SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT CHAPTER ONE
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
The Money Savvy Student
Objective
To help educate students about what it takes to by savvy with money by understanding the
foundation and the basics with action steps to follow:
1. The introduction to what it means to be money savvy.
2. Understanding that the cost of living life is more than most students are aware of.
3. Taking full responsibility for their own financial future.
4. Spending less than you earn as a core principle.
5. Where your values around money come from.
6. The types and benefits that come with each type of income.
7. The necessity of tracking expenses and monthly budgeting.
8. Beginning the process of saving and investing as a student.
9. What to know about credit and borrowing.
10. The implications of debt.
11. What kinds of insurance should students know about.
12. Who pays taxes and where does the money go.
13. Understanding the increased cost of college.
14. How to make money as a student.
15. What steps to take next in your path of becoming Money Savvy.
Materials
The Money Savvy Student by Adam Carroll.
Procedures
1. Have students read one chapter at a time and discuss key points from the chapters as listed in
the lesson plans.
2. Choose to have “micro-enterprise” days where students make plans on how they’d make
money to pay for the things they most WANT.
3. Have students teach some of the lessons they’re picking up from The Money Savvy Student
around spending, saving, investing, and making money as a student.
PAGE 1 OF 21
DURATION: 2-12 CLASS PERIODS
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT CHAPTER ONE
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Chapter One: The Introduction
Objective
To setup the reading of the book as a bit of a wake-up call to pay close attention to personal
finance at a young age. Adam Carroll suggests that students approach the book with a ‘student’
mindset instead of a ‘tourist’ or ‘inmate’.
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter One.
2. Have students discuss whether or not they are a student of money already. Who are they
learning from? What lessons have they learned already?
Discussion Questions
1. Do you know of anyone that has gone through college and borrowed too much?
2. When the author describes financial independence, what do you think he means?
3. When you’re in school today, do you think of yourself as a student, tourist or inmate?
4. What would going through this book help you with if you approach it from a student
mindset?
Links
www.MoneySavvy.com — potentially encourage students to visit the site and sign
up for the newsletter and resources
PAGE 2 OF 21
DURATION: 2-12 CLASS PERIODS
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT CHAPTER THREE
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Chapter Two: You Are
Expensive
Objective
To help students understand that the cost of living their life currently is mostly absorbed by their
parents. As a result, most students don’t understand how much their life actually costs. When
they eventually go out on their own, this chapter will help them from being surprised at the cost
of life.
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter Two.
2. Have students write down a list of everything they’re wearing that day, food they’ve eaten,
and surgeries or other expenses like glasses or braces. Have them assign a total dollar figure
to the list — clothes, food, activities, etc. to get a sense of how much they may be costing their
parents.
3. What else can you purchase for $245,000? (The cost to raise a child from 0-18)
4. What could you do to minimize the overall cost to your parents while still a student?
5. Have students write a thank-you note to their parents for providing for them.
Adaptations
Students can look up what it costs to have a baby, play 8 years of soccer, what braces cost, how
much eyeglasses are, etc. This is a great chapter to help them understand how much real life
costs.
Discussion Questions
1. Do you think about how much your parents spend on you each month or year?
2. Do you and your parents ever talk about how much things cost?
3. Have you ever NOT gotten something because of the cost? What was it and how did it make
you feel when you didn’t get it?
Links
https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/tools/CRC_Calculator/
A great calculator provided by the USDA to figure out how much it costs to raise a child.
PAGE 3 OF 21
DURATION: ONE CLASSROOM PERIOD
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT CHAPTER THREE
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Chapter Three: Your Financial
Success Is Entirely Up To You
Objective
To help students understand that despite the fact they may be financially supported by their
parents, their financial success is up to them.
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter Three.
2. Have students calculate how much they’d need to operate their current lifestyle on a weekly
basis. Use the numbers they calculated from Chapter Two as a guide.
3. Have students list out 5 areas they’d need to cut back on in order to afford their current
lifestyle. (Page 13)
Discussion Questions
1. Were you surprised by how much it costs to live your lifestyle on a weekly basis? What
surprised you?
