My Great Idea: The Money Jar

At first I blamed my eyesight when images on our computer monitor seemed fuzzy. However, when my kids and husband complained about the blurriness, I knew that the problem was our years-old monitor. Our computer was used heavily on a daily basis for work, study, and relaxation. My exasperated impulse was to grab the charge card and order a new monitor online.

Then I paused. I considered our financial balancing act with past medical bills, kids in college, two broken cars, and a son's mission only a few months away. I visualized the debt-logged credit card bill, precariously near its limit. I heard the voices of church leaders repeatedly admonishing us to get out of debt. Yet, a new monitor wasn't a frivolous item; it would benefit our family in practical ways. I felt so trapped--the cycle of debt seemed endless.

Suddenly I remembered a phrase from a book I was reading, "Every household, no matter the circumstances wastes a certain amount of money each and every month, and that is the money you will use to get out of debt." (_Debt-free on Any Income_, by Lyle and Tracy Shamo, Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, 2004, p. 27)

My heart lightened as I thought, "How much wasted money would it take to buy a new computer monitor?"

I excitedly told the family my great idea: We would put a jar on the kitchen table and everyone could contribute spare change or a few dollars towards a new computer monitor. To actually save up to buy something was, unfortunately, a new concept in our home.

We covered a jar with plain paper. We attached a photo from an advertisement of the type of computer monitor we were saving for, including its price. We wrote the starting date on the jar's paper cover. The project was begun by dropping in coins found in the clothes dryer, and change snatched from the car's cup holder.

At dinner we would all try to guess how much was in the jar. That was a great weekly reminder of our goal, and it was fun to see whose guess was the closest. The new money amount would be written on the outside of the jar, so it was easy to track our progress. As the jar filled, its contents were taken to the bank and changed into cash, which was hidden to remove the temptation to use it.

My habits were altered as I refrained from impulse buying at the store, thinking of the new monitor, and I found myself purposely rounding up payments at the checkout so I could stuff the extra money into the jar. My husband regularly emptied his pocket change into the jar.

Two and a half months went by; a new school year was approaching. To my surprise, I saw that in all the back-to-school store ads that computer monitors were on sale! We actually had enough money in our jar to afford one at the current sale price. Coins were changed into bills, and we literally paid cash for our new flat-screen monitor.

Today, our old, glass jar is on the table sporting a new paper wrapper, heavy with cash towards our next goal. Thanks to a blurry computer monitor our family now has a clearer vision of what financial independence looks like.