LDS Mutual on Budgeting
Mormon Youth Activity on Money Management
Learning to manage money is an essential skill that many teens lack when they leave the nest. Latter-day Saints youth can be prepared to perform good money management with this fun mutual activity on budgeting. Whether it's used as a weeknight activity for scouts, young women, or a combined mutual activity, this budgeting game is a fun way for teens to learn that money doesn't grow on trees.
LDS Budgeting Mutual Overview and Prep
The purpose of this budget activity is for youth to have fun while learning about money management. By pretending that they are living on their own for a month, LDS teens will have a chance to see that living is pretty expensive.
This LDS mutual activity requires a calculator and pencil for each youth, copies of the food and essentials list below, a prepared list of part-time jobs and their wages, a list of fun things to do and their costs, and a way to transport youth to the nearest grocery store and back. Leaders will also have to prepare a list of part-time jobs and their hourly, monthly, and yearly pay.
Finding Grocery Store Prices
At the beginning of the money management youth activity, go to the grocery store and split up into groups of two or three. Give each person a list of living essentials for a week, such as:
- Toilet paper
- Shampoo
- Toothpaste
- Deodorant
- Laundry detergent
- Gallon of milk
- Loaf of bread
- Box of cereal
- 3 favorite snacks
- Pack of Ramen
- 7 prepared, boxed meals
As quickly as they can, youth are to find the items on their list and record their prices. (Remind them to be quiet and not to run, so they don't disturb other shoppers.)
While youth are finding the prices on their list, the leader should grab a few copies of an apartment guide and an auto classified ads magazine. These are free and available near the front door of most grocery stores.
Choose a Pretend Job for this LDS Mutual Exercise
Return to church and let the youth choose their future part-time job from a list prepared by the leader. Examples of jobs would be:
- Cashier
- Waiter/waitress
- Fast food worker
- Nurse's assistant
- Bank teller
- Office assistant/receptionist
- Telemarketer
Write each job along with its average hourly wage on slips of paper. Assume that youth will work part-time while attending college, and based on a 10-hour per week figure also write down each job's monthly and yearly pay.
Budget Activity for LDS Mutual
Prepare a budget sheet ahead of time for youth to fill out. Provide a place for them to list their monthly salary and then subtract:
- Tithing
- Rent (each person must pick a 2-bedroom apartment from the guide and split the cost with a roommate)
- Car payments (each youth picks a car from the classified ads, which usually list monthly payment)
- Cell phone and utilities (ask youth how much their current cell phone plan costs per month and use the average)
- Groceries and other essentials (sum of grocery store items on the list multiplied by four)
- Entertainment (prepare a list of fun activities — like going to the movies or eating out — plus their costs and have youth choose three)
Once Latter-day Saint youth look at their budgets, they will probably be surprised at how little is left for savings or anything else. Point out that if they are going to school they will also need to pay for all or part of their tuition, books, and school supplies. This may also be a good time to teach how to calculate price per ounce or other smart shopping skills.
LDS Mutual Money Management Lesson
End with some quotes from general authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the importance of budgeting and living within one's means. In life, people usually have to go without some things they want in order to stay out of debt.
Latter-day Saint youth may not always welcome the idea of a budget mutual night, but it can be made into a fun game and is vitally necessary to their independent success as young adults. In the Church of Jesus Christ, staying out of debt and living within one's means is so heavily emphasized precisely because it's a critical skill for people living on their own.
Readers should also see Mutual Activity List for more ideas of fun and/or spiritual LDS mutual activities.
LDS Mutual Activities - Budgeting and Money
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