Misjudged Value

Last night during Resurrection our 7th/8th grade program we looked at budgeting with the teens. It was a really interesting experience because for most of them…actually probably all of them it was the first time they did something like this. The first action step we had them accomplish was write down three “big dream” items that they wanted. Most of the boys in my group put house, college, cars and televisions. Next, we had them write down the price they thought it cost for some of these things. This is what I learned about a 7th grade boys perception on the cost of things:

• television – $500
• car – $1000 (one students says, doesn’t matter how much as long as it runs)
• house – $10,000
• college – $10,000

I have to say, when we asked this question I thought we would get a lot of XBox 360’s and laptops, but these students are thinking about the big things…I guess they just don’t know how big some of these things are. But that’s okay. The next step was to take their monthly income (which for some was taking the money they think they make in a year and divide that by 12) and calculate how many months or years it would take for them to save up for that. It was definitely an overwhelming experience but got their minds thinking.
It made me think about the importance of budgeting and starting early with kids when it comes to their money. Because if they can be wise now in small matters, being wise in big matters shouldn’t be a problem. For those of us who are adults…it’s never too late to start budgeting, even if you are in difficult times.