Yesterday we had a great activity all about budgeting for the girls. I was afraid this activity was going to be boring, but they actually loved it. And, it helped them get something passed off in their Faith in God award, so that always makes a leader feel good!
I started by having the girls pretend for a moment that they all just graduated from high school, and shared an apartment together. I only have 4 girls, but you could divide up into smaller groups if you have more girls. I told them they made minimum wage, working a part time job (20 hours a week) which made them an income of $580/month.
I first told them to list all the expenses they thought they would have. They were able to think of almost all of the expenses. I hinted that there was something very important they had to pay first, and they guessed tithing. So, they added that to their list.
So, then I shared with them my list of the essentials like rent, food, transportation, utilities, etc.
I gave them each $580 in monopoly money.
Then, we started going through the list, and I estimated what their bills would be. I started with tithing, and they each gave me 10% for tithing. Next, we talked about fast offerings. I left it up to them what they wanted to give. Some gave more than others.
Then, we moved onto the more temporal bills. For example, I said a 4 bedroom apartment might be close to $1000/month. Split 4 ways, they each had to give me $250 of their monopoly money. We continued to go through the list splitting the bills 4 ways.
I let them decide on certain things like if they wanted cable or not. They had to come to an agreement between them. I also talked about a home phone vs. cell phones, and they had to come to an agreement on that too. I tried to be very conservative in my estimations so that they would still have a little leftover.
We talked about owning your own car vs. taking the bus. In the end, they all chose public transportation to save some of their money, although some of them argued they could just go on dates for food instead of having to pay for food themselves. That girl eventually saw the flaw in her thinking and chose public transportation also.
This activity was great because each girl saw her money being spent. They were able to grasp how much things really cost. They even talked after about how much their parents must have to pay for stuff!
We also read some quotes from General Authorities about budgeting, staying out of debt, and needs vs. wants.
All in all, it was a fabulous activity that gave the girls a chance to really think about where there money was going, and work together to come to an agreement on things. I had one girl that wanted to continue with the “game” and do different scenarios after, like if she were married with a kid, for example, what kind of budget would she need?
We then made No Bake Cookies. I explained that it was a “cheap” cookie to make and you usually have all the ingredients on hand. They also exclaimed, “and you don’t have to use your oven to bake them, so that makes them cheaper too!” All in all, they loved it!
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