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Math / Grade 3

Plan before spending

Learning goal: Separate a pretend spending plan from actual payments, and count money set aside without counting it twice.

Before you start: Add and subtract whole numbers up to 500. All prices are fictional and use cents.

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Plan a Pretend Craft Budget

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Video transcript and practice. Reading or printing does not count as playback time or an assessed grade.

1. A plan is not a payment

Video: 0:00

Video illustration: A plan is not a payment. The spoken explanation follows.
A plan is not a payment: video illustration

Our pretend craft shop sells paper and ribbon. We have five hundred cents. Before buying anything, we can make a budget: a plan for how to use that money. Writing down a plan does not spend it. Our paper wallet can relax for a moment.

2. Add the planned costs

Video: 0:19

Video illustration: Add the planned costs. The spoken explanation follows.
Add the planned costs: video illustration

One paper pack costs one hundred forty cents. One ribbon costs sixty cents. Add those prices to find the planned cost: two hundred cents. Every number is in cents. At this point we have only made a plan, so we still hold five hundred cents.

3. Record what actually happens

Video: 0:39

Video illustration: Record what actually happens. The spoken explanation follows.
Record what actually happens: video illustration

Now we actually buy the paper and ribbon for two hundred cents. Subtract the payment from five hundred. Three hundred cents remain. Check that the receipt matches the agreed prices. If it does not, ask a trusted adult to help check the difference. Do not secretly change the receipt.

4. Set some money aside

Video: 1:02

Video illustration: Set some money aside. The spoken explanation follows.
Set some money aside: video illustration

We decide to keep one hundred of our remaining cents for a later goal. That leaves two hundred available to spend now. We still have three hundred altogether. Setting some money aside changes our plan for it. It does not mean we paid someone another hundred cents.

5. Pause: try a new plan

Video: 1:23

Video illustration: Pause: try a new plan. The spoken explanation follows.
Pause: try a new plan: video illustration

Try a fresh shop with different stated prices. You have three hundred cents. Paper costs eighty cents and ribbon costs forty cents. Pause and add the two costs. How much would remain after buying both? If you only wrote the plan and bought nothing, how much would you still hold?

6. Check the plan and the payment

Video: 1:45

Video illustration: Check the plan and the payment. The spoken explanation follows.
Check the plan and the payment: video illustration

The two costs add to one hundred twenty cents. After paying that amount, one hundred eighty cents remain. But if you only made the plan, you still hold three hundred cents. The words after buying matter. They tell us whether money actually went out.

7. A new unit, not extra money

Video: 2:05

Video illustration: A new unit, not extra money. The spoken explanation follows.
A new unit, not extra money: video illustration

Fun fact: one dollar and one hundred cents name the same amount of money. Our three hundred cents can also be called three dollars. The number looks smaller, but no money disappeared. Keep the units together when you add or subtract.

8. Continue to your craft budget

Video: 2:24

Video illustration: Continue to your craft budget. The spoken explanation follows.
Continue to your craft budget: video illustration

Continue to the worksheet below. It has its own starting amount and prices. Add costs, subtract actual payments, and add money when it is received. Then separate the amount set aside from the amount available to spend. Use only the pretend figures, not your family's private money information.

Show your understanding

You can point, explain aloud, draw or write.

  • Distinguish a planned cost from a completed payment when calculating the money still held.
  • Separate money set aside from money available to spend without subtracting it twice from the total held.

Try it yourself

Pause at the new 300-cent budget with costs of 80 and 40. Compare the amount after buying with the amount held if you only plan.

Continue to the worksheet. Keep all amounts in cents and use only the fictional figures.

Next: your worksheet

Plan a Pretend Craft Budget

https://s3u.com/mb390

Practice payments and change at Cash Counter

Lesson: https://s3u.com/lessons/plan-before-spending