A tale of some little jars with big dreams.
To change the way a generation of kids handles their money.
What if our kids “got it” so early,
that their HEART FOR GIVING solved poverty?
What if our kids “got it” so early,
that their PASSION FOR SAVING eliminated leases and loans?
What if our kids “got it” so early,
that they SPENT WITH CONTENT on needs vs wants?
Here’s the story of My Lil Money Jars…
and if you get to the end there’s a treat.
In March 2011, Lil Light O’ Mine was forming in my brain. I came across a couple principles I wanted to teach my kids – went shopping and struck out. My heart was pounding. I just knew there was a hole in the marketplace and God was opening doors for me to lead the charge. Products where a mom’s style can meet the child’s heart. A place where moms can be empowered and little lives could change. The best of home goods that actually teach our kids something.
Around the same time, conversations went SOUR in the Target $1 section with my oldest child.
Simultaneously, God was teaching me about this topic through our pastor Andy Stanley and his frequent “give/save/live” messages.
BEFORE we even passed the rows of carts at TarJAY, before my tall skinny vanilla latte and before I started bribing them to “stay IN THE CART OR..”, there was already an EXPECTATION SET!
Ella would say something like, “What can I get today?” or “How many things can I pick out from there today?”
I didn’t like what I had created. An EXPECTATION in my child that just because we could afford it, she could get something.
We weren’t having conversations about saving or giving.
She was only 4 at the time, but I wanted the conversations to change. And, Ron/I wanted this to be an area our kids grasped early. So, they would always know the thrill of GIVING and SAVING and freedom of living on the rest.
I started looking online and saw some financial gurus were steps ahead of me on this product. However, in Lil Light O’ Mine fashion – I wanted to keep the mom’s style in mind.
IF IT STAYS VISIBLE (aka looks pretty cute) – I will remember to teach!
So, the work began.
DRAWINGS, PROTOTYPES, JAR MANUFACTURERS, CONVERSATIONS WITH MOMS, MARKER SAMPLES, LABEL SAMPLES, CRICUT MACHINES and then reality, ATTORNEY CALLS, GUESSING INVENTORY, PAINT COLORS, PHOTOGRAPHY, TESTING, LOGO DESIGNS, SHIPPING DISCUSSION with WAREHOUESE and MORE! Oh my!
You should’ve seen the types of jars and trays and samples coming through my house. Katie, Kelli and I played and talked “money jars” A LOT in 2011. Thanks to the best unpaid staff/friends ever. 🙂
We first thought we’d just rip off my brilliant pastor. I actually talked to his legal folks and they were so supportive.
Andy Stanley has it right – it’s pretty simple.
We GIVE first, SAVE second and then LIVE on the rest.
So, just pre-print give/save/live right on there. Or???
After thinking and talking to MOMS … everything works better when your child is involved. How much MORE motivating could it be when customized for THEIR GOALS, THEIR CHURCH or THEIR WISHES!
So, they come blank – and we just show you examples in the photos with Katie’s amazing handwriting.
She should sell that font, huh!
I wanted silver tops because I think they are cute and money spilling out isn’t funny. And, I wanted a nice tray to keep them all in one place – and varying colors to go for boy or girl.
Did you know anything super affordable in business comes from China and takes FOREVER???
So, after a painful search, and some hard lessons learned (more on that another day) found an awesome guy that is HANDMAKING every tray!
The labels come in 2 shapes – oval for boys or neutral or scalloped round for girls. You can use regular chalk on there and it just wipes right off with wet paper towel.
The bistro marker just rules. It writes like a paint pen/marker and wipes right off with wet paper towel.
So, that’s the story of My Lil Money Jars. And, even financial guru Ron Blue was kind enough to endorse them (won’t lie – totally cried when this happened) for us and give us his thoughts on the issue here.
Clean Slate Club