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Sou-Sou and Partner Savings

Join or run a sou-sou, partner hand or box with clear rules, a fair draw order, clean records, safe handling of the pot and a calm plan for the member who stops paying.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for Sou-Sou and Partner Savings, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

Before you start: this plan is general information to help you organise your own money decisions. It is not financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Check decisions that matter with a qualified, licensed adviser in your country, and remember that investing and trading can lose money.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

201

Starter tasks

🌴 Caribbean Life & Diaspora

Sou-Sou and Partner Savings

Saving through a sou-sou, partner hand or box: joining or running one, choosing members, the payout order, records and handling a member who stops paying.

  1. Sou-sou and partner basics in plain words
  2. Naming the goal your hand will pay for
  3. Setting a hand size you can pay every time
  4. Joining a round or running one yourself
  5. Vetting a sou-sou before you join
  6. Reading the rules before you throw a hand
  7. Choosing your draw position
  8. Personal ledger of hands paid and drawn
  9. Setting up how you pay and get receipts
  10. Paying your hand on time every cycle
  11. Monthly check of your ledger against the bank
  12. Banker's collection day routine
  13. Banker's payout routine
  14. Member register for the banker
  15. Written rules for a new sou-sou
  16. Group chat reminders and etiquette
  17. Keeping collected cash safe
  18. Quarterly review of your sou-sou savings
  19. Rotating savings history across the Caribbean
  20. Real value of an early versus late hand
  21. Sou-sou, savings account or credit union
  22. Spreadsheet ledger for running a round
  23. Records that would stand up in a dispute
  24. Spotting a fake sou-sou or gifting scheme
  25. Checking a digital sou-sou app or online pool
  26. Moving the group from cash to bank transfer
  27. Agreeing a fair banker's fee or tip
  28. Banker's risk register for the group
  29. Fair rules for swapping draw positions
  30. Resizing the hand for the next round
  31. Bringing in a replacement member mid-round
  32. Handling a member who stops paying
  33. Launching the first round of a new sou-sou
  34. Planning for your own draw day
  35. Closing a round and settling accounts
  36. Christmas hand timed for December
  37. Back-to-school hand for August costs
  38. Annual members' meeting and round renewal
  39. Timing a business hand to stock or equipment
  40. Workplace sou-sou among colleagues
  41. Running a sou-sou for a church or community group
  42. Partner across two countries and currencies
  43. Raising a rent or home deposit with a hand
  44. Family sou-sou to teach teenagers to save
  45. Joining a sou-sou as a newcomer abroad
  46. Sou-sou on a low or irregular income
  47. Running two overlapping rounds
  48. Bank, tax and benefit questions on large hands
  49. Mediating a dispute when a round goes wrong
  50. Turning a large sou-sou into a credit union or cooperative

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Sou-sou and partner basics in plain words

A sou-sou (Trinidad and Tobago and the Eastern Caribbean), partner (Jamaica), box (Guyana) or asue (the Bahamas) is a group where everyone pays the same sum each week or month and one member takes the whole pot, called the hand or the draw, each turn. Before you put money in, it helps to know the words people will use, who the banker is and what you are actually agreeing to.

First tasks

  • Write down the local name for the savings group you are thinking of joining
  • Ask a relative who has thrown a hand how their group worked
  • Work through a ten-member example on paper to see what each person gets
  • List the questions you still need answered before paying in

Naming the goal your hand will pay for

People who decide in advance what the lump sum is for, a rent deposit, school fees, a car repair or a barrel of goods shipped home at Christmas, tend to spend it on that and not on whatever turns up on draw day. Writing the goal, the amount and the month you need it also tells you which turn to ask for. Do it before you join, while the choice is still open.

First tasks

  • Write the one purchase or bill you most need a lump sum for this year
  • Price the goal with two real quotes or receipts
  • Note the month you need the money in hand
  • Decide what the money goes to if that goal falls away

Setting a hand size you can pay every time

Most rounds that fail do so because a member promised a hand they could not keep up, often around Christmas or back-to-school when other bills pile in. Working out your contribution from your actual budget, with your leanest month in mind, keeps you the member everyone wants back next round. A hand you can pay in a bad month is worth more than a bigger one you miss.

First tasks

  • Pull your last three months of bank statements
  • List fixed bills and the months they jump, such as school fees or insurance
  • Work out the spare cash in your leanest month
  • Set a maximum hand size below that figure and write it down

Make it yours.

Install Sou-Sou and Partner Savings, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.