2. If your parents just gave you $50 a month plus food and shelter, would you be able to survive
without asking for more? What would you need to do differently than you do today?
3. What did you think of Jerry’s daughters asking their dad to put money in their account?
PAGE 4 OF 21
DURATION: ONE CLASSROOM PERIOD
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT CHAPTER FOUR
GRADE LEVEL: 6-8
Chapter Four: A Simple
Concept
Objective
To gain an understanding of the need to spend less than we make on a monthly basis.
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter Four.
2. Have students create a list of how they play offense in their life and how they play defense
(offense might be part-time jobs, babysitting, etc. defense would be coupons, cold lunch, etc.)
3. Have students research rappers and athletes who have lost all their winnings because of their
inability to play defense financially.
Discussion Questions
1. Would you invest in CY (company you)?
2. What are some of the craziest ways you’ve heard of people making money?
3. What are some of the craziest ways you’ve heard of people saving money?
4. Why do you think Shaquille O’Neal owns the businesses he does? (franchises are easy to start
up, proven, and profitable!)
Links
30 For 30: Broke (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_pNduHQymA)
An ESPN documentary about professional athletes that spent all of their money earned (and
then some) before retiring from the game. (run-time 120min)
PAGE 5 OF 21
DURATION: ONE CLASSROOM PERIOD
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT CHAPTER FIVE
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Chapter Five: Your Friends
And Family Influence Your
Financial Values
Objective
To present the fact that who you surround yourself with, both family and friends, are playing a
part in what you value financially. To cause students to question what they hear as passing
phrases like, “we can’t afford that” or “money doesn’t grow on trees”. To gain an understanding of
financial values and how they’re shaped.
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter Five.
2. Have one group of students keep track of brand names that they see in the hallway for one
day. Then compare the list the following day to see who saw which brands. More than likely
the male and female students will pay attention to different brands. All of which are shaping
their value system.
3. Have another group of students track statements made by their families around money. It’s
best if there’s a shopping trip or grocery store run and the student goes along.
Discussion Questions
1. Do you hear your parents talk about money? How has that had an effect on you in your life?
2. When you and your friends talk about money, what comes up? Do you notice that people
have different value sets when it comes to purchasing things?
3. What did you think when you heard the story of the two college roommates that were going
out to eat regularly (and one having to put her meals on a credit card)?
4. What does ‘Keeping Up With the Joneses’ mean to you?
PAGE 6 OF 21
DURATION: ONE CLASSROOM PERIOD
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Chapter Six: Income
Objectives
To help students understand that there are various types of income and ways of earning them. To
add to their vocabulary when it comes to terms like W2, 1099, and investment income.
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter Six.
2. Have students look into what it would cost to put a gumball machine in the classroom.
Investigate both new and used machines as well as how much it would cost to keep it stocked
with gumballs.
3. If approved by the school, you could sell “shares” of the machine for $5 a piece and then pay
out dividends throughout the school year for anyone that owned a share of the machine.
Have a CFO, CEO, Treasurer, Sales People, etc. to make it a real business experiment.
4. Have students investigate what they could make per hour at various restaurants or businesses
nearby. Then calculate how much their paychecks will be at the link below.
5. Have students look up how much it would cost to buy a duplex in your community, how
much the rent would be and how much they’d make by renting out a unit. A complete
discussion could be had about all of the expenses that go along with being a landlord.
Discussion Questions
1. What kind of income do you make in your part-time job?
2. What did you think about the statistic of 50% of our population being independent
contractors by 2020?
3. What surprised you about the author buying a gumball machine? Do you think you’d ever do
this? Where would you put the machines to make sure you were making money every month?
4. Do you receive an allowance and are there any rules about what the money can be used for?
5. Have you ever considered investing in the stock market? How much do you think you need to
get started? What companies would you invest in? Why?
