Credit

This week in class we've been focusing on Credit. I thought this was extremely interesting because I'm going off to college next year and in the future I might need a credit card and this information might become useful. I have already started getting letters in the mail from credit card companies. This Summer my mom is signing me up for a debit card, but I know in the future I might have to consider credit cards. I think that I'm going to wait until I'm at least 21 to get a credit card. This is because of all the horror stories I have heard with college kids and credit cards. Also we learned this week about all the costs that come with credit cards. These includes, being able to easily spend money one doesn't have. Also there are a ton of fees that come with credit cards and interest if you don't pay your bill in time. There are also limits on how much you can spend on a credit card. Credit cards are also very prone to theft and fraud. Luckily, most companies catch the problem before it grows. Overall, I've enjoyed learning about credit cards and credit and what not to do with them. I don't believe I'll get a credit card until I need to. 

Budgets. Budgets. Budgets.

*Warning. This was wrote after taking an AP exam. Post may not make sense or appear disorganized. This was a result of an exhausted and drained Maria*

This week in class we continued to keep up with our bills and payments. On Monday we received our second paycheck, which helped replenish some of the classes bank accounts. Also during this week, we learned about a new concept of budgeting. Budgeting is essentially an outline of the money you receive and what you do with it. You can create a monthly or annual budget. For the sake of this post, I'm going to discuss budgets on a monthly basis. For your budget, you first have to figure out how much money you are making each month. Then you subtract your monthly bills from that income. Then comes insurance and transportation. You also have to pay for food, and entertainment. Whatever is left (if there is any) should be placed in savings. To introduce budgets, we discussed saving. Saving should be important to EVERYONE. We talked about how saving is a habit that needs to be developed. We should set aside money each month in savings. This is so if there is an emergency or an unexpected payment, there is money available so one doesn't go into debt. 
I personally feel that budgets are essential to maintain your  money. Without a budget, you would be spending money without knowing how much you had left. With a budget there is a less chance of you going overboard with your money. Budgets also are useful in showing you what you need to cut back on, maybe it's going out to eat every night, or spending too much on groceries. Without a budget you are less likely to maintain and control the amount of money you have and save. 

My First Experience With a Check

On Thursday, Mrs. Weser walked us through a lesson about how to write a check to pay a bill. I actually knew how to write a check before Thursday's lesson. When I was 7 or 8 my mom would take me with her to run errands. Most of the time we went to the bank first. My mom either had to deposit her pay check or would use a check to withdraw money from her account. At that age though, all I knew was if Mom had her checkbook, it meant the lady at the bank was going to give me a lollipop. However, on one of our trips to the bank I asked my mom how one piece of paper got her actual money. She showed the check to me and explained what the different parts of it meant. Some details she didn't mention like drawing a line after the amount you're withdrawing or depositing and how you have to write cents out of one hundred. I knew for the most part what was supposed to be filled in. 
I'm glad we're focusing on banking in the personal finance part of our class. I think it's important to know how to have and maintain a bank account and learn how to use it in the best way possible. Learning about the different types of accounts and the ways that interest plays a part is important as well. It's good to learn responsibility with money, so that we don't overspend or overpay. I also think that in today's world it's imperative that we learn about how to protect our money from fraud and theft. To wrap things up, I'm grateful that we're learning about banking and how to manage our money, because I think that will be very beneficial in the future.