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Home/ Pre-Teen Genius/ AI for Finance and Spending/ 2. Make a budget and save
🐷 Lesson 2 of 7

Make a Budget and Save

🕒 About 8 minutes 🧠 One big idea: the 3 jars 🎮 1 game to play

Money works better when it has a plan. That plan is called a budget, and it is not just for grown-ups. Today you learn the three jars every smart saver uses, and how to save up for something you really want, one step at a time.

So, what is a budget?

A budget is a plan for your money, made before you spend it. It is you telling your money where to go, instead of wondering later where it all went. Even a small amount of money works better with a plan. Let us make one together.

📝
New Word! Budget

A budget is a simple plan for your money. You decide how much to spend, how much to save, and how much to share, before you spend any of it.

The three jars

Here is an easy way to make a budget: three jars. Every time you get money (lunch money, a gift from Granny, or pocket money for helping at home), you split it into three jars.

🛒SpendMoney to use now
🐷SaveMoney for a goal later
🤝ShareMoney to help others

A great habit is to put a little bit into your Save jar from every single bit of money you get, even a coin or two. Small amounts add up faster than you would think.

🐷
New Word! Savings

Savings is money you keep instead of spending. It waits in your Save jar and grows bigger every time you add to it.

See your budget as a picture

Grown-ups often draw a budget as a circle, so they can see it at a glance. This circle is your weekly money. Slide the two handles to choose how much goes to Save and Share, and whatever is left becomes Spend. Watch the colours and the amounts change. There is no single right answer, a good budget just fits your family and always keeps a little for saving.

Try it Your budget circle 🍩

Move the handles and watch your money split into Spend, Save, and Share.

The blue slice, Spend, is whatever is left over.

Saving for a goal

Saving is way more fun when you are saving for something. That something is called a goal. Here is how to reach one:

🎯Pick itChoose what you want
🏷️Price itFind out what it costs
🐷Save itA fixed amount each week
📅Count itWeeks until you can buy

Say you want a video game that costs J$2000. If you save the same amount every week, you divide the price by your weekly saving to count the weeks. The game below does that counting for you, so you can see how saving a bit more each week gets you there faster. That is a saving goal.

🎯
New Word! Goal

A goal is something you are saving up to buy or do. Knowing your goal makes it easier to choose saving over spending on little things.

Your turn: split the lunch money

Now you try it. You have J$500 of money for the week, shown as 10 coins worth J$50 each. Drag each coin into a jar: Spend, Save, or Share. Watch how much you put in Save, and see how fast it gets you to a J$2000 video game!

Play the Game Split the Lunch Money 💰

Your goal is a J$2000 video game. The more you drop into the Save jar, the sooner it is yours. There is no wrong answer here, try a few different splits and watch the numbers change.

How to play
  1. Press and hold a J$50 coin, then drag it into the Spend, Save, or Share jar.
  2. Split all ten coins any way you like. Changed your mind? Drag a coin back down to the coins row.
  3. Watch the jar totals and your saving goal update as you go.
🛒 Spend J$0
🐷 Save J$0
Drag your J$50 coins into the jars to make your budget.
🎮Put some coins in the Save jar to see how fast you reach your goal.
✋ Quick check
You want a bike that costs J$800. You save J$200 every week. About how many weeks until you can buy it?
👉 Tap the answer you think is right.
👨‍👩‍👧 Do this with a grown-up

Ask a grown-up to help you pick one small saving goal this week, something real that you want. Find its price together, choose how much you can save each week, and count the weeks. Then start your very own Save jar at home. An empty bottle works just fine.

🧠 What you just learned
  • A budget is a plan for your money, made before you spend it.
  • The three jars are Spend, Save, and Share. Put a little into Save from every bit of money you get.
  • A saving goal is something you save up for. Price ÷ what you save each week = how many weeks it takes.

🎮 3D Vox game: Balance the Jars

One jar is stuffed and one is nearly empty! Move coins until every jar holds the same, and discover the average on the way.

Next: how computers spot patterns to guess what happens next.