Budgeting, Saving and Simple Financial Plans

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1 Getting Started
2 Watch and Notice
3 Try It Together
4 Draw Your Plan in Your Copy
5 Class Challenge
Pupil practice

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

Illustration for Getting Started You get €20 pocket money each week. There's a game you really want that costs €75.

Roughly how many weeks would you have to save before you could buy it, if you put every cent aside?

Take three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Give five seconds of quiet think-time first.

Don't confirm the exact answer yet — the point is to get pupils dividing €75 by €20 in their heads and noticing it isn't a whole number of weeks. Revoice a pupil who says "nearly four weeks" or "three weeks and a bit" — that bit is exactly what today's plan makes precise.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

A simple financial plan has three parts: money coming in, money going out, and what's left to save. Look at the budget on screen: €20 comes in, some goes out on spending, and whatever is left is put aside.

Now look at a plan where the spending is bigger than the money coming in. Look at the total, this plan does not balance.

Last one: when you know how much you save each week, you can work out how many weeks a goal will take. Look at a €14-a-week plan for a €70 goal.

Teacher Notes

€20 plan that balances — point to the running total sitting exactly at €20; ask "where did the €14 go?" (into savings, on purpose). Before moving to the shortfall demo, take a quick turn-and-name: ask one pupil to name the money in and another to name what was saved, so the watching doesn't run too long.
Shortfall — before revealing, ask the class to add €8 + €10 + €6 and compare it to €20. Hold out for a pupil naming that it's €4 over, not €4 saved. This is the make-or-break idea of the lesson.
€70 goal — draw out €70 ÷ €14 = 5. Ask what would change if only €10 were saved each week.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Try It Together ~8 mins

The rule today

Today we build one weekly plan together on the board. The money coming in is €25. We'll decide together what goes out and what we save. First put €5 on a treat. Then put €8 on a hobby. Then send the rest to savings and read how much that is.

Build a €25 weekly plan

Teacher Notes

Talk this one through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.

Run the interactive in explore mode with the cap set to €25. As each category is added, pause and ask the class to predict the new remaining amount before the pupil taps it in. When the treat and hobby are set (€13 out), the class should work out €25 − €13 = €12 left to save. Listen for pupils who forget that savings is also part of the €25 — savings is not free money on top, it's what's left. Revoice: "the money in has to cover everything, savings included."

+15 XP

4 - Draw Your Plan in Your Copy ~3 mins

COPYBOOK MOMENT

Illustration for Draw Your Plan in Your Copy In your maths copy, draw an income, expenses and savings table for a four-week plan and fill in the figures. Then write how many weeks it would take to reach a savings goal you choose.

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Under the table, write your goal amount and work out: goal ÷ weekly savings = number of weeks.

Teacher Notes

Walk the room glancing at the three column headings and the division line at the bottom — this is whole-class copybook practice, not marking. Watch for pupils who leave the savings column empty; prompt them that savings is income minus expenses for that week.

+10 XP

5 - Class Challenge ~10 mins

Today we work through these savings plans together, each one a step harder:

€30 plan: €10 spending, €20 saved.
€40 plan: three categories that must balance exactly.
€50 plan: every category needs money in it.
€60 plan: three categories that balance exactly to €60.

Tip

The zeros catch people out, so we'll check the total each time before we press Check.

Make the plan balance

Teacher Notes

This is the practice round — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.

The practice set rises in difficulty. The tool checks only that each plan balances to its required total, so on the €50 and €60 plans steer the class yourself toward putting real money in every category — a plan that balances but leaves savings at €0 has technically hit the total, so ask "is that a good plan, even though it balances?" Before each Check, have the class add the categories aloud and compare to the required total. If a plan comes up short or over, ask "is that a shortfall or money left over — and which category could we change?" rather than fixing it for them.

+15 XP

Pupil practice

Module 6 · Time and Money Shape & Space

Lesson 68 · Budgeting, Saving and Simple Financial Plans

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This lesson is copyright of Coding Ireland 2017 - 2025. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.

Teacher Class Feed

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

3 - Try It Together ~8 mins

Build a €25 weekly plan

4 - Draw Your Plan in Your Copy ~3 mins

5 - Class Challenge ~10 mins

Make the plan balance

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XP