Budget + Overview

Budget + | PBL
Students set financial goals, experience budgeting, and compare sample
budgets before they are confronted with the financial responsibilities
of being an adult. Lessons focus on classifying income and expenses
and staying with a plan—the first steps toward achieving financial
independence. In each of the PBL lessons, integration of technology is
required. During the final lesson, students explain the value of planning
their spending and maintaining a balanced budget.

Three Required 45-Minute Lessons

One Optional (but recommended)
45-Minute Lesson
Lesson One: My Life: “Riches to Rags”... Not Me!............................3
Lesson Two: My Life: Income – Expenses = Reality..........................7
Lesson Three: My Life: In Control of My Money..............................13

Students will be able to:

• Categorize their spending by needs and wants.
• Determine which categories belong in a budget.
• Distinguish between different kinds of budgets.
• Prepare a budget using goals and income.

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Common Core CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1 Initiate and participate

State Standards effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-
one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on
grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’
ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.4 Present information, findings,

and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically
such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and
the organization, development, substance, and style are
appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1 Initiate and participate

effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-
one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on
grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’
ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4 Present information,

findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and
distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line
of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are
addressed, and the organization, development, substance,
and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range
of formal and informal tasks.

CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-MD.B.5b Evaluate and compare

strategies on the basis of expected values. For example,
compare a high-deductible versus a low-deductible
automobile insurance policy using various, but reasonable,
chances of having a minor or a major accident.
National Benchmark by the end of Grade 12.
Standards At the completion of Grade 12, students will use this
for Financial knowledge to:
Literacy, Council Identify instances in their lives where they decided to
for Economic buy something immediately and then wished they had
Education saved the money for future purchases.

Benchmark by the end of Grade 12.

At the completion of Grade 12, students will use this
knowledge to:
Explain how saving can result in getting more goods
and services in the future.
Twenty-First-
Collaboration, communication, and critical thinking.
Century Skills

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 Budget + | PBL | Lesson One
Budget +

PBL Culminating Project: My Life Scenario

During Budget + activities and research, students will demonstrate how
to create a budget to meet a financial goal and spend wisely to attain
financial success. Students will focus on creating a realistic budget to
meet their goals.

Optional reading:
Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens: The Secrets About Money—That You Don’t Learn in
School! by Robert T. Kiyosaki

My Life: “Riches to
Lesson One
Rags”… Not Me!
Duration One required 45-minute lesson

Overview
Sound financial planning and preparation for the future can help prevent
financial problems. Students will explore some of the more common
reasons why people run into financial difficulty, including unemployment,
medical bills, overextended credit, and poor decision making.

Objective
• Students categorize their spending by needs and wants.

Materials and Resources

• Computer access (classroom, lab, library, or BYOT, Bring Your
Own Technology)
• Digital tool or pen and paper for note-taking
• Dictionaries if computer access is unavailable
• For further instruction in Budgeting and Money Management,
have students visit the Budgeting Basics tab on the Manage Your
Money page of the JA Connect Learning Platform at https://
connect.ja.org/financial-literacy/.

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Teacher Introduction
Teens often have a hard time determining the difference between needs
and wants. Needs are the goods and services that people cannot
survive without, such as food, water, clothing, and shelter. Wants are
goods and services desired to make a person more comfortable or
content but that are not necessary for survival. There are times that
items are purchased because of a quick, unplanned decision based on
an immediate want. This is known as impulse buying.

In this lesson, students will grapple with the difference between needs
and wants as they examine spending habits and categorize their
expenditures—money spent on goods and services.

Setting goals can help students determine which things are most
important to them. Short-term goals are objectives that can be
accomplished in less than a year. Setting and achieving these smaller
goals reward students for their efforts to save and limit their spending.
Meeting goals generally builds the confidence necessary to continue
saving. Long-term goals are not usually realized for a year or more.
Whether a student wants to go to college, buy a car, or plan a trip to
Europe, having long-term goals keeps him or her focused on the future.

Goals may be monetary or personal, but both should drive saving and
spending. This lesson will help students realize that the good financial
habits they establish now will guide them throughout their adult lives.

Vocabulary
• Expenditures: Money that is spent on goods, services, and bills.
• Impulse buying: Making a purchase based on an immediate
want or due to the pressure of advertising.
• Long-term goals: Plans that take a year or more to accomplish.
• Needs: Goods or services that people cannot survive without,
such as water, food, shelter, and clothing.
• Short-term goals: Plans that can be accomplished within three
months to a year.
• Wants: Goods or services that make people more comfortable or
content but which are not necessary for survival.

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 Budget + | PBL | Lesson One
Lesson Presentation
Step 1 Set the Stage
It seems hard to believe that one day you can have
Suggestion: a fortune and the next day nothing. Yet that has
5 minutes happened to many actors, musicians, and athletes.
What could have led to their fall from financial grace?

(Answers may include too many expenses, impulse

buying, poor choices between needs and wants, or not
setting goals.)

