here are many ways to spend your money. Shouid you buy that new book you've had your eye on or save up

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1 a- retu #ffiffi&&reffi ItP opie fitst; the loey;'the thigs," Suze Orra,,, I,.,, fiaciat adviser, here are may ways to sped your moey. Shouid you buy that ew book you've had your eye o or save up for a weeked of fu with frieds? There's a simple way to help decide: Make a budget-a pla for spedig ad savig moey. This badge wl help you lear to create a budget that's right for you. $teps 1. Practice budgetig for your values 2. Lear to track your spedig 3. Fid out about ways to save moey 4. Explore differet ways to give 5. Create a budgetthatfocuses o yourvalues PurSeose Whe l've eared this badge, l'll be able to keep traek of my moey, save for thigs I eed ad wat, ad help others bygivig. "roo=r,*o,

2 I Praetice budgetig I for your values Your budget is moretha just a waytotrackyour moey-howyou choose to sped your moey shows what's importat to you. l a way, it's a statemet of your values. For example, if healthy livig is importat to you, you may wat to budget for a gym membership or exercise class. lf music is your passio, you may choose to save for music lessos or a musical istrumet-or earmark moey to buy your favorite tues. tf you have a favorite cause, you may wish togive moeyto a orgaizatio thatsupports it. You ca groupyour moey decisios itothree categories: sped, save, ad give. "Sped" icludes thigs you'd like to buy right ow; "Save" icludes savigforthefuture ad for items thatyou wat butca't buy right ow; "Give" icludes aywaysyou wat to use moeyto hetp others,from doatigto a charityto buyigschool supplies for chdre at a homeless shelter. ehorces - Do one: Create a team values list. Have a discussio with your Cadette frieds. How does your group hadle its moey? How much do you wat to put aside i each of the three categories? This is a good time for some forward thikig. Is there somethig special you could see puttig moey toward i the future? You do't eed to make a pla just yet, but it ever hurts to start collectig thoughts about your future spedig plas so you ca be ready whe the time is right. J OR Make your ow values list. Write a list of all the thigs you d like to have or do that cost moey. Somethig ew for your home? Check. Nice gifts for your frieds ad famy? Check. A regular doatio to a cause you believe i? Check. Make the list as log as you like. The take a serious look at what you've writte ad group the items ito categories: must have; ice but ot ecessary; or ot really importat to me. Sit dow with famy or frieds ad talk about how you'd like to use your moey. ll t--l Fid out how other peopte budget to reflect their values. Talk to at least three adults about how they make choices whe it comes to spedig moey. Ask them if they ever chaged their priorities ad how that affected their budget.

3 STEP J abxmrx&%remk To come upwith a budgetthatworks, you eed to kowwhere your moey goes. Without trackig your spedig, it's all too easy to forget about that slice of pizza you bought or the figera polishyou pieked upfor a fried's birthday. chorces - Do one: Get o the "write" track. Documet your spedig habits by keepig a log for a week. Make a ote every time you make ay purchase, icludig what you bought, how much it cost, ad aythig that might have iflueced your decisio to buy it. For example, did you buy a bracelet because you were with your frieds ad they were all buyig bracelets? Did you splurge o a packet of cookies because you were hugry? Or did you impulsively buy your best fried a preset because you were i a great mood? After a week, go over your log ad ote ay patters about whe ad why you buy thigs. J OR Spot spedig habits. Oce you've started to track your spedig, sit dow with your Girl Scout frieds or famy members to discuss your spedig habits. This is the best way to spot patters ad provides a startig poit for areas to cut back spedig. You ca also do this by yourself; simply go over your record keepig ad write dow or highlight repeated spedig treds. m Preted you're a psychologist. You ca lear a lot by observig other people's behaviors, which is oe of the thigs a psychologist does. For a week, takes otes o what you see people buyig at stores or the mall. Is there aythig that you would decide ot to buy if you were tryig to save moey? Ca you thik of lower-cost optios that would get you what you wat, like checkig a book or DVD out of the library for free?.ffi "rr=r," "