Links
http://www.paycheckcity.com/calculator/salary/
A salary calculator that will help students understand how much is taken out in taxes every
paycheck.
www.Zillow.com
PAGE 7 OF 21
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
A site where students could look up duplexes for sale in their area. PAGE 8 OF 21
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Chapter Seven: Expenses and
Budgeting
Objective
To help students understand the impact of budgeting for monthly expenses on their ability to
save and invest money (or payoff debt). To get them to inquire about home expenses so they have
a better idea of what it costs to live life!
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter Seven.
2. As a large group, have students identify what kind of monthly expenses a typical family might
have. Document all of the areas on a flipchart or whiteboard.
3. Have students identify which of those expenses are a surprise to them, which ones they
contribute to, and how they could help minimize some of the expenses in the budget if they
were living on their own.
Adaptations
Ask your students what they’d do with a salary of $40,000, $80,000 or $100,000. Then ask how
their life would change if they made $200,000 or $500,000. Where would their expenses likely
increase?
Discussion Questions
1. Did any of the numbers on Amanda’s budget (page 49) surprise you? Where do you think she
could cut back to have more money left over at the end of the month?
2. What expenses do you have at home that could be considered fixed? variable? What category
would athletic expenses or extracurriculars fall?
3. Would you consider living at home after college if it saved you money? How long would your
parents let you stay?
Links
www.MrMoneyMustache.com — a great no-nonsense site about living on less and learning
about money.
PAGE 9 OF 21
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
www.FinanceGirl.com — a great site written by a female financial advisor geared towards young
people.
PAGE 10 OF 21
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Chapter Eight: Saving and
Investing
Objective
To get students thinking about how much they’ll need to save for an emergency fund, and once
they’ve established that, how they can invest the money for future returns. They’ll expand their
vocabulary when it comes to investment terminology as well.
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter Eight.
2. Have students create a list of things that could be considered an “emergency” that they’d need
money for. Have them identify an appropriate emergency fund amount based on their
predicted expenses.
3. Invite your class to participate in The Stock Market Game where they get to begin picking
their own stocks. (http://www.stockmarketgame.org/)
Adaptations
Think you don’t have enough money to begin saving/investing? Take out your calculators and
type in .01 xx .01 and then = 31 times. This is how much you’d have if a penny doubled every day
for 31 days. Still think you don’t have enough to start saving?
Discussion Questions
1. What are the reasons you should begin investing at a young age? (compound interest, learn
early, better prepared when you’re older, earning money at an early age which helps with
college tuition, etc.)
2. What would you invest in if you had money to put in the stock market? (As a hint, ask what
kinds of products or services they like to buy, then find out if they’re publicly traded stocks:
Nike, Under Armour, Microsoft, etc.)
3. What other vehicles or products would you invest your money in? (precious metals, bonds,
real estate, etc.)
4. Do you think that you’ve bought ‘stuff’ in your life, when you’d rather have the money today
for investments? What kind of ‘stuff’ would you return for the money?
Links
PAGE 11 OF 21
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/financial-planning/networth1.htm — goes into greater depth about assets, both liquid and illiquid, and
liabilities.
http://www.stockmarketgame.org/
http://www.smartypig.com - a robust saving tool that combines social media,
banking, and behavior change.
PAGE 12 OF 21
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Chapter Nine: Credit and
Borrowing
Objective
The objective of Chapter Nine is to open students’ eyes to how much debt actually costs over the
long-term. Whether a car loan or a credit card, if a student understands the overall costs, they’re
more likely to make better (informed) decisions.
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter Nine.
2. Have students do a quick check online for credit card offers to see how much various cards
charge in interest. Have them look at various local banks and credit unions for car loan rates.
3. Using the calendar in the links below, have them calculate how much their car payment
would be on their dream car (either by looking up the cost or making an assumption on total
cost).
Discussion Questions
1. What surprised you about the example on pages 76-77 about the difference in car loan
payments? Did you have any idea one small mistake could cost $10,000 more when buying a
car?
2. What are some of the things you’ll do differently before making credit card purchases or
buying a vehicle?
3. Based on the information in the book, what are some ways to guarantee that your credit score
will be low?
4. What did you realize after calculating your car payments? Can you afford the car of your
dreams? What would you have to give up in order to have it? (i.e. food, shelter, etc.)
