Raise a Problem-Solver: Teaching Kids Money Skills the Lean Six Sigma Way

Most money advice for kids treats saving and spending like a personality trait. Some kids are "good with money," some aren't, end of story.

It's not true, and it's not useful.

Money is a process. It has inputs, decisions, and outputs, same as anything else you'd map on a whiteboard at work. Once a kid sees it that way, the conversation changes. You stop correcting who they are and start improving how the process runs.

This guide takes that same thinking, the kind used to fix processes in business, and scales it down to something a nine-year-old can actually use.

What's inside:

• The three-jar system for ages 6-9 (save, spend, give), including an honest explanation of what "the money grows" really means
• A four-question decision tree for ages 10-13 to run before any purchase
• The 8 Wastes from Lean manufacturing, translated into things kids actually do with money
• The "Grown-up Secret" moment: one line that makes a kid feel like they did something real, not babyish
• A simple one-week starter plan, so you're not overhauling anything overnight

No spreadsheets. No lectures. Just a clearer way to talk about money at home.

General education, not financial advice.

Lean thinking. Real life.