Sunday School- November: Spiritual and Temporal Self-Reliance - How can I prepare to be financially self-reliant?

How can I prepare to be financially self-reliant?

The Lord has blessed us with resources, and He expects us to be wise stewards over these resources. He wants us to be financially self-reliant so that we can provide for ourselves and serve others. To do this, we should pay tithes and offerings, avoid unnecessary debt, use a budget, and live within our means.

 Ask the youth to explain how certain tools can be both helpful and harmful, depending on how they are used (such as a mousetrap, hammer, or book of matches; you may want to bring one of these items as a visual aid, I am going to have several). Show the youth some money and ask them to explain the positive and negative uses of money. How can it be used to bless others and further the Lord’s work?

For the next part of the lesson I want to do some hands on learning about banking.  I found this website which has these awesome worksheets.  They come with answer keys too!  I will be teaching this lesson on Fast Sunday, so I will not be bringing treats, however, because I know we will not have time to finish all 3 activity sheets, I will offer the kids a reward during the week if they will complete them and bring them to me.  This is what I will bribe them with...

Caramel Apples

Yes, I think I will get a few of them to bring me the completed activity sheets. :)

PracticalMoneySkills Activity Sheets
Here are some screen shots of the first activity:

 And the answer keys:

 
Click on the link and check these out!  They are awesome!  My class has 14, 15, and 16 year olds.  This is a perfect age to teach these skills.  Three of my teenage daughters are in this class.  All three started working at a local ice cream store at the age of 14 and all three have their own bank accounts.  They need to learn these skills.  They know a little, so this will be a good reminder for them as well as a test to see if they remember what I have tried to teach them at home as "mom", not Sunday School teacher.
The first one is: Keeping a Running Balance.  I am going to hand out the activity sheets to the kids and ask them to try and do them.  I have a feeling that they will be a little overwhelmed at first, but I want to see how far they can get on their own.  At whatever point that is, I will help walk them through it.  When they have all completed the paper, we will go over it and correct it.  Then, depending on time, we may go on to the second set of activity sheets which are: Reading a Bank Statement. The third set is: Reconciling an Account.  (I am skipping the paper that says, "Create a Check Register")  I don't want to spend the whole class time on this activity because I want to bring it back to the great talks and quotes from our leaders on this subject.


Next I am going to give each class member a copy of the pamphlet, "All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Finances."  (Most bishops have a drawer full of these pamphlets, or you can get them from the distribution center online for free, or you can print them from the highlighted link in the next paragraph.)
Ask the youth what they think the First Presidency would say about managing our finances. Write their ideas on the board. Give each class member a copy of the pamphlet All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Finances. Read together the message from the First Presidency. What counsel does the First Presidency give regarding finances? What blessings do they promise?

We are going to play a game with this pamphlet.  I am going to ask a fill in the blank question.  The first person/team to find the answer within the pamphlet will receive a point.  At the end of the game the person/team with the most points will win a prize!  (Actually, I am a big softie and some kids read faster than others so everyone will get a prize but I can't tell them that up front!  ;) )  The prize will be a tithing envelope.  Haha!  Inside the envelope will be a "ticket" for a pizza party at my house. (Homemade pizza, of course!) They each have to earn 3 tickets in order to schedule the party.  Today they will earn 1 of the 3.  I will have activities for the next 2 times I teach to earn more tickets so we should be able to have the party in early December.

All Is Safely Gathered In Game:
1."Involve them in creating a ___________ and ________________________."
(budget, setting family financial goals )  TEACH FAMILY MEMBERS

2. "Successful family finances begin with _____________________________
______________." (the payment of an honest tithe and a generous fast offering)
PAY TITHES AND OFFERINGS

3."_______________________________ is essential to your financial security."
(Spending less than you make) AVOID DEBT

4. "__________ build a ___________ and ____________________________."
(Gradually, reserve, use it for emergencies only) BUILD A RESERVE

5. "Discipline yourself ______________________." (to live within your means)
USE A BUDGET

6. "________________ of your expenditures. (Keep a record) USE A BUDGET

7. "Save money __________________________." (to purchase what you need)
AVOID DEBT

Finally, I want to end with the following questions from the lesson outline:
Ask the youth to share what they learned today. Do they understand the importance of financial self-reliance well enough to explain it to others? Do they have any additional questions? Would it be worthwhile to spend more time on this topic?