Type here - Consumer Council

							Personal Finance 2.
Managing My Money – What’s out there to help me?
Context:
This series of suggested activities will expose pupils to the basics around a range of financial
products and services available to them as consumers. It will allow them to assess what might
be best for them in managing their finances responsibly. For example, do I need a bank
account? Is a credit card a good idea? How do I work out the best deal for me if I want to
borrow?



Year Group: Key Stage 3/4

Subject/Curriculum Reference: Mathematics, Citizenship, Home Economics. Life Skills

Topic Reference: Financial Capability

Time/Length: 2 x 50 minute lessons


Learning outcomes:

As a result of engaging in these activities pupils will be able to:

      Identify a range of ways in which we can pay for goods and services
      Understand how to keep money safe
      Identify the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of ‘banking’ services
       available
      Understand types of credit available
      Understand risk in relation to borrowing
      Understand the difference between manageable and unmanageable debt

Resources:
For information on different types of bank account including, building societies, credit unions etc
go to:
www.pfeg.org for resources and signposts to this information.
www.fsa.gov.uk for more resources and information on bank accounts and other financial
services. Especially ‘Make the Most of it’ and Colossal Cards produced by FSA


Lesson summary/organisation/activities:

Activity 1.
This activity introduces the students to the different ways they can keep and handle the money
they do have.

1. In order to introduce the topic of bank accounts ask the students how our characters can
access money and/or keep money safe. Once they have brainstormed some ideas. For
example? Open a bank account/ Open a building society account/ Become a member of a
credit union/Cashing the cheque. You can have a discussion about the pros and cons of each. If
they do not raise these you can introduce them.

General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland – Post Primary
2. Using a range of information (see resources) ask them to draw up a list of the pros and cons
of the different types of accounts. Also ask them to make a list of all other types of ways in
which they can keep their money safe and be able to access it.

3. Finally, Using the sheet on banking terms (below) to see how much your students know about
the mechanics of managing their money by seeing if they understand the terms on those pages.
You could do this as a quiz first and then direct them to the sheet if required for clarification.

PHRASE                         ABBREVIATIONS                  DEFINITION
DEBIT                                                         Money going out of your account
CREDIT                                                        Money coming into your account
DIRECT DEBIT                   DD                             Permission given by you for
                                                              money to be taken from your
                                                              account. These amounts can
                                                              change. You can stop these
                                                              whenever you like by phoning
                                                              your bank.
STANDING ORDER                 SO                             An instruction by you to pay a
                                                              certain amount each month. This
                                                              can only be changed by you.
OVERDRAWN                      OD                             If you have spent more money
                                                              than is in your account.
LINK CASH                      LINK CASH                      If you take cash from an ATM
                                                              (Automated Teller Machine or
                                                              Hole in the wall!). Link is one
                                                              example.
CARD PAYMENT                   CARD PAYMENT                   If you use your debit card to pay.
BANK CREDIT                    BANK CREDIT                    If you move money into your
                                                              account from another bank or
                                                              savings account.
CHEQUE                         E.G. Cheque:000345             If you use a cheque to pay it will
                                                              give you the cheque number.
ATM WITHDRAWAL                 ATM                            If you withdraw cash from a cash
                                                              machine with your card.
BALANCE                                                       The amount of money in your
                                                              account.



Activity 2. Money you don’t have - Borrowing
This activity helps students to understand the ways in which we can borrow money we do not
have in order to pay for something we want. We are all tempted at times to have things when
we want them regardless of our ability to pay. This section aims to help students understand
that debt is not necessarily a bad thing provided it is manageable and not unmanageable.

Running the Activity

1. Introduction. First brainstorm with the students what they understand by the term ‘credit’.
Possible responses might be:
        It’s a debt             It is a loan   credit cards

2. Follow this up with a statement that will provoke a discussion such as:

            ‘Credit Cards are great for getting what you want when you want it’

Ask the students to AGREE or DISAGREE with this statement. When you have two groups of
those who agree and disagree ask one of two students to defend their statement with a reason.
When 3 or 4 students have done this ask if anyone has changed their position?

General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland – Post Primary
3. Next get them to draw up a list of all the types of borrowing they know about and what they
consider to be their good and bad points.

Possible responses:
Borrow from:                 Pros                           Cons
Bank                         Fixed payments                 May not give me the loan

Building society             Good rate of interest          May not give me a loan if
                                                            not been with them long
Use a store card             Give me credit when I          Very high rate of interest
                             cannot get it
Use a credit card            Immediate credit               Might not be able to pay
                                                            off
Borrow from a credit union   Good rate of interest          May need to save for a
                                                            while before I can borrow
Borrow from a money          Get your hands on money        High rate of interest
lender                       straight away
Loan shark                   Get your hands on money        Not registered and could
                             straight away                  end up with paying a lot
                                                            back
A credit agreement           Get credit when can’t get it   Hidden costs and high
                             anywhere else                  interest sometimes
From a catalogue             pay in small amounts.          Usually things are more
                             Sometimes no interest          expensive
Friends                      No interest to pay -           If you don’t pay then you
                             perhaps!                       may lose a friend


Teacher Reflections:

You can round of this series of activities with a short discussion about the range of ‘banking’
facilities your group already uses. Were they aware of the differences between banks, building
societies and credit unions? Might they think of using these facilities in future?

You can then use their responses to build more detailed work around some of the areas they
want to know more about and the skills they will need to use these services effectively.

These are good, simple activities that will establish how much your students know about a
range of money facilities. Many of these they will be offered when they turn 16 and more still
when they are 18.




General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland – Post Primary