Budgeting

Before we start

Five minutes before Lesson 1, no scoring.

1. 1. If you had €10 for a week, write two things you'd spend it on.
2. 2. What's the difference between a cost you can't change and one you can?
3. 3. What would you do if a surprise cost appeared halfway through the week?

Lesson 1. Give every euro a job

Cash · 45 min · Build a balanced fictional budget.

1. Add the four jobs.
2. Income €30 minus planned jobs = ?
3. Move €2 from materials to goal; write the new amounts and total.
4. Explain one reason for keeping a buffer.

Lesson 2. Fixed and flexible costs

Cash · 45 min · Sort spending into fixed costs that stay the same and flexible costs that can change, and see why the difference matters for a plan.

1. Sort into fixed or flexible: club fee €3, bus pass €4, snacks, art supplies, a treat.
2. Which two are easiest to change if money is tight?
3. Why is a fixed cost harder to change quickly?
4. Give one fixed and one flexible cost of your own.

Lesson 3. Needs first, then wants

Cash · 45 min · Fund needs before wants when building a budget, then use what remains for wants.

1. From €12, fund lunch €4 and bus €3 first. How much remains?
2. Choose wants that fit the remainder.
3. What could happen if you buy the comic and sticker before lunch?
4. Why fund needs first?

Lesson 4. A surprise enters the plan

Cash · 45 min · Revise a budget without pretending extra money appears.

1. Start with €30 budget from Lesson 1.
2. A repair costs €3: where will it come from?
3. What remains in the buffer?
4. Transport rises €2 as well: propose a valid plan.
5. State what you chose to protect.

Final mission. Cut, keep, or swap

Cash · 45 min · Balance a plan that starts over budget by cutting, keeping or swapping items.

1. Add the wish list. By how much is it over €10?
2. Cut or swap items to reach €10 or less.
3. Which item did you keep, and why?
4. Why balance the plan before spending?

Extension. Planned versus actual

Tally · 45 min · Read a simple record and learn from a difference without blame.

1. Start with €20 in the spending envelope and subtract €3, €5, €4, then move €4 to a separate goal envelope. Fill the spending balance after each step.
2. What is left in the spending envelope? How much is in the goal envelope?
3. The snack plan was €2. By how much did actual spending exceed it?
4. Write one calm change for next time.

Extension. Make it last the week

Cash · 45 min · Spread a small weekly income across the days so it lasts, instead of spending it all at once.

1. You have €7 for seven days. Plan a spend for each day so it lasts.
2. If you spend €5 on Monday, how much is left for the other six days?
3. Is that enough for a €1 drink each day?
4. Why can spreading money out help?

Extension. Two plans, same money

Tally · 45 min · Compare two budgets for the same income and judge which better meets a stated goal.

1. Do both plans total €20?
2. Which plan puts more toward the trip goal?
3. Which better fits "finish the project AND save for the trip"?
4. Why can two valid plans still differ?

Extension. When income changes

Cash · 45 min · Revise a budget when income falls or rises, deciding what to protect, cut or add.

1. Income falls from €20 to €16. Which €4 do you cut, and why?
2. Rewrite the plan to total €16.
3. Income instead rises to €24. Where do the extra €4 go?
4. What did you protect in both cases?

My money reflection

A quiet close to the month.

1. One job I'd give my next euro…
2. A cost I could make smaller if I needed to…
3. Something I learned about planning money…

Cut-out coins

Play money for the lessons and the mission — fictional, for practice only. Cut along the dashed circles; print one page per pair for extra coins.