In my last article I have given an overview of T Harv Eker’s 6 Jars Money Management. (read here: https://read.cash/@deedum/6-jars-money-management-system-overview-557ff93c)
Now, let us discuss the benefits in adapting it.
CREATING SYSTEMS
In one of my articles, I talked about how we should’ve system instead of goals because for me it will be healthier to do it that way. By applying this money management system you are creating a habit and once you get the hang of it, it will be easier along the way.
The thing is, budgeting has always been a systematic process and for me, if you really can’t manage your money when it’s still small you’d have difficulties in handling it on a large scale. So as early as now, if you don’t have a budget system, I suggest you start one.
ALLOCATION
What I love about this money management system is that it gives you a more specific “jars” instead of the 50-30-20 rule. I’ve used that for 6 months, it made me control my finances but I always interlap between needs and wants. I sometimes get money from my needs or vice versa.
I didn’t really value rewarding myself and I felt guilty every time I did it. I love reading and as much as I want to buy a physical book, I’d refrain from doing it because I don’t have a budget for it.
I mean if you look at it, it’s more of a self-control issue but “needs” and “wants” are such broad spectrums, unlike in this system, there are somewhat more specific allocations.
SELF-LOVE
I felt that this was a good system, because it incorporates self love. You have your play jar and I swear I really can’t wait to get a hold of my play jar and splurge on things I’ve wanted all this time. Because in the 50-30-20 system, I always wait until month end to see if I still have money in my “wants” account so I can splurge it on things. And not much of a shocker, I don’t really have much left but in this system, once your income arrives, you designate a portion of your salary to play with, which is so nice.
Another thing is the education jar, I love how it values growth and development and how it encourages you to learn more. It’s really hard to judge if a book is a want or a need, even if I’ll buy a self-help book, I feel like it’s more of a want than a need. And I always wanted to learn photography and dress-making, but I realized I will never really set aside money for the learning itself and the tools needed to learn it but with this system hopefully, I get to learn those things.
GIVING
I know most money management systems encourage you to give back but researching about this system made me realize one thing. My concept of giving is confined to tithes, charities and NGOs. I remember doing a 6 month tithes challenge and I successfully did it only to not give out the money to the local church at the end. I feel bad for it but it was a huge amount of money and I haven’t had the mindset yet to let go of that relatively big amount.
But as I was reading, it doesn’t always have to be big, it can start small like visiting a friend and bringing snacks. You can also support your friend's newly opened business or buy a gift to your family members without thinking too much of your budget because you have a fund for it. I never saw it this way and hopefully with this mindset, I’d be more comfortable in giving back and my goal is to send a stranger to school someday. Hopefully, I can do it. So I think the essence is in your small way you can help people even if it’s not that grand yet, again make it a habit and it’ll be easier in the future.
I’ll also include some of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that I asked when I’m learning this system and hopefully it helps you along the way too.
What if my necessities cover more than 55% of my income?
It’s really not on the percentages that we should focus, we should focus on the habit itself. The percentages are only the ideals but most people change it up a bit. I also changed some percentage for myself honestly. There’s no cookie cutter theory, you should always adjust it so that it would fit your situation. I’ll do an article about how I applied this system and I’ll elaborate more.
Do I need to manage all of my money using this system?
Well, for me it’s a bit hard to have different systems at the same time so I always applied one system in all of the income flows that I received. But some youtubers said that you can just start with a hundred peso or a dollar, just as long as you’re starting a habit and slowly you’ll be more comfortable in managing your finances.
Can I have more or less than 6 jars?
Totally, it's still your life dude. HAHAHAHA. But the 6 jars again are the ideal ones and how I wish we live in a perfect world, but we don't so as I always say, you should really adjust it to your situation. Again, we're doing this to learn how to manage our finances and if you let someone tells you what to do, would that ruin the point of it all?
This is just the guide, the ultimate choice would still be yours on how you'd like to do it.
If you have more questions, I could answer them or you can do your own research if you’d like but I encourage everyone to get a better hold of their finances.
There would be two more articles after this, one is how I apply it using my salary and the other is how I apply it using my crypto earnings.
I’m really enjoying this kind of content lately, I feel like I’m learning a lot.
Lead image: Photo by Napendra Singh on Unsplash