Links
http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/auto/auto-loan-calculator.aspx
PAGE 13 OF 21
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Chapter Ten: Debt
Objective
To help students understand that debt is both a useful tool, but also something to be very careful
with. Chapter Ten is meant to be a useful conversation starter about how debt is used in society.
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter Ten.
2. Have students visit www.usdebtclock.org and lookup current levels of debt in society.
Especially have them look through the student loan debt numbers, car loans, mortgage debt,
and the total amount owed by our government.
3. Consider using the film Broke, Busted & Disgusted to talk about the level of student loan
debt in society. (www.brokebusteddisgusted.com — runtime 53 min.)
Discussion Questions
1. Which of the debt numbers you looked up surprised you? How long do you think it took to
get there?
2. Student loan debt is the second highest debt there is next to mortgages. What does that
make you wonder?
3. If you had a significant amount of student loan debt, how would that impact your ability to
live the life you imagine? How do you think you could avoid taking out student loans?
Links
www.usdebtclock.org
This is a fantastic, up-to-date resource for students to check out how much is owed by Americans
in various types of debt. Also helpful to look at population numbers, employment data, etc.
Broke, Busted & Disgusted (www.brokebusteddisgusted.com)
This documentary produced and written by Adam Carroll and Calvin Johannsen is a 53 minute
discussion about the true costs of college.
PAGE 14 OF 21
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Chapter Eleven: Insurance
Objective
To help students understand what types of insurance they’ll be responsible for as they age.
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter Eleven.
2. Have students make a list of the insurances their parents more than likely have.
Discussion Questions
1. What do you think about your credit score also impacting the cost of your car insurance?
2. Have you asked your parents how much your car insurance costs them per year? What is your
guess if you haven’t asked them? Tonight, ask them how much it costs to have you added to
their auto insurance policy.
3. Health insurance has been in the news A LOT lately because of the Affordable Care Act
from the Obama presidency. What do you know about health care and it’s costs?
Links
PAGE 15 OF 21
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Chapter Twelve: Taxes
Objective
To help students understand how taxes impact their budget, where they’ll pay taxes, and what
taxes are paid for.
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter Twelve.
2. Have students brainstorm all of the different taxes they will pay in their lifetime. Collect them
on a whiteboard or flipchart.
Discussion Questions
1. Do you think paying more in taxes benefits society? Where would that money best be used?
2. Do you know how much sales tax is in your community? The way to figure out how much tax
is charged is by multiplying the purchase price by 1.0x (x being whatever the percentage of
sales tax is charged in your area).
3. Do you think taxes will go up or down in the future? What might have an impact on how
much is charged in taxes? (answers could be: the government, our economy, national debt,
expenses going up or down, etc.)
Links
https://smartasset.com/taxes/income-taxes
A site that features an interactive calculator that will help predict how much is taken out of a
paycheck in taxes.
www.usdebtclock.org
One of the categories shown on the US Debt Clock is the amount of tax revenue collected. In the
past several years, this number is the highest it’s ever been.
PAGE 16 OF 21
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Chapter Thirteen: College Is
Expensive
Objective
To get students thinking about how they’ll pay for college, the various ways to approach higher
education, understanding applying for scholarships, and a variety of other strategies to help
students determine their “path” after high school.
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter Thirteen.
2. Have students go through (at least) Video 1 of Scholarship Mastery. Have them create a list
of scholarships and/or grant opportunities they could be applying for while in school.
3. Ask your students to pick 2 or 3 potential careers they’re interested in and look up what kind
of salary could be expected on www.Salary.com. Have them estimate what a degree in that
particular career field might cost them.
Discussion Questions
1. Have you thought much about how much you’ll be borrowing for college? What are some of
the ways you’ll be minimizing how much you borrow?
2. What did you think when you saw the average cost to attend a state university? private
school? ( page 98).
3. What scholarships did you find that you may be eligible for? Can you imagine winning a
$1,000, $10,000, or $100,000 scholarship? What would that do for your future?
