sk students to brainstorm four different dreams for the future, and the steps they need to take now to achieve that dream, along with the potential cost of the current steps.
- Now ask if any of the students have thought about living on their own. Make a list of some of the costs that students might have to consider if they were living on their own (for example: rent, food, transportation, laundry, phone and internet, entertainment).
- Explain to the class that they will be watching a short video where they will meet Eddie, a young person who is living on his own for the first time. Eddie has faced some challenges maintaining a budget and saving money.
- Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, asking them to think about the areas where Eddie could spend less money.
- Play the "Moving Out" segment for the class.
- Have a short discussion about the "Moving Out" segment that was viewed, stressing to students that Eddie had to re-work his budget in order to afford his dream: attending a four-year college. Review some of the ways Eddie adjusted his budget to spend less money.
- Ask students to discuss why attending a four-year college might help Eddie achieve his future goals.
- Hand out the "Debt/Savings" Student Organizer. Explain that this is a template to use for hypothetical budgets. The students will be filling them out based on their own expenses or projected expenses, but all the scenarios assume that the students are making $500 a month in income.
- Ask students to complete the column titled "Scenario 1: Debt" with as much expense as they would like in each category. They need to spend more than $500. If the students think of additional expenses beyond those listed on the organizer, they can add them below "Books/Magazines" on the chart.
- Students will then add up their expenses, and subtract them from the income figure of $500. The expenses should be higher than $500, so the total will be negative. This means the students have gone into debt and the debt figure should go in the "Debt" row.
- Next, ask students to fill out the column titled "Scenario 2: Break-Even." The goal here is to spend exactly $500. This means that students will have to lower their expenses in certain areas from the "Debt" column.
- Students will add up their expenses to confirm that their expense and income totals are equal. They will then have no savings or debt, so a "0" should go in the "Debt" and "Savings" rows.
- Then, ask students to complete the column titled "Scenario 3: Savings." The goal with this column is to lower their costs below those of the "Break-even Scenario" in order to have savings.
- Students will add up their expenses and subtract the total from the income figure of $500. This figure should go in the "Savings" row.
- Discuss with students how they were able to achieve savings. Ask students how they set their spending priorities in order to lower some expenses, and ultimately save money.
- Explain that the students will play the online interactivity "Bank It or Bust" to utilize the financial management concepts and strategies they have learned. In "Bank it or Bust," the students will create and modify a budget, and then stick to it for ten weeks with the goal of saving up to buy a car. Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, asking them to play the interactivity and to be able to list some strategies for saving money.
- After the students have finished playing "Bank it or Bust," review some of the savings strategies they used in the interactivity. Ask the students if they can name things that happened to them during the game that provided them with extra cash (answers will vary). Ask them to name some "emergencies" that occurred that required to students to use some of their savings (answers will vary).
- Ask students to take out their" Dreams for the Future" Student Organizer and to think back to the initial discussion regarding their dreams. Have the students review the monthly cost of the current activities they brainstormed - the "personal investments" that would help them in the future.
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