Fear Not the "B" Word

“How to Save on (Nearly) Everything,” “60 Tricks for Enjoying Life on Less,” “Save $1000 this Month,” “142 Ways to Save Time and Money,” “12 Sneaky Ways You Can Save $5,000” – seems as though every magazine cover these days promotes an article on how you can save money. Interestingly, the word “budget” is very rarely used in these headlines. Just like the word “diet,” the term “budget” has been perceived as a negative tool in the battle to manage your money. Over the past two weeks the Personal Finance class has been learning not to fear the B-word. We’ve discussed how taking the time and energy to discover where your money has gone and plan for where it will go helps you meet your goals. Those goals may be short-term, such as being able to buy prom tickets, or long-term, such as being able to go to college or buy a car. It takes planning to reach goals.


The students practiced preparing a personal budget in class as we played our own game of life. Each student received an “Income Card” disclosing their annual salary and monthly net pay. They were also dealt a random “Expense Card” with details of their fixed and variable expenses – car payment, rent, gas, food, and entertainment. Every card also required the student to record an expense of “savings” at 10% of their net pay each month. Then, as they calculated whether they needed to cut back on expenses or had money to allocate as they wished each month, I distributed two more “Surprise Cards” representing how reality sometimes forces us to make adjustments to our plans.

As we summarized the experience of making a spending plan, the students understood that budgets offer flexibility and the freedom for them to take control over their money. Hopefully, that lesson will remain with them for many years to come.

~Jan Schein
CFO, Personal Finance Instructor