4 -;..!! & 'i' j I t.,i,"j 1 sy&p r;l s 1, *S f, & A. 5e *F F$ffi# *Lee ffiffi iiere ffi$83 r*ffie wews && s&w& ffieexew Keepiga bakaccout as oe popularwaytosave moey.you ca also putyour moey i a persoal bakat home. ffi$4&{ s$ * ms strs: Do field research. If you d Iike to observe some moey maagemet fi.rsthad, try visitig the people who make a career out of maagig moey-bakers ad bak tellers. Ask your parets to take you alog o the ext visit to their bak or credit uio. The set up a quick meetig to talk with someoe who ca tell you more about how checkig ad savigs accouts work. Let moey talk. If you ca't get to a bak, have the bak come to you. Ivite a bak employee or fiacial adviser to speak to your group about moey maagemet. Ask your speaker about fiacial basics like iterest rates; differet kids of accouts such as savigs, checkig, or moey market; ad the differece betwee baks ad credit uios. OR::::::: Hit the books. Your local library probably has a etire sectio devoted to budgetig ad fiacial plaig. Check out some budgetig guides or books o bakig basics. Ask a libraria for a good place to get started. EMG1 W&"ei IEEVTNGst L-_.*-J /'ri ol',rv. I I r5ffry { l' x I. ( tl ih!$_ ti\ tlt I i II ititr \i3g tt

5 v4 STEP Exp3ere d6fferee?& weys &o gtve Lediga had tosomeoe i eed is a surefirewaytofeel good about yourself. Fid out what you ca do with your moey to beefit others.you do't eed to make aygivigdecisios just yet, butyour research might ispireyou to iclude the eeds of r others ito your budget ad fiacial plaig. I / chorces - Do one: t I Lead with your heart. Thik of three thigs that are importat to you. The research causes that touch o that iterest. Maybe your famy pet makes the list. Is there a aimal shelter that could use your help? Be creative; there are lots of opportuities to give. OR v Team up with others. Gather a few frieds or famy members to discuss differet ways to doate moey. For example, you could make a doatio as part of your Take Actio project. Or, if there's a orgaizatio you wat to help fiacially, fid out how it would use the fuds. Compare ad cotrast-what does your group thik would be the most effective use of your moey? D Lear from a professioal. Ivite someoe from a phathropic or oprofit orgaizatio to talk to your Girl Scout group. Ask about how doatios help the orgaizatio, how fud-raisig works, ad how decisios are made about usig moey. t "rorr'*,

6 Q?ED E c=.eaee a buc=ge='that r, focuses &sx &r&&er wm&x,xes It's time to make some big decisios. What wl you budget for? What thigs w! go ito your spedig ad savig categories? Ad what wl you be givig moey to? This is the joy of havig a budget-it helps you take charge of your moey ad put it to good use. CHOICES * DC GNE: Make a savigs actio pla. Decide o somethig you'd like to save moey to buy. Fid out how much your chose future purchase wl cost. That wl be the amout you eed to save to reach your goal. The do the math: If you have a certai amout you ca put away each week or moth, how log wl it take to reach your goal? Or, if you kow you wat to reach your goal i a certai amout of time, how much wl you have to save each week/moth to reach your goal i that time? Form a support Slroup. Team up with your Cadette frieds to offer each other advice o spedig, savig, ad makig decisios. Work together to create budget poits that you all agree o. The discuss where ad why your budgets differ. OR lmagie yourself i the future. Evisio your life 10 years from ow. What do you thik you'd eed to buy? What big purchases would you like to save for? How much would you like to be able to give? Create a practice budget so you ca begi to see how you might use your moey i the future.

7 $ample Budget Suppose you received a gift of S1OO to sped however you wated. How do you thik you would sped it? Here are three possible. examples of ways a girl might budget the moey. What values do you thik are reflected by each group of choices? l the fourth row, write how you would budget your surprise SIOO. Give Budget I Sgooagood qualitycoat SlO to the America Red Cross V Budget 2 S7O o cocert tickets for you ad afried Sl5forfamy holidaygifts S15 tothe localaimal shelter Budget 3 S25 o a dace lesso S5O for future tripto look atcolleges S25 to a food bak BUDGETTNG

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