The Jars Story: It Started with a Kid's Allowance

by Ryan Barger, Founder

When I was about eight years old, my revenue sources were pretty simple: a $5 weekly allowance (assuming I did my chores), grade-card money ($20 for straight A’s), and birthday and Christmas cash. Even with limited funds, my desires for things like baseball cards and Fort Wayne Komets hockey tickets were huge. I wanted a way to track how close I was to buying the things I wanted.

So, I asked my mom for five jars. I labeled each one with masking tape for a specific purpose: Baseball Cards, Kenner Starting Lineups, Giving, and Komets tickets, and whatever special thing I was saving for at the moment. Whenever money came in, I'd ask my parents to break up the dollars so I could contribute to each jar. It was so exciting when a jar had enough money to finally make a purchase!

The Problem with Traditional Budgeting

My childhood system worked flawlessly, but I left it behind as I grew up. It wasn't until after college, when a full-time job provided a steady income, that I asked myself a familiar question: "How do I know when I can afford something?"

I loved going to Cincinnati Reds games, but with a paycheck deposited into my account and a stack of future bills, how would I know if there was going to be enough money to make it to the end of the month?

Microsoft Money '98

My first attempt at a solution was using Microsoft Money. It was a typical monthly budget: I would enter my spending limits, track transactions, and the program would tell me how well I did at the end of each month. But I quickly ran into a problem. My rent was due on the first of every month, but I'd sometimes pay it on the 30th of the previous month. This meant the software would tell me I was over budget one month and under budget the next. When you start adding in all the other utilities that follow a similar pattern, the reports were less than unreliable... they were useless.

From a Kid's Hobby to a Modern App

I was thinking of ways to solve this cash-flow problem, and I remembered those jars I had set up as a kid. If I didn't spend my baseball card money, it was still there in the jar the next month. My jars didn't get reset at the end of the month. What a realistic portrayal of how money is saved and spent!

Even better, if I had an opportunity to buy a Starting Lineup but my jar wasn’t quite ready, it was possible to transfer money from another jar to make it work. I'd immediately know the cost to me by spending early: resulting in a longer wait on my special savings project.

The original Jars in the 2000's

As a young developer, I decided to practice my craft by creating an early version of Jars. My first go was a completely offline desktop application that involved manually entering every transaction and assigning a jar to it. It kept a separate register for each jar as well as a master register for my bank accounts.

Since that time, I've tried multiple solutions that handle “envelope budgeting,” but all of them lacked a critical piece. So once again, a couple of years ago, I embarked on creating the ultimate app. Jars connects all your spending accounts and treats them as one giant source of funds. Then, you can create as many jars as you wish and divide your funds into specific, purposeful jars of your own.

The Real-World Jars I Use Today

The same simple philosophy I used as a kid is the foundation for how I manage my money as an adult. While the physical containers are gone, the method remains the same, only now my Jars are organized into common types:

• Known Expenses: For my recurring, fixed bills like cell phone and internet, I have a dedicated Jar. For bills that fluctuate, like my energy bill, I take the yearly average and contribute a portion with every paycheck. It's like budget billing offered by the utilities company, only I'm in complete control.

  
  

• Goal Jars: These are for big purchases I want to make. Think about saving for your next car. Instead of getting a loan and paying interest, you can pay your New Car Jar. Put that money in a high-yield savings account, and earn interest instead of paying interest. Your money is working for you!

• Annual Expense Jars: Your vacation, Christmas gifts, or other once-a-year expenses should have their own Jar. This allows you to break down a single, large payment into smaller contributions on each paycheck. When it’s time to spend, the money is already there and waiting.

  

  Breaking up large transactions into payments every paycheck turns large expenses each year into afterthoughts. For example if you spend $1,200 for Christmas, you could put away just $50 per paycheck. Then when Christmas time arrives, enjoy the season stress free!

  
  

• Spending Jars: It's important to set aside money for clothes, general spending, and entertainment. Spending money on these things is inevitable, and there's nothing wrong with it. You just have to be intentional about how much is allocated to these.

  
  

• Others: Trust me—there's more! Your Jars should be tailored to your lifestyle and hobbies because they are personal. Too often, the things you truly value are the first to get cut due to overspending in other areas. Jars keeps you on track to be able to fund the things you value most.

  
  

More Than Just an App

My vision for Jars is only just beginning. We hope this app becomes more than just a tool for you; we want it to be the foundation for a community. We have built the Jars Budgets Support site for just that purpose. You can use it to log support tickets, read the blog, view how-to articles, and participate in our open forum.

We are fully committed to building a product that is immensely useful for you and your family. Jars is here to help you manage your money and communicate about your finances, and we look forward to responding to your requests for features as this journey continues.