Introduction

This page has sample activities that go along with the content.

Budgeting Activity

Tell everyone they have $200 and they have to live off it for a week till they get their next paycheck- they can spend or save it. Give them 5 minutes to decide how to use the money and remind them to think of all their needs.

After that time, ask for things people bought. If individuals run out of things to say, ask about who bought food. Gently remind those who didn’t that if they forgot, they would be starving. Also ask about other necessities such as utilities. Attendees may be creative here. Perhaps someone decided not to pay much for utilities by minimizing consumption. Congratulate them if they found ways to save.

After this discussion, tell everyone they received their paycheck so they all have another $200. Again, tell them they have 5 minutes to decide how to use it and then they should be receiving their next paycheck.

After 5 minutes, quickly debrief. Then tell them, “Sorry folks, you just lost your job.” At this time, ask who remembered to have savings and congratulate them for being the ones who will be able to survive the week by using their savings.

Debrief the activity briefly. Ask attendees about what they learned or maybe about tricks they have to share with others on how to save.

Coupon Activity

Get coupons and advertisements and have students select different budgets at random. Give them a challenge to buy meals for four people for a day within their budget amount. Ask students to share what they were able to purchase.

Credit Card Activity

Discuss two different type of credit cards: one with 15% interest rates but requires minimum payments of $50 per month verses another that charges 25% interest rates but only requires a minimum payment of $25 a month. Ask students to consider a balance of $500 for each credit card and to figure out how long it will take to pay off each card and how much the person will end up paying in total.

The calculation will be along the following lines:

  • With first card, the first month the credit card user pays off $50, and will have to pay 15% on the remaining balance of $450. As a result, their balance after month 1 is $455.63. Month 2, after paying $50 and adding on interest, the balance is $410.70. This process can be continued to compute that it will take about 11 months to completely pay off the balance and they will be paying $530.43 total.
  • With the second card and minimum payment of $25, it will take two years and two months to pay off the $500 and the total payment will be $636.03.

Use this activity to show that it is always better to pay off as much as possible every month and to use credit cards with lower interest rates. Emphasize that the longer you take to pay your balance, the more you end up paying in the long run. In relation to the calculations, discuss late fees and the accumulation of interest charged on the balance.

If students have access to laptops, they can look for websites that can help them calculate the cost of borrowing in the long-term. For example, the following website is a good option: https://www.creditcards.com/calculators/payoff/. Students can also search up credit card offers and analyze them.