Financial Reality
General Overview
Understanding finances is crucial when starting your next life chapter. It’s important for handling education, daily expenses, and emergencies. Planning finances well offers stability during changes. Budgeting, saving, investing, and managing debt are vital for financial health early in your career. Make smart choices, set goals, and secure a prosperous future.
Remember to…
Set Financial Goals
Define short-term and long-term financial goals, such as saving for college, buying a car, or starting a retirement fund, and create a plan to achieve them.
Avoid Impulse Spending
Practice self-discipline and avoid impulse purchases by waiting 24 hours before making non-essential purchases to determine if they align with your financial goals.
Seek Financial Advice
Don't hesitate to seek advice from parents, teachers, or financial professionals to help you navigate important decisions and set yourself up for success in the future.
Build Credit Responsibility
Start building your credit history early by using credit cards responsibly, making timely payments, and keeping credit utilization low.
Compare Expenses
Shop around and compare prices for major purchases like electronics, insurance, and housing to ensure you're getting the best value for your money.
Consider Part-Time Work
Consider taking on part-time work or freelancing gigs to earn extra income and gain valuable job experience while still in high school.
Google Sheets Budget Template Tutorial
Budgeting for Teens
What is Financial Health?
Activities
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Create a budget (real or fictitious) using templates, budget tool, or using a template in Google Sheets.
Online Resources
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Students Plan for College
Comprehensive site with tools, resources, templates and interactive content for students and families to understand and plan for paying for college. Site includes free curriculum and downloads for Educators.
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Texas Reality Check
The site provides two ways to check one's financial reality— one being the Lifestyle Calculator or the Occupation Calculator.
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Financial Reality Check
Simple online clickable "reality check" game for students to plan out potential spending and understand income needs for future lifestyle.
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Budget Tool
One page PDF template for monthly budgeting.
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Really Simple Budget Template
One page PDF simple budget template.
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Free Online Financial Literacy Courses
https://www.moneyunder30.com/downloads/really-simple-budget.pdf