The Money Savvy Pig

When my daughter turned 5 a couple of weeks ago, I revisited the idea of giving her an allowance. To help me in this endeavor, Money Savvy Generation sent a cute piggy bank for my daughter to try out  – the Money Savvy Pig.

Money Savvy Generation is a website which helps kids learn financial responsibility by giving them the tools they need to understand money management because, as we all know, money doesn’t come with instructions! This company was started by a mom, Susan Beacham, who, as a private banker, saw her clients deal with the consequences of not knowing how to manage their personal finances. Most schools don’t teach money management, as it’s considered to be too complicated. Susan wanted to change this and help kids develop good habits early on.

The Money Savvy Pig isn’t your ordinary piggy bank. Instead of one slot, it has four – along with four separate chambers. One for each of the four money management choices a child should learn about when they are young – SAVE, SPEND, DONATE, and INVEST. I’m sure you’ve heard of people using a similar system of labeling jars, right? This works in the same way, but in one convenient (and fun!) package.

Made of translucent plastic, the Money Savvy Pig:

• Helps develop decision-making skills… what slot should I put the money in?
• Shows the importance of setting both short and long term goals
• Gets parents involved.
• Shows that saving money can be just as satisfying as spending it.
• Won a Parents’ Choice Gold Award when it was first released in 2002.

Since the plastic is clear, Maya can see her money add up as the days go by. Each chamber exits through a different foot, which are fairly easy to open. The pig comes with a set of goal-setting stickers and easy instructions and tips. There’s also a coloring book for sale on the website that makes a nice accompaniment to the piggy bank.

The Money Savvy Pig is available online for $16.99, in six different colors. There’s also a cow and a football, so you’re sure to find something your kid will like! This would be a great gift for any child, and a thoughtful baby shower present.

Now Maya is saving money. Her expense allowance will go towards buying herself the new Dora Explorer Girl toy (that’s what she wants this week, it might change). We’ve discussed a few possibilities for the donation, but she hasn’t made up her mind yet. As for the investing – she doesn’t quite understand that part yet, but we’ll get there! Thanks, Money Savvy Generation, for helping me teach my daughter such an important life skill.

This post was written for Buzz Cooperative as part of a campaign for Money Savvy Generation, who supplied the product for review.