Finance
Introduction
It's Saturday night and you can do literally whatever you want. What would you do? Sit at home on your couch and channel surf? Play video games with your best friend—and win? Go shopping and pig out at the food court? Fly to Hawaii and back?
Guess what? All those things cost money.
Even the things you think are free…aren't.
- That channel surfing you're doing? Your parents are paying for the cable bill.
- School? Yeah, taxpayers pay for that.
- WiFi at the library? Cut budgets, and that'll be outta here.
Sure, some people carry $1100 in their wallets, but you don't need to be a celebrity to know the impact of dolla dolla billz. Once you're done folding the bills up into butterflies, you're gonna want to spend 'em.
But before you do, you need to start budgeting—a.k.a. keeping track of your cash.
And that's what we're talking about when we talk about financial responsibility: being responsible with money. Luckily, when you're responsible with money, you get something out of it—usually more money and more stuff. When you're responsible with your schoolwork, all you get is a stinkin' gold star.
So what do you need to know to be successful with the Benjamins?
- The difference between needs and wants
- How to identify your values
- How to identify your goals
- How your values and goals map on to your financial life
- How to save money
- How to keep a spending record and a set up a budget
- The basics of financial planning
Keep clicking through our guide to Financial Responsibility for all the deets.