Personal Budgeting HELPFUL TIPS & ACTIVITY GUIDE
BUDGETING ACTIVITY
JAR
SAVING
Help educate your child on the benefits of personal budgeting with this fun, low-cost activity. Children will learn the benefits of saving for a rainy day by practicing regular deposits.
What they’ll learn How to create and contribute to a budget.
What you’ll need:
3 Empty Mason Jars
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Markers/Labels
Activity details 1
Together, decorate three mason jars.
2
Each jar is for a specific allowance (Spend, Save, Give).
3
Give them an allowance, say a quarter a day for them to deposit in a jar.
4
By adding money to the jar each day, your child is practicing how to deposit money.
5
After your child has saved enough money, take a few dollars out of the jar and set aside the rest. The more money you leave in the jar, the more it will grow over time.
BUDGETING ACTIVITY
GO
SHOPPING This budgeting activity demonstrates financial forecasting using the real-world setting of your local supermarket. Your child will learn the basics of creating a budget and staying within its constraints.
What they’ll learn How to estimate and stay within a budget.
What you’ll need:
Calculator (or phone!)
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Grocery List
Activity details 1
Budget how much money you will spend on groceries.
2
Make a list of food items you will buy and guess ahead of time how much each item will cost. Write this down on a piece of paper before your visit to the store.
3
Take a calculator to the store and as you pull the items off the shelf, begin to tally your spending using your calculator.
4
After you are finished shopping, add the totals to see how close you are to your budget.
BUDGETING ACTIVITY
PLAY
MONOPOLY ™ Turn game night with your child into a budget learning opportunity. Monopoly™ is a great gateway into the financial world. It’s fun and mimics real-world financial situations.
What they’ll learn How to pay bills, budget cash and take out loans.
What you’ll need:
Monopoly™
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Activity details 1
Each player keeps a register to record payment for rent or fines paid, properties purchased, deposits of rent or cash received.
2
When you borrow mortgage properties, you are learning how to take out a loan.
BUDGETING ACTIVITY
VISIT
IHMVCU
Take your child to any IHMVCU branch to allow them the opportunity to meet with the friendly staff. We’ve included a $5 coupon for your child to open an account to start saving!
What they’ll learn How to utilize a real financial institution... today!
What you’ll need: THE FIRST 5 IS ON US!
$5 COUPON
Open a youth savings account with this $5 coupon! At the time of account opening, a minor must present a student identification card or a social security number, their home address, and date of birth. A minor’s parent or legal guardian can request to be added on the youth savings account as a joint account owner subject to credit approval and internal requirements. Minors under the age of 10 are eligible to open a savings account but will not be issued a debit card. A minor over the age of 11 will be approved for a savings and checking account with debit card and no courtesy pay. All new accounts are subject to Customer Identification Program requirements.
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Activity details 1
Visit an IHMVCU branch close to your home.
2
Show your child around and explain what each person does.
3
Open your child’s new account together using their complimentary $5 coupon. Bring the extra money saved in their mason jar to deposit into their account.
4
Visit the IHMVCU branch again in a month to make a deposit. Explain their receipt and point out that their money is already growing!
BUDGETING TIP
SAVE MONEY:
RECYCLE! Keeping our planet clean isn’t just the right thing to do — you can save some extra money while doing it! How cool is that? Here are a few easy ways to make an impact:
Did you know that Americans typically throw out about 25 million plastic bottles each year? That’s a lot of bottles! So, if you switch from buying individual plastic water bottles — which 9 PERSONAL BUDGETING | ACTIVITY GUIDE
you have to pay for — and drink from a reusable bottle, you’re saving money and NOT throwing away the empty plastic bottle. What about the baggies you use when you take your lunch to school? They’re easy when packing your lunch, but you have to keep buying the baggies. Try using a plastic container instead. Containers with great compartments to hold your sandwich, chips, fruit and a dessert are available in most major stores. Just wipe it clean and use it again the next day. Goodbye to spending money on baggies! And we all use soap, right? Well, guess what? Hand and dish soap can be bought in BIG containers. Guess what else? Those big containers cost less money than the smaller ones. So, re-use your hand soap container and refill it when it’s empty. You’ll be filling up money in your piggy bank and helping to keep the earth clean! If you think hard enough, you can come up with other ways to save money by recycling. Your piggy bank will grow and you’ll help make the world a better and cleaner place to live.