Income, Expenses & Savings
Grade Band: High School (Grades 9–12)
Duration: 60 minutes
Standards: CCSS HSN.Q.A.1; Jump$tart Standard 3
Objectives
- Calculate net income, essential expenses, and savings rate.
- Explore how spending choices affect long-term savings.
- Set and reflect on a personal savings goal.
Materials
- Build-a-Budget game access
- Calculator or spreadsheet software
- Handout: Savings Rate Tracker
Procedure
- Warm-up (10 min): Given a sample paycheck and expenses, compute discretionary cap if saving 20%.
- Game Intro (5 min): Demo how savings tile works in Build-a-Budget.
- Guided Play & Data Collection (25 min): Play three periods; record income, expenses, savings on handout.
- Analysis (10 min): Compute savings rate (%) = (Savings ÷ Income)×100%.
- Exit Ticket (10 min): Strategies to boost savings rate and trade-off reflections.
Assessment
- Completed Savings Rate Tracker with accurate calculations.
- Thoughtful exit-ticket responses.
Student Name: _________________________________
Handout: Savings Rate Tracker
| Period | Income ($) | Expenses ($) | Savings ($) | Savings Rate (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 |
Analysis Questions:
- Which period had the highest savings rate, and why? ________________
- How would you increase your savings rate? ________________________
- How does a savings goal affect your budgeting choices? _____________