Lesson 3. Spending Diary – over to you!

Activity 1: How I ‘spent’ my day

Step-by-step instructions

1. Explain to the class that each student is going to keep their own Spending Diary, but first they are going to do some activities to practice diary entries and begin to look at their spending habits.

2. Distribute Student worksheet: How I spent my day to each student.

3. Ask students to write down their own activities/spending for yesterday.  Explain that they do not have to share the amount they have spent.

Note: If any of your students indicate that they did not spend anything yesterday, ask them to go back further in time (maybe to a Saturday) and find a day where they did spend money.

4. Ask students to call out examples of what they have written down in the ‘item description’ section. Note their response on the white/blackboard.

5. Facilitate a whole class discussion to organise these items into agreed categories.

Note: Depending on your group you may wish to provide the following prompts:

• Food & Drink
• Clothes
• Entertainment
• Mobile Phone
• Sports & Hobbies
• Travel & Transport
• Toiletries & Grooming

6. Make particular note of any categories in addition to those listed above.

7. Display the list of spending categories in a prominent place in the classroom for the duration of the lessons on spending diaries (i.e. Lesson 3 – Lesson 4).

Activity 2:  Reflecting on my day’s spending

1. Distribute Student worksheet: Spending questions to each student and explain the purpose of this worksheet is to get students to think and reflect on their spending habits

2. Read through each of the questions on the worksheet and invite students to indicate if they need any clarification about what is being asked

3. Invite students to work alone to complete the worksheet

4.  Facilitate a whole class discussion using the following questions as prompts

• Is it easy or hard to remember everything that you spent yesterday?
• Do you think that young people plan their spending?  Why/why not?
• Look at Question 8 on the worksheet – what answer did you give? Why is multiplying spending from one day by seven not equal to weekly spending?
• Do you think that keeping a spending diary over the period of a week help you to be more aware of your spending habits?

Activity 3: My weekly spend

1. Invite students to think back over to the last seven days. What did they spend their money on?  How much money do they think they spent?

2. Ask students to write the amount of money they think they spent on a piece of paper, place it in an envelope, seal the envelope, write their name on the front and give it to you for safekeeping.

Note: When they have completed their Weekly Spending Diary hand the envelope back to students and ask them to compare their estimated weekly spending and the actual spending they recorded in their Spending Diary. Their reaction to this comparison can then be included in Lesson 4.