Unit 1, Day 3: Build a Simple Budget

Lesson 3 of 6 in Unit 1, Your Money Plan

School-year day

Day 3 of 180

Time

20-minute core + 30-minute extension (50 minutes in all)

Teacher Talk with MystrS. Checked October 27, 2026 (Pacific time). Tags: Teacher Talk, Finance, Unit 1, Day 3, Budget, High School, MystrS

Goal: Students build a one month budget for a fictional persona using net pay, list needs before wants, and say whether the plan balances, has a surplus, or has a shortfall.

Materials:

• Persona card: Jordan Lee, age 17, part time job. Monthly net pay stated on the card (fictional). Fixed costs listed (bus pass, phone share, school lunch, and a small savings line). Flexible wants listed with blank dollar boxes.
• Blank budget table (Income, Needs, Wants, Save, Total). Printable. One per student.
• Word bank: budget, income, expense, balance, surplus, shortfall.
• Sentence frames for ELLs and IEPs: "Jordan's plan balances because ___." / "Jordan should adjust ___ because ___."
• Optional shared device: Budgeting: why it matters and the family talk Budget plan and account alerts.
• No device option: paper table only.
• FERPA/COPPA: students use Jordan only. Never ask for a student's own family income.

Core (20 min)

1. Hook (2 min). "Yesterday we found Jordan's take home pay. Today we give that money a written plan."
2. Budget in plain words (4 min). A budget is a plan for money in and money out. Start with income (net). List needs. List wants. Include a save line. Compare totals. If money out is higher than money in, adjust. This matches the idea on consumer.gov's Making a Budget page: list income, list expenses, and look at the difference (page dated August 2024; checked October 27, 2026).
3. Build (10 min). Students fill Jordan's table. Needs get dollars first. Wants get what is left. The save line stays on the page even if the amount is small. Teacher circulates with the word bank.
4. Share one number (3 min). Two volunteers: one with a balance or surplus, one with a shortfall. Class names one adjustment (cut a want, raise hours on the persona card, or trim a flexible cost). No shaming.
5. Close (1 min). "A budget is a draft. Tomorrow we track spending so we can revise it."

Extension (up to 30 min)

• Second persona (15 min). Hand out Alex Rivera (fictional college freshman with a campus job). Same table. Compare which needs changed.
• Family pointer (5 min). Project Budget plan and account alerts. Students write one alert idea a household could set (balance alert, bill reminder). No account logins in class.
• Gallery math (10 min). Post three finished Jordan budgets (names removed). Groups spot one strong choice and one place to revise.

Check for understanding:
On the budget sheet bottom:

1. Does Jordan's plan balance, show a surplus, or show a shortfall?
2. Circle the first category you would change, and write why in one sentence.

Standards (2021 National Standards for Personal Financial Education, Jump$tart/CEE):

• Spending 12-1; Spending 8-1; Spending 12-1a; Spending 12-1c.

Talk about it at home