PERSONAL FINANCE - SPRING, 2026

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DATE	Information/Activities/Projects and Assignments
THURSDAY 2/26/2026	BELLRINGER: Meet me at the BIG TIV for a discussion of TYPES OF INSURANCE. I know that this information is a little dry and difficult to understand, but please take notes, it is very important. We had a few INSURANCE ASSIGNMENTS last class period that need to be completed, as well as a few new assignments, seen below: Please complete the INSURANCE BASICS CHALLENGE QUESTIONS- 25 points. Please complete the MR. B.'S INSURANCE ISSUE THINKING SHEET. 25 points. Let's SIMULATE some practical research! Please complete the Health, Life and Disability INSURANCE SIMULATION PROJECT- 25 points Please complete the LIFE INSURANCE THINKING SHEET. Give strong answers to this and please review all of the information in the article, as best you can! Please consider the personal financial situation of one of the most recognizable people in America, who has been a TV Celebrity for over 30 years- Homer Simpson. Please review The "HOMER SIMPSON'S PERSONAL FINANCES" Thinking Sheet. Let's try something actually FUN for a change! Let's play the "SHADY SAM the LOAN SHARK GAME": Yes, you get to scam customers (legally) out of their hard won cash by loaning them money. Complete a game and send me a screenshot (you can use your phone, if you need to) and I will give you 2 extra credit points for every $ that you earned in the final game screen, just because you are such an amazing person! If you liked that last game and want to try another, just for fun, you could play a game of LIFE, CAMERA, BUDGET. See how much money you can make as a movie producer. Not exactly Personal Finance related, but mildly amusing and educational. Complete a game and send me a screen shot and I will award you 10 extra credit points. Unless you were really bad and lost money, of course!
TUESDAY 2/24/2026	BELLRINGER: Meet me at the BIG TIV for a discussion of TYPES OF INSURANCE. I know that this information is a little dry and difficult to understand, but please take notes, it is very important. We have some assignments connected to this. Please work on the following: Please complete the INSURANCE BASICS CHALLENGE QUESTIONS- 25 points. Please complete the MR. B.'S INSURANCE ISSUE THINKING SHEET. 25 points. Let's SIMULATE some practical research! Please complete the Health, Life and Disability INSURANCE SIMULATION PROJECT- 25 points Please complete the INSURANCE BASICS CHALLENGE QUESTIONS- 25 points. Please complete the MR. B.'S INSURANCE ISSUE THINKING SHEET. 25 points.
MONDAY 2/23/2026	BELLRINGER: Hey, it's a celebratory type of day with a class period that is only 35 minutes long, let's take things easy for a change. Let's complete THE CASE OF THE JUGGLING ACT THINKING SHEET from Til Debt Do Us Part. Please answer the questions as we go. Next class period, we will start our review of TYPES OF INSURANCE.
THURSDAY 2/19/2026	BELLRINGER: Please complete the EMERGENCY FUND THINKING SHEET. I would like this to be completed today for 25 points. WORK FOR TODAY: If you have not done so, please complete the CAR INSURANCE SIMULATION PROJECT. As of this morning, I only had FOUR submissions for this project so far. We also have the new I CAUSED A CAR ACCIDENT RESEARCH PROJECT to work on today, as well. I want SOLID RESEARCH on this. If you finish in 10 minutes, I probably will not be giving you very many points, because I am expecting a lot more effort than that. If people are not working or if everyone appears to be done with all of the work above, we will start our review of TYPES OF INSURANCE.
TUESDAY 2/17/2026	BELLRINGER: FIRST, I want to review the 500 DOLLAR PROJECT. How does each "Lender" work? Pros and Cons? Which is the actual best option in the scenario as given. Does this sound "right"? Then let's see what we know about INSURANCE. Please complete the INSURANCE BASICS THINKING SHEET. Think of this as a pre-test. Haha. WORK FOR TODAY: We review a really interesting and exciting topic! CAR INSURANCE. Wow! That will be fun! And let's learn from people that are less fortunate the us. Please complete the LEARNING FROM CAR INSURANCE HORROR STORIES THINKING SHEET. Let's SIMULATE some practical research! Please complete the CAR INSURANCE SIMULATION PROJECT.