Step 2 Minutes of “Need to Know”

Think-Pair-Share
Suggestion:
10 minutes Think-Pair-Share is an engaging way to obtain
feedback about what students know or are thinking.
1. Organize the students into six groups; each
group is assigned one of the six terms listed
below.
2. Students search for a definition of their term
and then share it with another small group. (The
teacher assigns the “pair” group.)
Note: Students must have a good
understanding of the terms prior to their
homework assignment listed in Lesson Two,
Step 3.
3. Each group discusses its term and develops an
example.
4. Each group chooses a leader to present its term.
At the end of the activity, each of the six terms
will be presented to the class.

• Expenditures
• Impulse buying
• Needs
• Long-term goals
• Short-term goals
• Wants

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Step 3 “Riches to Rags” Stories

(Allow 5 minutes)
Suggestion: Students begin this activity by researching an actor,
20 minutes musician, or athlete who was once rich but who is
now bankrupt (unable to pay outstanding debt). As
students read, they should place themselves in the role
of the actor, musician, or athlete and be prepared to
share what they would have done differently to avoid
bankruptcy.

(Allow 2 minutes)
Pair students or allow students to choose one or more
partners. Students tell their story to each other and
describe how they would have done things differently.
After 2 minutes, those students join a different group to
share their stories.

(Allow 3 minutes)
The groups have now increased in size. Students share
their stories. After 3 minutes, those students join a
different group to share their stories.

(Allow 10 minutes)
Students create progressively larger discussion
groups by doubling the size of their group every few
minutes. Each group becomes larger until everyone is
reconvened as a class by the end of the activity.

(The teacher does not add to the discussion but

encourages participation from all students.)

Step 4 Minutes of “Need to Know”

Suggestion: Debrief to find the common thread in the “Riches to
10 minutes Rags” stories by asking students to share some of the
main points discussed.

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 Budget + | PBL | Lesson Two
My Life: Income –
Lesson Two
Expenses = Reality
One required 45-minute lesson
Duration One recommended 45-minute lesson

Overview
Good financial planning requires developing and using a budget.
Budgeting helps you live within your financial means without using
credit. It is important for every person, whether rich or poor, to budget
his or her finances. Students will discuss finances with adults to gain
insight into ways to create and sustain financial freedom and to avoid
excessive debt. Listening to real-life stories will allow students to begin
thinking about their spending habits and what income or savings they
will need to support their spending.

Objectives
• Determine which categories belong in a budget.
• Distinguish between different kinds of budgets.

Materials and Resources

• Computer access (classroom, lab, library, or BYOT)
• Digital tool or pen and paper for note-taking
• Additional instruction on budgeting and other Financial Literacy
topics can be found on the JA Connect Learning Platform at
https://connect.ja.org/financial-literacy/.

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Teacher Introduction
Having been made more aware of the need to spend wisely, students
are now ready to learn about using a budget—a record of income and
expenses and a plan for managing money. Students will identify the
parts of a budget and explain their function. They will establish budget
categories that allow them to keep track of their expenditures and
practice adapting a budget to meet their own needs.

The first steps in creating a budget are establishing income and

expense categories and calculating the amount of resources to be
budgeted. Discretionary income is money available for spending on
goods and services that are not essential. Once monthly bills have been
paid and necessary goods have been purchased, discretionary income
can be budgeted.

Fixed expenses are those that do not change from month to month.
They are first subtracted from net income. The variable expenses,
which change from month to month, are then estimated and calculated
into the budget. The primary emphasis on keeping a budget is to
prevent overspending and relying on credit.

Vocabulary
• Budget: A record of income and spending and a plan for
managing money.
• Discretionary income: Money available to spend on goods and
services that are not essential.
• Fixed expenses: Expenses that do not change from month to
month, such as auto insurance or rent.
• Variable expenses: Expenses that vary from month to month,
such as entertainment, car repairs, or doctor bills.

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 Budget + | PBL | Lesson Two
Lesson Presentation
Step 1 Set the Stage
Roughly 58 percent of Americans have less than $1,000
Suggestion: in savings*, which is not enough to pay their bills should
5 minutes they lose their job, In addition, 40 percent have less than
$300 in savings in case of an emergency.
*according to a 2020 survey by financial services company Bankrate

What are some of the possible consequences of not

having any savings?

Step 2 Minutes of “Need to Know”

Think-Pair-Share
Suggestion:
25 minutes Think-Pair-Share is an engaging way to obtain
feedback about what students know or are thinking.
1. Organize the students into four groups; each
group is assigned one of the four terms listed
below.
2. Students search for a definition of their term
and then share it with another small group. (The
teacher assigns the “pair” group.)
Note: Students must have a good
understanding of the terms prior to their
homework assignment listed in Step 3.
3. Each group discusses its term and develops an
example.
4. Each group chooses a leader to present its term.
At the end of the activity, each of the four terms
will be presented to the class.

• Budget
• Fixed expenses
• Variable expenses
• Discretionary income

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Step 3 Discretionary Income

Suggestion: Explain to students: Necessities consist of food,
10 minutes shelter, transportation, and a variety of other personal,
household, and family needs. After the necessities are
paid, the amount of money left for entertainment and
other wants is called discretionary income.

