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) (MovieTown 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?