The 6 jar method — popularized by T. Harv Eker — divides your income into six purposeful categories the moment it arrives. The idea is simple: when money has a designated home, it stops disappearing.
The challenge has always been the execution: how do you physically separate money across six purposes without opening six different bank accounts?
US digital banks solved this problem in a surprisingly elegant way. Here’s how to use the most popular ones.
Ally Bank: Savings Buckets (literally called Buckets)
Ally Bank didn’t just build a savings account — they built one of the most intuitive implementations of the envelope/jar method available to US consumers. Their feature is literally called “Buckets.”
How Ally Buckets work:
- Create up to 30 buckets inside a single Savings Account
- Name each bucket with a custom label (Emergency Fund, Vacation, Freedom Account, etc.)
- Set a savings goal and track progress visually
- Money is all in one FDIC-insured account earning the same APY, just organized into buckets mentally
- Transfer between buckets instantly at no cost
For the 6 jar method:
| Jar | % | Ally Bucket |
|---|---|---|
| Necessities | 55% | Checking account (day-to-day spending) |
| Play | 10% | “Play” bucket |
| Education | 10% | “Education” bucket |
| Long-term savings | 10% | “Long-Term Savings” bucket |
| Financial Freedom | 10% | Transfer to brokerage (Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab) |
| Give | 5% | “Give” bucket |
Ally’s high-yield savings account consistently offers one of the highest APYs among major online banks (check current rates at ally.com — rates change with Fed policy).
The setup: Link your direct deposit or primary checking to Ally. On payday, use their automatic savings rules to move a fixed percentage into each bucket automatically.
Chime: SpotMe and Auto-Save
Chime is the most downloaded banking app in the US, popular for its no-fee structure and early direct deposit (get paid up to 2 days early).
Key Chime features for budgeting:
- Save When I Get Paid: Automatically move a percentage of direct deposits to savings — this is the 6 jar method in its most basic form
- Save When I Spend: Round up purchases to the nearest dollar, move the change to savings
- No overdraft fees, no minimum balance, no monthly fees
- High-yield savings account with competitive APY
Chime doesn’t have multiple savings buckets like Ally, but the “Save When I Get Paid” feature handles the most important jar: your savings rate. You can use Chime as your spending account and Ally Buckets for your savings goals simultaneously.
SoFi: Vaults
SoFi calls their version “Vaults” — savings pockets inside your SoFi Savings account, each with its own name and goal. The UX is clean, the APY is competitive, and as a SoFi member you get access to their financial planning tools.
SoFi also offers brokerage, student loan refinancing, and credit cards in the same ecosystem — useful if you want to consolidate your Financial Freedom jar (10%) into SoFi Invest.
Capital One 360: Savings Goals
Capital One 360 Savings also supports multiple savings “buckets” through their savings goal feature. Each goal has a target amount and a timeline, with automatic contributions. If you’re already a Capital One customer, this removes the need to open another account elsewhere.
What About the Financial Freedom Jar?
The 10% Financial Freedom jar shouldn’t sit in a savings account long-term — it needs to work harder. Standard options for US investors:
- Index funds (VOO, VTI): S&P 500 or total market via Fidelity, Vanguard, or Schwab — lowest cost, historically strong returns
- Roth IRA: Tax-free growth for retirement; 2026 contribution limit is $7,000/year ($8,000 if 50+)
- 401(k): Especially if your employer matches — that’s free money on top of your 10%
- Treasury bonds via TreasuryDirect.gov: US government-backed, currently yielding competitively
The Bottom Line
The tools are already there. Ally Buckets, Chime’s auto-save, SoFi Vaults — all of them give you the infrastructure to implement the 6 jar method without maintaining six separate bank accounts.
The step most people skip: actually setting it up and automating it. Once it’s automatic, the system runs without willpower.
Track your jars across all your accounts in one place — WealthMind Path works offline and keeps your data on your device, not on a server.