Developed in partnership with Education Services Australia

The Australian Curriculum sets the goal for what all students should learn as they progress through their school life. Skills in the Year 5-6 curriculum include:

• creating a written plan showing how to use your money
• working out value for money when considering a purchase
• knowing expenses and income.

It’s easy to help your child practise these skills as part of everyday life – just use these simple ideas.

Talk about budgeting

It’s never too early to learn the basics of financial management. Give your child practice at planning, saving and budgeting with ideas such as these:

• talk with your child about value for money, and what influences it 
  How can we work out if this new cereal is good value for money?
  What factors influence the value for money of a new car? 
  Is value for money always the most important thing?
• before you take your child shopping for something, help them think about what's a reasonable budget
  How much do you think we should spend on your Book Week costume compared to your school shoes? You probably won't get much use out of the costume, but you'll wear your shoes every day, and they last a lot longer.
• if your child wants to buy something special, help them develop a plan to save up for it.
  How much does it cost? How long will it take to save that much, given how much you earn, spend and save each week?
  Maybe you could find a way to earn more money, eg by doing extra jobs. Or you could spend less to reach your goal faster.
  Now that you have a savings goal and a plan, how are you going to stay on track? I like to use a chart or an app so I can see my progress towards my goal.
• if your family is budgeting for something special, find a way to involve your child
  I'm working out a budget for our holiday. Could you find out the costs of the train tickets and add them to my spreadsheet?

Go online

For online reinforcement, Super Cyril's circus supplies will give your child practice at:

• drawing up and using a budget as a way of keeping spending to a set amount.

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