Activity overview

Topic: Budgeting – tracking and categorising personal expenses

Audience: Grade 10 students (ages 15-16)

Duration: 55 minutes | Class size: 25 learners | Format: In-person | Assessment: Completed budget sheet with written reflection

Purpose: Learners will apply a real budgeting process to a fictional monthly income scenario, making genuine trade-off decisions and categorising every expense.

Outcome: A completed monthly budget that balances to zero, with every dollar allocated and at least one trade-off decision documented in writing.

Step-by-step instructions

Each learner receives: a budget worksheet, a scenario card (fictional person with a monthly income), and an expense menu listing 30 possible expenses with costs.

• Step 1 (5 min): Read your scenario card. Highlight any details that affect your spending priorities – dependants, commute, health needs.
• Step 2 (5 min): On your worksheet, list your fixed expenses first – rent, transport, utilities. These are non-negotiable in your scenario. Total them and subtract from income. Write the remaining amount clearly.
• Step 3 (10 min): From the expense menu, choose your variable expenses. You cannot spend more than your remaining amount. Every dollar must be accounted for – you may allocate to savings, but savings is a category, not a leftover.
• Step 4 (5 min): Review your budget. Find one expense you originally included but had to cut or reduce. Write one sentence: what did you give up, and why?
• Step 5 (5 min): Answer the three reflection questions on the back of your worksheet.

Success looks like: Total income minus total expenses equals zero. Every category is labelled. One trade-off is documented. Reflection questions are answered in full sentences.

Facilitator actions

Before the activity (0:00 – 0:08)

Distribute materials. Read the scenario card instructions aloud once. Confirm learners understand that the expense menu is a menu – they choose, not take everything. Do not explain what a trade-off is yet – let it emerge from the task.

During steps 1-3 (observe, intervene selectively)

• Circulate after Step 2 – check that fixed expenses are correctly totalled before learners move to variable spending
• Intervene if a learner’s budget is over by more than 20% – ask “which of these expenses could your scenario person realistically cut first?”
• Do not tell learners which expenses to choose – redirect with questions only
• Flag any learner who finishes Step 3 in under 8 minutes – they likely skipped the constraint; check their total

During steps 4-5 (step back)

Learners work independently. Facilitator is available but does not initiate contact. This phase is deliberate individual reflection – interruptions undermine it.

Reflection questions

• What was the hardest spending decision you made, and what made it hard?
• Did your scenario person’s situation change what you prioritised? How?
• If your income dropped by 15% next month, which category would you cut first – and which would you protect no matter what?

Assessment method

• Budget sheet: Assessed for mathematical accuracy (totals correct), completeness (all categories filled), and constraint adherence (does not exceed income)
• Trade-off sentence: Must name a specific expense and a reason – “I cut eating out because rent took most of my income” meets the standard; “I had to cut some things” does not
• Reflection questions: Assessed for evidence of genuine reasoning – facilitator looks for scenario-specific details, not generic answers

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