Teens learn to make a budget and stick to it – here’s how

Rent or mortgage, food, healthcare, taxes – life is expensive. A new program from Junior Achievement is helping teens get practical, hands-on experience in tacking their finances with life lessons that hit home.

Casey Pash, President and CEO of Junior Achievement of Greater South Carolina, said JA Finance Park Mobile, Junior Achievement’s capstone program for personal finance and career exploration, gives students in grades 9 – 12 an in-class curriculum and an interactive pop-up city to help them meet their graduation requirement and get a head start on a skill that every adult needs.

“Every child now in South Carolina has to have personal finance to graduate,” Pash said. “They have to have half a credit. It started last year with the freshman class. We, as an organization, saw the immediate need when this was passed a couple of years ago, that we needed to bring JA Finance Park to South Carolina.”

Learning how to budget

The program starts with a pre-curriculum implemented by classroom teachers. The mobile financial city comes to schools across the state to offer hands-on experience. Volunteers help students put into practice what they have learned about developing and implementing a personal budget.

“They are given a life scenario,” Pash said. “You might be a teller at a bank, you might have two kids, you may be single.”

Students have to research, budget and spend in categories that include transportation, housing, dining out, groceries, insurances and more.

“Students realize very quickly how far or not how far their funds can go,” Pash said.

And because companies including Publix, State Farm and Blue Cross Blue Shield are sponsors, students interact with brands they know. Storefronts feature volunteers who “work” in Finance Park. Volunteers are needed and they don’t have to be experts.

“They ultimately are a consumer of every item that people budget for in JA Finance Park,” Pash said. “All of us are consumers of those things. Those volunteers help them and talk to them. Many students will say ‘well, I'm just going to live in nature.’ No, you're not, so we’ve got to plan for that. Or they might say, ‘Oh, I'm going to buy myself a car, but I'm going to have my spouse walk.’ Well, we all know that's not reality. Those volunteers use their own life experiences to help coach and guide them through doing the research, budgeting and then purchasing.”

Get involved

JA Finance Park Mobile is coming to Upstate schools this fall. To volunteer or find out how your school can participate, visit greatersc.ja.org or facebook.com/JuniorAchievementSC .

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Teens learn to make a budget and stick to it – here’s how