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!
- Precision Tip: When calculating the total cost of multiple items, I found it most helpful by highlighting all the cells with dollar amounts and on the bottom right corner, it automatically calculates the amount of all the highlighted cells.
- Discount Strategy: If a jacket is 40% off, one way to find the sale price is to divide the total by 10 to get 10% and then multiply that number by 4.
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 I should cut some of my expenses to afford the other expenses.
My project required me to plan a significant financial event, I chose to plan a dream trip.
Project Summary
- My Project Goal Was: To make a dream trip plan, have a good budget, and spend my money wisely.
- The Biggest Expense I Budgeted For Was: Tekapo Hot Pools, it cost $320
- The Most Important Math Skill I Used Was: Total Cost and Change.
My Personal Takeaway
Before this unit, I thought money management was just about adding money together.
Now, I understand that good financial literacy is very important and uses my types of math intelligence.
I feel most confident now when calculating change, discounts and organising budgets.
Here is my project