Name:
Date:
Week of:
How to use this worksheet. This sheet is not about being told what to spend. It is about seeing where money actually goes, so the choices you make are yours and deliberate rather than accidental.
PART 1
Needs and Wants
Read this together first.
The difference, plainly
- A need is something that causes a real problem if you go without it — rent, food, transport to work, medication.
- A want is everything else. Wants are not bad; they are just the part you can choose about.
- The same item can be either, depending on the situation. A phone plan you need for work is a need; the larger plan is partly a want.
Key idea: The point is not to cut every want. It is to know which is which before you decide.
PART 2
Sorting My Own Spending
List real things you spent money on recently, then sort them.
1.Three things I spent money on this week that were needs:
2.Three things that were wants:
3.Was anything harder to sort than I expected? Which, and why?
Clarify — If an item feels like both, write down what would happen if you went without it for a month. The answer usually decides which column it belongs in.
PART 3
Tracking One Week
Fill this in across the week, not all at once at the end.
4.Money in this week (wages, allowance, benefits, gifts):
5.Money out this week — biggest three:
6.Roughly what is left?
7.Anything that surprised me?
Clarify — Estimate rather than skip. An approximate week you actually complete teaches you more than an exact week you abandon on Wednesday.
PART 4
One Saving Goal
Small and real beats big and imaginary.
8.Something I want to save for:
9.Roughly what does it cost?
10.How much could I realistically put aside each week?
11.At that rate, about how many weeks will it take?
12.Where will the money physically sit so I do not spend it by accident?
Clarify — Do the division even if the answer is discouraging — a real timeline you can see beats a vague plan. If the number of weeks feels impossible, try a smaller goal rather than abandoning the idea.
PART 5
A Decision I Am Making on Purpose
Finish with one concrete choice.
13.One spending decision I want to make differently:
14.What will I do instead, specifically?
15.How will I know at the end of next week whether it worked?
Clarify — Name the replacement, not just the thing you are stopping. “Take lunch from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays” works; “spend less on food” does not, because there is nothing to actually do.
💡 Tips for You: Small Numbers, Told the Truth
- Track one real week before you change anything. You cannot budget a guess. One honest week beats a month of estimates.
- Turn the goal into a weekly number. “Save $300” is a wish. “$25 a week for twelve weeks” is a plan you can check.
- One decision on purpose beats a perfect budget. Change a single spend deliberately and let the rest stay as it is.
Reflection
Which was harder to be honest about — what you spend, or what you want? What is your weekly number? What is the one spending decision you are choosing to make on purpose?
— End of Worksheet —
Bring this to your next session and talk it through.
FOR MENTOR USE — STUDY THIS TOGETHER
Mentor Guide
How to run this worksheet, use the hints, and review it together
1. What this builds
Practical money reasoning without moralising: separating needs from wants, seeing a real week of spending, converting a goal into a weekly rate and a timeline, and committing to one specific change. The sheet deliberately avoids telling the student what they ought to spend money on.
2. Running it
- Read the part headings aloud together before the student starts. Knowing the shape of the sheet lowers the cost of starting.
- There are no wrong answers on the fill-in lines — this is the student's own thinking, not a test.
- Every working part has a Clarify hint. The student should try the part first and read the hint only if stuck. It gives a strategy, never words to copy.
- If a line stays blank, that is information. Ask what made it hard rather than filling it in for them.
3. What to watch for
- Part 2 items that a student insists are needs when they are wants — do not argue. Ask the “what happens if you go a month without it” question and let their own answer do the work.
- Part 3 abandoned mid-week. That is the commonest failure and it is about the habit, not the arithmetic. Offer to do a two-day version instead.
- Part 4 producing a discouraging timeline. Resist fixing it with optimism; help them pick a smaller goal so the math becomes encouraging honestly.
- Watch for shame. If the sheet becomes a report card on their choices it will not get filled in truthfully, and an untruthful sheet teaches nothing.
4. Reviewing it
Review with the student, not by marking the page. Ask them to read one answer aloud and say why they wrote it — the reason matters more than the wording.
Finish by agreeing one specific thing to try before the next session. Write it on the last line so it is not lost.