Junior Achievement 3 4 Practice Makes Perfect

Junior Achievement 3. 4 “Practice Makes Perfect”

Let’s review yesterday’s vocabulary • Check Register: A record of transactions made to a checking account.

Vocabulary • Deposit Ticket: A written record of money put in a bank account.

“Practice without improvement is meaningless. ” -Chuck Knox Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? Why is it important to practice something new as much as you can before you actually have to do it?

Today we will learn how to make deposits into your checking accounts and the importance of carefully planning how to spend your money.

Understanding the mechanics of your checking account is only part of managing your money.

How you spend your money is just as important to achieving financial success. Let’s review the SMART steps

Stop and think about alternatives Make a plan before deciding Ask questions and consider the consequences R eflect Take action

Imagine the principal calls some students into the office to give them special recognition for being such excellent role models. As a reward they will have to choose between three alternatives: • an ice cream party for the entire class • a pizza party for the class • a week of extended recess time for the entire class

How do we use the SMART system of decision making to decide what to do?

Stop and think about alternatives Make a plan before deciding Ask questions and consider the consequences R eflect Take action

Even though you will work as a group discussing your alternatives and practicing the SMART system together,

each of you is still responsible for completing a deposit ticket,

balancing her or his check register,

and writing a check for at least one individual purchase.

Let’s try making some SMART business decisions: Shopping List A You just got paid $10 for babysitting the Johnson twins. It’s time to go shopping. According to your check register, you had a balance of $35 before babysitting. Complete a deposit ticket for your babysitting earnings, and consider your saving and spending alternatives. Be a smart consumer. Alternatives • Saving (as much as you want) • Music downloads ($10) (Record Mania) • Board game ($15) (Games for U) • Video game ($40) (Video Game City) • Movie ticket, popcorn, and a soda ($15) (Movie. Town Cinema) • New outfit ($45) (Dalphia’s) • Sporting equipment ($30) (We Got Game) • Lunch with friends ($15) (Salad Mania)

What cold we buy? How much can we afford to spend? Let’s work this out together. (Teachers, use your copy of the Deposit Ticket and Check Register to model this process. )

Now your team has been given a new situation. How much money did you make? What will you do with your money? Will you save some? Will you spend it all? It’s up to you to record your decisions.

Remember the Steps? • Step 1: Complete a deposit ticket and write this deposit in your check register under the “deposit/credit” column. • Step 2: When you have decided to buy something, make out a check for the amount and enter it in your register under the “payment/debt” column. • Step 3: Subtract your purchase from the total. How much money do you have left as your balance?