Financial Literacy learning
Over the past two terms, we mastered important financial skills, from quick calculations to long-term planning. We learned that being financially literate means being a detective 
(spotting deals), a planner 
(making budgets), and a critical thinker 
(avoiding money traps)!
We improved our ability to handle complex transactions and calculate costs and change accurately. We became Discount Detectives, learning how to apply percentages to find the sale price, and even how to work backward to find the original price!
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Precision Tip: When calculating the total cost of multiple items, I found it most helpful to add all of the dollars first and the cents second.
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Discount Strategy: If a jacket is 40% off, one way to find the sale price is to break the total into tenths and subtract 4 of the tenths.
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We moved on to creating financial plans! We used spreadsheets to build budgets and learned how to convert amounts between weekly, monthly, and yearly timeframes. We also critically examined financial options like phone plans and ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) services.
Budgeting Check: If my expenses are consistently higher than my income, I have a Deficit. This means that you’re in debt.
BNPL Danger: The biggest financial risk of using BNPL services is that it makes it very easy to overcommit to too many payments.
My group project required me to plan a significant financial event, a dream trip!
Project Summary
- My Project Goal Was: To plan a trip to Australia with a budget.
- The Biggest Expense We Budgeted For Was: The hotel which cost 2,400.
- The Most Important Math Skill I used Was: Adding an estimation so that we didn’t go over the budget.
My Personal Takeaway
Before this unit, I thought money management was just about not going into debt.
Now, I understand that good financial literacy also involves estimation and budgeting.
I feel most confident now when calculating budgets.
Click Travel plan for the link!