Budgeting and opportunity cost
Every pound spent on one thing is a pound that cannot be spent on something else — that trade-off is called opportunity cost.
Part of your national curriculum
- Financial capability: Understand the concept of a personal budget, opportunity cost, and the balance between managing money day-to-day and planning for the future
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Understand the concept of a personal budget, opportunity cost, and the balance between managing money day-to-day and planning for the future
Key learning points
- • What is a budget?
- • Opportunity cost
- • Balancing now and later
This lesson at a glance
- 22 minutes
- 14 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 14
Watch first
Budgeting and opportunity cost
An English teaching video on this topic from Learn Bright. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Understand the concept of a personal budget, opportunity cost, and the balance between managing money day-to-day and planning for the future
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 14
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · What is a budget?
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 14
Learn
What is a budget?
A personal budget lists income against planned spending over a period, such as a month. It helps someone see whether they are spending more than they earn and where they might need to cut back.
Explore the idea
Part 4 of 14
Learn
Opportunity cost
Opportunity cost is the value of the next best alternative given up when a choice is made. Spending £30 on trainers means giving up whatever else that £30 could have bought, such as saving towards a phone.
Quick check
Part 5 of 14
Quick check
What does a personal budget compare?
Reset break
Part 6 of 14
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 7 of 14
Quick check
What is meant by 'opportunity cost'?
Learning cycle
Part 8 of 14
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Balancing now and later
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 9 of 14
Learn
Balancing now and later
Good budgeting balances everyday needs, like transport and food, with saving for future goals, like a holiday or emergencies. Setting aside even a small regular amount builds a habit that pays off over time.
Quick check
Part 10 of 14
Quick check
Why is it useful to save a small regular amount?
Challenge round
Part 11 of 14
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 12 of 14
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
A ____ budget lists income against planned spending over a period, such as a month.
____ cost is the value of the next best alternative given up when a choice is made.
Mastery quiz
Part 13 of 14
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Budgeting and opportunity cost
3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. What does a personal budget compare?
2. What is meant by 'opportunity cost'?
3. Why is it useful to save a small regular amount?
Lesson round-up
Part 14 of 14
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
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Points this lesson
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Best run
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Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
Should the town centre have a curfew for under-16s?
After a rise in reported vandalism, Harbrook council proposed that under-16s should not be in the town centre after 9 pm without an adult. Police recorded 62 incidents last year, most between 9 pm and midnight. Shopkeepers signed a petition supporting the plan.
A youth council objected. They pointed out that most young people in town at night were going home from sports clubs or work, that the plan punishes a whole group for the acts of a few, and that the library and the bus interchange are in the town centre. They asked instead for a late bus and a youth space.
The council voted to trial the curfew for six months and to publish the crime figures at the end.
Written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Give the strongest point on each side of the argument, using a fact from the case.
- Whose rights and whose responsibilities are involved here? Explain both.
- Write your own view on the curfew with reasons and one example.
Reading and response
ReadingRead the case in the lesson again and write what you think should happen, and why it is fair. Use one fact from the case as evidence.
2 paragraphs (PEE)
Extended writing
WritingWrite your answer to the lesson's big question in full: the strongest point on each side, then your own view with reasons and an example.
250–350 words
Reading log
ReadingFind one news story this week that links to this lesson. Note the headline, where you read it, and how it connects.
1 story, 4–5 sentences
Two sides of the argument
WritingWrite the strongest point for, the strongest point against, and then your own view with a reason.
3 paragraphs
Poster or leaflet plan
DiagramPlan a leaflet that explains this right or responsibility to someone your age, then photograph it.
1 planned page
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 14 · Watch & discover
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Understand the concept of a personal budget, opportunity cost, and the balance between managing money day-to-day and planning for the future