Business Studies · 3rd Year

Active learning ideas

Managing My Money: Income and Expenditure

We all handle money, but do we really know where it comes from and where it goes? This topic turns students into financial detectives, uncovering their own spending habits.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• Junior Cycle Business Studies Specification: Personal Finance Strand, LO 1.1, 1.2

• 15–20 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Stations Rotation
• 20 min · Pairs

Needs vs. Wants Card Sort

Provide pairs of students with a deck of cards, each featuring an item or service (e.g., 'rent', 'new runners', 'cinema ticket', 'groceries'). Students must sort these cards into two columns, 'Needs' and 'Wants', and be prepared to justify their more contentious choices to the class.

Identify the various sources of income available to an individual.

Facilitation Tip

Encourage debate around items like 'Wi-Fi' or 'a mobile phone' to explore how context can change a want into a need.

What to look for

Use an exit ticket where students must list one personal need, one personal want, and one source of income they have.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Stations Rotation
• 15 min · Individual

The One-Week Spending Diary

Students are given a simple template to track all their spending for one week. They then categorise each expense as a 'need' or a 'want' and total the amounts to see where their money is actually going.

Explain the difference between a 'need' and a 'want' using personal examples.

Facilitation Tip

For students with no personal income, provide a case study of a fictional teenager to analyse instead.

What to look for

Students complete a project where they create a one-month budget for a given scenario (e.g., a teenager with a part-time job), justifying their spending and savings decisions.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Stations Rotation
• 15 min · Small Groups

Income Sources Brainstorm

In small groups, students use a large sheet of paper to mind-map all the possible sources of income for a teenager. Challenge them to then create a separate mind-map for the income sources of a typical adult.

Analyse a personal spending diary to identify patterns and areas for potential savings.

Facilitation Tip

Prompt groups to think beyond just a job, including things like pocket money, gifts, selling old items, or government payments.

What to look for

Students use a simple rubric to review their own spending diary, rating their ability to identify spending patterns and find potential savings.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Start with what's familiar: pocket money, lunch money, and buying sweets or magazines. Use a 'think-pair-share' for the Needs vs. Wants activity to build confidence before a whole-class discussion. When introducing the spending diary, provide a clear, simple template to help them get started without feeling overwhelmed.

By the end of these activities, your students will be able to confidently explain the difference between a need and a want and create a simple plan to manage their own money.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• All income comes from having a job.

  A job provides a wage or salary, which is one type of income. However, income is any money you receive, which can also include pocket money, gifts, government benefits like Children's Allowance, or profit from selling something.

• If I have enough money to buy something, it must be a need.

  Affordability is different from necessity. A need is something essential for survival, like food, water, and shelter. A want is something you would like to have but could live without. You might be able to afford a new video game, but it's a want, not a need.

• A budget is just about stopping you from spending money.

  A budget isn't about restriction; it's about control. It's a plan that helps you see where your money is going so you can make sure you're spending it on the things that are most important to you, including saving for future goals.

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Methods used in this brief

• Stations Rotation