Basic Budgeting

 Your learners may all want money for something, but how many of them have previously set financial goals and had the opportunity to talk about how to save money?

I always introduce a budgeting unit of study with the question: what is money for?  A large group brainstorm supported by images to get the ball rolling, is followed by learners identifying what they want money for in the future.  With my last cohort, I had learners record each of these goals on square Post It Notes.  Learners then ranked their financial goals in order of importance and we talked about how much they thought their goals would cost and if anyone had a plan to get there. 

Many learners I have worked with have used the term 'dream' instead of goal and that becomes a part of our in-class conversations - we can make these dreams a reality but we have to think about how we are spending our money.

In recent years, I have watched learners with diverse literacy levels become more conscious of how they are spending their money and budget for planned and unplanned spend.  It is some of the most rewarding work I have ever participated in as an educator. 

One learner took our budgeting work to heart so much that she put her family on a 'Cash Only Leave the Debit Cards at Home Diet' and had them keep a running record of just how much money they were spending every day.  Another learner taught his older brother how to make a basic budgeting spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel so that he could save money for his wedding.

What have you done to introduce budgeting skills to your learners?  How have you seen them apply budgeting knowledge and skills in their own lives?