Activity Days - Budgeting

I found this really fun idea on pinterest for teaching the girls about budgeting in a really fun way. 

here is the post

I followed her plan pretty much exactly. 

I put the careers in an envelope (with the money already cut) and laid them out on the table for the girls to pick. They had no idea what the different careers were and it was fun to see their reactions. I didn't need all the careers so took away the McDonald's cashier one. 

I then explained that we would be going down the categories and budgeting out the things we want. It was fun to see what they wanted and then realizing what their budget allowed. My girls did not appreciate the taxes budget. It was cute to see how upset they were about putting twenty percent into their envelopes. 

We started with their money on the table and as they made their choices that money went into their envelopes. This made it easier to see how much money they had for the upcoming categories. 

It was fun to see how creative they were. One of my girls had a career that did not allow for her "children" to attend dance classes. She decided that for the last category she was going to invest the rest of her money into buying fidget spinners and then resell them for a profit. This way she would be able to afford to put her kids in dance. Another girl - the doctor - secretly left money for another girl who was struggling afford taking her family to the movies. It was really sweet and the girl struggling with her budget was genuinely and very appreciative. 

This activity took the full hour because we discussed each category together. Once we finished the girls each took a turn talking about what they learnt and what they could have done differently. I also felt very strongly that I needed to explain that a job is a job. There is nothing wrong with working at Walmart if that's all you can do etc

At the end of our lives the things that matter most do not include how much money we made. We all want to be happy, healthy and strong members of the church. 

I allowed the girls to pick if they were married or not (they all wanted to be married.) I also let them decide how many children they wanted. This played a big part in the food category because the budget requires $100 per person per month. So the girl who decided to have five children then had to put $700 into her food budget. Luckily, she got a good job :)

I used the original job printables - click here for them

but made my own categories pages based on her idea - click her for them

The Order 
tithing
taxes
housing/utilities
food
transportation
clothing
savings/debt
what else?

to use the budgeting sheet simply click the image to enlare it. right click. save as - then you are free to print it again and again

all images on the pages were downloaded from google