Homework assignment
Students will have a conversation with an adult
(relative, family friend, etc.) that focuses on
discretionary income. Conversation must include
answers to the five questions below. Students are free
to ask additional questions of their choosing.
• I want to take scuba diving lessons. How do I
start saving for that?
• Do you have a budget?
• After paying your monthly bills, do you have any
discretionary income?
• What are some examples of your variable
expenses?
• What are some examples of your fixed
expenses?

Step 4 Minutes of “Need to Know”

(Check for student understanding of the homework
Suggestion: assignment.)
5 minutes
By completing the homework assignment, students will
be able to explain why planning their financial future
should not be taken lightly. The conversation should
help them generate ideas that can be useful in the
Budget phase of the PBL Culminating Project.

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 Budget + | PBL | Lesson Two
Optional
Additional Class Time or Extra-Credit Homework Activity

Suggestion: Homework Results

45 minutes
• You want to take scuba diving lessons. How do
you start saving for that?
• Do you have a budget?
• After paying your monthly bills, do you have any
discretionary income?
• What are some examples of your variable
expenses?
• What are some examples of your fixed
expenses?

1. Each assigned question should be placed in an

Edmodo post (www.edmodo.com) or written on
a large sheet of paper. There will be five posts or
five sheets of paper.
2. Each student will post a brief answer to each
question based on the conversation from the
homework assignment.
3. After all students have written their answers,
they should review what other students wrote.
4. Class discussion is held on lessons learned.

(Consider inviting a school administrator or another

class to observe this activity and discussion.)

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 Budget + | PBL | Lesson Three
My Life: In Control of
Lesson Three
My Money
Duration One required 45-minute lesson

Overview
Students will make choices and discover how to maintain a budget in the
real world. They examine the importance of knowing how much money
they have to spend and where they are spending it.

Objective
• Prepare a budget using goals and income.

Materials and Resources

• Computer access (classroom, lab, library, or BYOT)
• Digital tool or pen and paper for note-taking

Teacher Introduction
We all make choices every day. Those choices have costs and benefits.
People analyze those costs and benefits when they decide whether the
advantages of a particular action are likely to outweigh its disadvantages.
People are essentially seeking to understand the opportunity cost of their
decision, the next best alternative given up when a choice is made.

In this lesson, students create a budget to demonstrate how the

economic concepts of opportunity cost and scarcity can help them make
choices. Scarcity, the economic condition that prevents people from
having everything they want because of limited resources, is the reason
why we must make those decisions. Although scarcity can involve limited
time, money, or other resources, this lesson focuses on how students
have unlimited needs and wants but only a limited amount of money.

Vocabulary
• Opportunity cost: The next best alternative given up when making
a financial choice.
• Scarcity: The economic condition of limited resources that
prevents people from having everything they want.

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Lesson Presentation
Step 1 Set the Stage
Living within a budget may not be the most fun thing to
Suggestion: do, but it is a worthwhile alternative to incurring debt by
5 minutes using a credit card to purchase something.

No one wants an excessive amount of debt. So how can

creating a budget help give you financial freedom?

Step 2 Budget Benefits

A budget helps you understand how much money you
Suggestion: have earned and where that money is spent. It is the
20 minutes first step toward achieving financial independence.
Students will create a budget using $20.00 as their total
income and calculate the cost of satisfying their needs
and wants for seven consecutive days. They should not
receive any additional money from other sources.
1. Students are given 2 to 3 minutes to search the
Internet or other resources to find the benefits of
a budget.
2. Students create their own list of needs and wants
for the seven-day period.
3. Students enter the cost of each need and want.
4. Students must save a percentage of their $20.00.
5. Students review and revise the Needs/Wants
category to reach a balanced budget.

NEEDS/
INCOME COST SAVING
WANTS
$20.00

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 Budget + | PBL | Lesson Three
Step 3 Posting
Organize students into groups of three.
Suggestion: 1. Students discuss any challenges they had in
20 minutes choosing their needs and wants.
2. Students discuss whether having a budget
helped with the challenges of satisfying their
needs and wants.
3. On several large sheets of paper or on Edmodo
(www.edmodo.com), students write brief
statements that explain how they will manage
their money to achieve more of their needs and
wants (to include savings) with fewer challenges.
4. Students either walk around the room or use
Edmodo to read all the responses and add their
opinions.

Optional::
Introduce students to a monthly budget worksheet
using the My Monthly Budget resource https://www.
juniorachievement.org/documents/20009/20652/
JA+Teen+Budgeting+Income+and+Spending+Worksheet+Printable.pdf.
You may want to print out a worksheet for each group. Increase the
amount they need to budget to $200 or $500.

For more information on budgeting, have students log in to

the JA Connect Learning Pathways and explore Budgeting
Basics at https://connect.ja.org/financial-literacy/manage-your-
money?topic=Budgeting+Basics.
These self-guided lessons cover such topics as Extracurricular
Expenses, Unexpected Expenses and A World Without Cash.

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