own blessings.

The blue piggy bank eventually was replaced with a debit card. This year, my husband opened up a savings and checking account with our credit union in her name, and now she usese her debit card to make small purchases at places like DQ and hockey rink vending machines. She was as excited to get her debit card as she was when she got her blue pig so long ago. But because the card doesn’t have the save visual as the blue pig with 3 separate slots and big bold writing that make clear where the money is and for what it is intended, we have had to shift how we teach her about money management. For me, that has been a challenge because I myself am not so stellar about using plastic.

As a freshman in college, I fell prey to the notion of using money I didn’t have. I remember my first Discover card well. I ran up the balance quickly, and it was years after graduation before I could pay it off. And since then, I have struggled with credit cards, overusing them, paying down their huge balance of accrued interest and taking a hit on my credit score. Staying disciplined and using a budget has been nearly non-existent. If it weren’t for my husband and his insistence, I would still be struggling. So when our daughter was born, I was absolutely committed to teaching her from a young age how to manage her money. I don’t want her to go through the same struggles I have. Struggles that have cost me opportunities, like traveling after college or serving in the Peace Corps. I was saddled with consumer debt so early in my adult life, that I have only ever been able to live paycheck to paycheck.

We have a lot more money conversations to have with our daughter. We have yet to tackle “investment” and she doesn’t utilize a budget since she doesn’t have many expenses. But we have laid a great foundation with Save, Share, Spend. She is also no stranger to some of the financial decisions we as her parents make everyday. We, of course, don’t share all the details with her, but she knows when we pull back our spending so we can put that money toward something else at another time. She saw us set aside money for a future family vacation, and she’s seen me save cash in a jar the year I chose to quit smoking. Sharing with her a few of these moments have been great opportunities for us to teach her about healthy moeny management. And to think it all started with a blue pig.

Here is a link to the blue piggy bank much like the one I gave to my daughter. https://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/money_savvy_generation/money_savvy_piggy_bank.cfm?country=US&source=google_pla&kwid=MON001-1&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD_wdzrqzPBNP5oJPQR5jFnYs55tA&gclid=Cj0KCQjwh_i_BhCzARIsANimeoEBbbBcebC4szCQx7lnjF5iVd9jO4uyijEEfhhpzJzlgX1OWK8VADsaArTEEALw_wcB

Here is an article about using the Save Share Spend model with your kids. It focuses on providing your child an allowance, but is great for a beginning idea.https://www.thrivent.com/insights/budgeting-saving/how-an-allowance-for-kids-teaches-financial-lessons-for-adulthood

I also recommend Rachel Cruze, the daughter of Dave Ramsey, if you want to do more exploration around kids and money. https://www.ramseysolutions.com/rachel-cruze