Spending Wisely

Overview

A 60-minute Year 9 Social Sciences session, final lesson in the unit Smart Spending Strategies. Students create personal spending plans applying financial knowledge and develop saving/spending strategies. They collaborate in pairs giving peer feedback, then reflect on real-life application. The plan aligns with the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh, focusing on financial literacy, key competencies, and future-focused citizenship and enterprise.

Curriculum Links

Learning Area: Social Sciences (Years 9-10)
Future Focus: Enterprise – innovative, entrepreneurial thinking about money management
Key Competencies: Thinking; Using language, symbols and texts; Managing self; Relating to others; Participating and contributing
Achievement Objectives:
- Explore personal financial decision-making and impacts (Social Sciences level 5-6)
- Develop and apply skills for budgeting, saving, and spending wisely
- Reflect critically on self-management of resources for wellbeing, citizenship, enterprise

Learning Objectives

By lesson’s end, students will:

Understand components of a personal spending plan (income, expenses, savings, goals)
Apply budgeting and goal-setting to create their own plan
Devise strategies to manage money wisely for achieving goals
Collaborate to share plans and provide constructive peer feedback
Reflect on how to implement and adapt these strategies in their everyday lives

Lesson Plan (60 mins)

Time	Activity	Description	NZC Links (Key Competencies/AO)
10m	Warm-up & Recap	Quick review of needs vs wants, budgeting basics. Discuss why spending plans matter.	Thinking; Managing self
10m	Intro to Spending Plans	Explain plan parts: income, expenses, savings, goals. Show sample plan. Discuss setting realistic goals.	Using language, symbols and texts; Thinking
20m	Create Personal Plan	Individually complete personal spending plan templates. Identify income, expenses, savings goals. Encourage realistic, meaningful goals.	Managing self; Thinking
10m	Peer Sharing & Feedback	In pairs, share plans and give positive, constructive feedback. Use prompts to support quality discussion.	Relating to others; Participating and contributing
10m	Reflection & Discussion	Reflect on implementing plans in daily life. Discuss challenges and adaptations. Set a personal money goal.	Managing self; Thinking; Citizenship (enterprise)

Resources

Personal spending plan template (paper/digital)
Example plan on board/screen
Pens, calculators, or spreadsheet tools if available
Reflection prompt sheet

Assessment

Formative: Teacher observes plan creation for understanding budgeting and goal-setting
Peer: Quality of feedback given in pairs
Self-reflection: Completed reflection sheets on implementation plans

Differentiation

Supported templates and sentence starters for those needing scaffolds.
Digital budgeting tools for extension learners.
Encourage exploring interest rates or cost comparisons for deeper investigation.

Teaching Inspiration

Use real NZ contexts (whānau budgeting, community financial support) to connect content culturally and socially.
Integrate digital tools to boost digital literacy alongside financial skills.
Encourage ongoing learning: students commit to tracking a spending/saving goal post-lesson.
Promote positive peer interaction to develop communication and teamwork skills alongside financial literacy.

This lesson, grounded in the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh, empowers students with critical financial capability and key competencies, preparing them to be confident, thoughtful managers of their personal resources now and into the future.

Teaching Instructions