THURSDAY 2/12/2026	BELLRINGER: Mr. B. demonstrates what happens when a young adult doesn't pay their credit card bill. It isn't pretty. We review the FINANCIAL DIARY OF A YOUNG ADULT. We also need to finish our discussion of CREDIT. This may be the most important discussion you have in any class in high school. Please take notes. WORK FOR TODAY: There are a number of small assignments that go with our discussion of CREDIT: We look at a credit card to figure out the details. Please complete the "CREDIT CARD QUESTIONS TO ASK" THINKING SHEET. Please complete the "I DID SOMETHING STUPID WITH MY CREDIT CARD" THINKING SHEET. THE CREDIT REPORT SELF-DIRECTED COMPLETELY OPTIONAL INDEPENDENT PROJECT: You can undertake this exercise on your own, if you wish: A young adult could and should access their own personal credit report. To do this, click through to annualcreditreport.com, which is the only Federal Government authorized way to access your credit reports for free, once per year. This being the case, experts recommend using this site 3x per year. Once for your Experian report, once for your TransUnion report and once for your Equifax report, four months apart for each. A CURIOUS YOUNG ADULT SHOULD GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS EARLY ON IN THEIR LIFE, to see if there is anything on their credit report. A young adult could click on REQUEST YOUR FREE CREDIT REPORT. You will need to know your Social Security number and might need to know some personal information, as well. Young adults NEED to know what is in their report and what their report says about them. A smart consumer NEEDS to control this information! OUR UPCOMING MINI-PROJECT: The 500 DOLLARS PROJECT. I need to see some good research and thorough answers to the questions in this project. We will discuss this as a class.
MONDAY 2/9/2026	BELLRINGER: Mr. B. is out today, but it is still time for our PERSONAL FINANCE UNIT ONE EXAM- BASIC BUDGETING. Sorry, but you cannot use your notes. You have only 44 minutes to complete this exam, so you will need to get right to work! Good Luck! If you do not complete your test during the class period, I am OK with you staying through lunch to complete it, if necessary! WORK FOR TODAY: Please complete the PERSONAL FINANCE UNIT ONE EXAM- BASIC BUDGETING.
THURSDAY 2/5/2026	BELLRINGER: It's almost VALENTINE'S DAY! YAY! How about we consider Valentine's Day from a Personal Finance perspective? Please complete the FINANCIALS OF VALENTINE'S DAY THINKING SHEET. Maybe I could give you 20 points for this? Here is the EXAM ONE STUDY GUIDE. Please spend time reviewing this today. Major topics on the sheet are LINKS to the lectures for each subject. This is a tough test and it is CLOSED NOTE, you must be prepared! The test will be on MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9th and Mr. B. will NOT be here that day! WORK FOR TODAY: Make sure you have completed your DOING YOUR TAXES ASSIGNMENT and the DO SOMETHING FUN FOR A CHANGE ASSIGNMENT. Make sure you enter these two items in your LIFE BUDGET. TIME TO BUY A CAR! Please complete the BUYING A CAR MINI-PROJECT. Use the NERDWALLET Car Financing Tool, to figure out monthly car payments, especially showing how CREDIT SCORE effects car loan prices. Add these amounts to your LIFE BUDGET. Please note that I have updated this form to get car value data from EDMUND'S instead of KBB, it should actually work now, but you will need to follow instructions!
TUESDAY 2/3/2026 *CLASS SUMMARY FROM AUDIO RECORDING*	BELLRINGER: Please splend a few minutes completing the BIG TAX REFUND THINKING SHEET. This will be worth 10 points in the gradebook! Here is the EXAM ONE STUDY GUIDE. Please spend time reviewing this. Major topics on the sheet are LINKS to the lectures for each subject. This is a tough test and it is CLOSED NOTE, you must be prepared! The test will be on MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9th and Mr. B. will NOT be here that day! LEARNING FOR TODAY: BUYING A CAR. OUR ASSIGNMENTS FOR TODAY: Make sure you have completed your DOING YOUR TAXES ASSIGNMENT and the DO SOMETHING FUN FOR A CHANGE ASSIGNMENT. Make sure you enter these two items in your LIFE BUDGET. TIME TO BUY A CAR! Please complete the BUYING A CAR MINI-PROJECT. To help with this, Mr. Burkhard does a quick demonstration of the NERDWALLET Car Financing Tool, especially showing how CREDIT SCORE effects car loan prices. Add these amounts to your LIFE BUDGET.
MONDAY 2/2/2026 *CLASS SUMMARY FROM AUDIO RECORDING*	BELLRINGER: Let's treat the "IS THE LOTTERY A TAX ON THE POOR" THINKING SHEET as your bellringer for today. 20 points! OUR ASSIGNMENTS FOR TODAY: You now have a DOING YOUR TAXES ASSIGNMENT. This assignment will have you completing a basic 1040 form and completing all required elements, plus a couple of other pertinent questions along the way. Welcome to being an adult. Can we PLEASE do something fun for a change? YES! Please complete the DO SOMETHING FUN FOR A CHANGE ASSIGNMENT. Make sure you enter this in your monthly BUDGET.