4. Do you think you’ll have to (or want to) work during college? How about being a Resident
Assistant or Research Assistant?
5. What are you doing to accumulate college credits while in high school? How much do you
think you’ll save in tuition by doing this?
6. Anyone considering joining the military to defray college costs? Why or why not?
7. There were a variety of options listed in the book if you aren’t exactly sure what you want to
do. Which of those intrigued you?
Links
www.CollegeChoiceToday.com
PAGE 17 OF 21
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
This is a fantastic resource for students who aren’t quite sure what they want to do after
graduation from high school. CCT Coaches will walk students through career options that
would be logical choices based on answers to a standardized test.
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/compare-colleges
A way to compare and contrast various colleges and Universities cost.
http://www.efcplus.com/
A calculator that helps families accurately predict how much college will cost with loans, grants,
and other financial aid. PAGE 18 OF 21
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Chapter Fourteen: Making It
Rain
Objective
To get students thinking about making money while in school APART from just going to get a
part-time job. The future will be ripe for entrepreneurs that understand some of the technologies
available to them, this chapter is meant to introduce some of them.
Procedures
1. Have students read Chapter Fourteen.
2. Have students cruise through the free page on Craigslist or freecycle.org and see if there’s
anything that strikes them as valuable that they could resell. (While not critical they actually
pick them up and resell them, the goal is to get them thinking it’s possible.)
3. Encourage students to click through some of the websites listed 129-131 to see what’s possible
when it comes to making money online.
Discussion Questions
1. Have you ever tried starting a business or making money in an unconventional way?
2. Which of the entrepreneurial stories from the book resonated with you? Why did they?
3. What skill do you have right now that you could potentially turn into profit?
4. Tell me about some of the sites you clicked through and what you learned?
Links
All links listed on pages 129-131
www.Amazon.com
www.YouTube.com
www.Gumroad.com
www.paypal.com
www.shopify.com
www.mailchimp.com
www.craigslist.com
www.wordpress.com
PAGE 19 OF 21
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
www.canva.com
www.99designs.com
www.upwork.com
www.kickstarter.com
www.indiegogo.com
www.gofundme.com
PAGE 20 OF 21
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
SUBJECT: THE MONEY SAVVY STUDENT RESOURCE LIST
GRADE LEVEL: ANY
Resource List:
Broke, Busted & Disgusted (www.brokebusteddisgusted.com)
This documentary produced and written by Adam Carroll and Calvin Johannsen is a 53 minute
discussion about the true costs of college.
www.vertex42.com — budgeting sheets, goal setting charts, etc.
www.dinkytown.net
Calculators of ALL kinds that students can plug numbers in to see financial situations. Great for
showing true cost of buying a car, home, or other charged purchases.
http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/173
What is a million? This site answers that question plus many more. A great resource for teachers
wanting to expand the lesson and use the internet for discussion points.
www.smartypig.com
SmartyPig is an Iowa company that leverages social media in helping people save for a specific
purpose. Students can set up an account and begin save/saving money for a worthwhile goal.
www.mint.com
Mint.com is an online record keeping system that links directly with most online banking
institutions. It’s a great way to keep running track of the balances, amounts owed, and budgets.
All students should have a Mint.com account. (Plus, it’s free!)
http://budgettracker.com/login.php
Sample budget creators that students can use to create an electronic version of their budget.
http://www.direct.ed.gov/
The Federal Direct Lending Program website. Here you’ll find calculators and research
information on the subject of college funding.
http://www.kiplinger.com/
Great site for information on all sorts of financial decisions. Plenty of paper-writing
opportunities from this site alone. Students should know about this for their own well-being.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byRSKEw0oa8 — Robert Kiyosaki, author of
Rich Dad, Poor Dad details the difference between an asset and a liability.
https://smartasset.com/taxes/income-taxes
A site that features an interactive calculator that will help predict how much is taken out of a
paycheck in taxes.
www.usdebtclock.org
One of the categories shown on the US Debt Clock is the amount of tax revenue collected. In the
past several years, this number is the highest it’s ever been.
PAGE 21 OF 21