Journey 34 · Adultingbeginning
Money Before Your First Paycheck
“I'm fifteen and everyone talks about money like I'm supposed to already understand it.”
You become: Someone who understands money before they have any
Written for 13-17. What a bank account actually is, what things really cost, why prices go up, how to earn your first money legally, and the scams built specifically for you.
Understand
What accounts, interest and inflation actually are.
Practice
Tracking, comparing, and asking about a real price.
Create
An account with your own money in it.
Evidence
A balance you built, and a date you started.
How money actually works
Four ideas that explain most of the adult financial world.
- Practice45m
Find out what things really cost
Ask a parent or guardian what four things cost each month: where you live, food, a phone line, and getting around. Write the numbers down. Not to worry about them — to stop guessing.
You’ll have:Four real monthly costs, written down.
- Understand30m
Understand interest, in both directions
Interest is rent on money. When you save, someone pays you it. When you borrow, you pay it. Look up a savings rate and a credit card rate and write both down side by side. The gap between them is the whole game.
You’ll have:Both rates, written down together.
- Understand25m
Find out what inflation did to a chocolate bar
Search what a chocolate bar, a cinema ticket or a litre of milk cost in the year a parent was born, then compare it with today. Money loses value over time — this is why 'just keep it in cash' is not a plan.
You’ll have:One price, then and now.
8 more actions · 6h 15m of work
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- Understand30m
Learn what a bank account actually is
Earn your first money
Legally, and with a record of it.
- Understand35m
Find out what you're allowed to do at your age
- Create40m
Make a list of what people near you actually pay for
- Create2h
Earn money once, and record it
Keep it and protect it
The habits are worth more at fifteen than the amounts are.
- Create1h
Open an account with an adult
- Practice25m
Split every amount you receive, the day you receive it
- Understand35m
Learn the three scams aimed at people your age
- Evidence30m
Work out what starting now is worth
Tools this journey uses
Several actions above run straight through these. All free, no signup.