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Lesson Help on Finances
Credit Unknown
I think anything you can do to bring some reality into
this lesson is wonderful. For example, you could give them a simple example
that can be easily paralleled to society today. Start by asking one (or all) of
the girls if they would like $5,000 dollars to spend on anything they wanted.
Note the responses. Specifically, take note if anyone asks you what the catch
is or asks anything at all. How many jump in and say "YES!" without any
questions, etc. If someone does ask what the catch is you answer, "There is no
catch. I simply let you borrow this money right now and you pay me back over
time with some interest."
You continue the exercise by letting them tell you how they spent their $5,000.
You move on by telling them that the repayment plan was very easy, they only had
to pay $100 a month - a real deal for having $5,000 to spend right now right?
Then you add that they continued to
make the minimum monthly payments until the balance was paid. Here comes the
sting (this is basic math not including compound interest), it takes them 8
years and 4 months to pay off the balance and it costs them $10,000. Then you
ask if they realized when they said yes, they were actually agreeing to pay me
$5,000 for nothing more than letting them borrow my money and that it would cost
them $10,000?
You could do any variation of examples using borrowed money. I like the credit
card because it is the most common and several will be getting hit with "free
money" in the mail when they turn 18. You take this example and you go back to
the responses you noted. You compare
this with the training of the world. Most people never ask any questions
anymore when they are offered all this credit, and consequently are shocked to
realize what they really committed to when they've learned the lesson the hard
way. You point out how nothing in life is free, no matter what anyone tells you
and if you hear it you can be guaranteed someone is selling something - - and no
one sells something unless there is profit in it for themselves. I love the
quotes about how interest never sleeps, takes vacations or gets sick, and how
relentless a task master it is.
This example would only take a few moments, but the impact should get things
rolling for all the wonderful advice and content of the lesson. You could also
give another example of the opposite affect of putting some money away each
month into savings and showing how interest can turn that into more money that
you had originally - just for impact.
A few other things I enjoyed pointing out when I did this lesson were:
* Living within your means does not mean living within what you think (or can
currently) afford. And what a dangerous trap this is because you make plans on
the future with circumstances that could change at any moment.
* Wonderful quotes from President Hinckley in his book, Standing For Something
about the details of the economy and the staggering numbers of how much consumer
debt our nation lives on today.
On
Young Women Connection there is an activity about budgeting that
I used at a recent mutual. The girls are divided into small groups and each is
assigned to be a different "woman". Each woman has a different set of
circumstances. (i.e. single, married, children, students, etc.) The girls are
given a budget sheet and must try to make their budget work for the month. You,
as the leader, read from a list of things that come up during the month which
the girls must decide whether or not to include in their budget as a result of
flipping a coin. I may have just made this sound more complicated than it
is...but the full directions and everything you need for the activity are on the
website for you to print out. My girls really enjoyed this activity. At the end
of the game, I passed out mini "100 grand" candy bars for a treat.
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