What Is a Budget?
A budget is a plan for your money before you spend it.
A budget doesn't need to be complicated
Example: You have $10. You decide: $4 Spend, $4 Save, $2 Give. That's a simple budget.
The Spend, Save, Give plan
One MyKidsMoney family's $5 weekly pocket money is planned out before it's spent:
This is one family's system, not a rule everyone follows — the important part is having a plan at all, not this exact split.
Physical money first
Using $1 coins, a child can physically divide their money into jars before spending any of it. Seeing the coins split between Spend, Save and Give makes the plan real, instead of just an idea in someone's head.
What a budget helps with
A budget can help you know how much money you have, decide what's important, make sure you have money for your goals, and avoid accidentally spending everything.
A budget can change
A budget is a plan, not a prison. If circumstances change — a bigger goal comes up, or something unexpected happens — you can change the plan too.
Make your own $10 plan
You have $10 to split between Spend, Save and Give. What would you choose, and why?
There's no single correct answer — the important part is thinking it through before you spend, and being able to explain what made you choose those amounts.
Let your child make simple money plans themselves. Don't focus on getting the "perfect" split — the goal is learning to think before spending, not landing on a specific ratio.
Where to next
More on what to do with each part of a budget.