Spending
"This topic concerns choices that people make to allocate their scarce resources to necessary and desired goods and services."
Grade 4
Spending 4-1
People differ in their preferences, priorities, and resources available for consuming goods and services.
4-1a. Give examples of differences in people’s preferences that can influence their spending on goods and services.
4-1b. Brainstorm a personal list of goals for consumption of goods and services.
4-1c. Prioritize future spending, taking resource limitations into account.
Spending 4-2
Money can be spent to increase one’s own or another individual’s personal satisfaction or to share the cost of goods and services.
4-2a. Describe ways that people in a community share the cost of services available to everyone.
4-2b. Analyze how people differ in their values and attitudes about spending money.
4-2c. Identify ways you spend your money to increase personal satisfaction.
Spending 4-3
When people make a decision to use money for a particular purpose, they incur an opportunity cost in that they cannot use the money for another purpose.
4-3a. Define the concept of opportunity cost.
4-3b. Provide examples of financial choices that have opportunity costs.
Spending 4-4
Purchasing decisions have costs and benefits that can be different for different people.
4-4a. Compare the costs and benefits of purchasing an item for people with different characteristics (e.g. age, income).
4-4b. Explain the costs and benefits of trading goods and services between family members and friends.
Spending 4-5
Price, spending choices of others, peer pressure, and advertising about a product or service can influence purchase decisions.
4-5a. Explain how peer pressure can affect purchasing decisions.
4-5b. Share examples of how price, spending choices of others, peer pressure, or advertising influence a purchase decision.
4-5c. Identify reliable sources of information when comparing products.
Spending 4-6
Payment methods for making purchases include cash, checks, debit cards, and credit cards.
4-6a. Explain the similarities between paying for purchases with cash, checks, and debit cards.
4-6b. Compare the effects of using debit versus credit cards to make purchases.
Grade 8
Spending 8-1
Creating a budget can help people make informed choices about spending, saving, and managing money in order to achieve financial goals.
8-1a. Identify personal goals for spending and saving.
8-1b. Create a budget that includes expenses and savings out of a given amount of income.
8-1c. Explain why people with identical incomes make different choices for spending, saving, and managing money.
8-1d. Discuss the budgeting challenges faced by people living on minimum wage.
Spending 8-2
Making an informed purchase decision requires a consumer to critically evaluate price, product claims, and quality information from a variety of sources.
8-2a. Select an item and gather information from the manufacturer’s website, retail websites, and consumer review websites.
8-2b. Explain the types of information most helpful in making a purchase decision.
8-2c. Identify misleading or deceptive information about consumer goods or services found in online and print sources.
8-2d. Discuss ways to verify a claim expressed in advertising for an age-appropriate product.
Spending 8-3
When evaluating information about goods and services, a consumer can better assess the quality and usefulness of the information by understanding the incentives of the information provider.
8-3a. Evaluate information about goods and services based on reliability and accuracy of the source.
8-3b. Assess strengths and weaknesses of various online and printed sources of product information.
8-3c. Identify sources of product information that are less useful for buying decisions due to incentive conflicts of the information provider.
Spending 8-4
Consumers weigh the costs and benefits of different payment methods to determine the best option for purchasing goods and services.
8-4a. Explain the difference between a debit card and a credit card.
8-4b. Explain how various payment methods are used to purchase goods and services.
8-4c. Summarize the advantages, disadvantages, risks, and protections of various payment methods.
8-4d. Choose and justify a preferred payment method for purchases of at least three different types of goods and services.
Grade 12 (Coming in the future)
Saving 12-x