BUILDING BLOCKS TEACHER GUIDE
Tracking income for a farming family
Using a case study about a farming family, students calculate weekly and
monthly net income and explore the impact of having irregular income.
Learning goals
Big idea
Knowing your monthly net income is helpful
when creating and managing a budget.
Essential questions
§ How does having a clear picture of monthly
net income help you plan ahead and make
and follow a budget?
§ How does irregular income affect monthly
ne
t income?
Objectives
§ Recognize different sources of income
§ Use a nancial tracker to organize income
§ Begin to understand how monthly net
i
ncome can vary due to irregular income
NOTE
Please remember to consider your students’
accommodations and special needs to ensure
that all students are able to participate in a
meaningful way.
KEY INFORMATION
Building block:
Executive function
Financial knowledge and
decision-making skills
Grade level: High school (9–12)
Age range: 13–19
Topic: Earn (Becoming an entrepreneur,
Getting paid, Making money), Spend
(Budgeting)
School subject: CTE (Career and technical
education), Math, Social studies or history
Teaching strategy: Cooperative learning,
Simulation
Bloom’s Taxonomy level: Apply, Analyze
Activity duration: 45–60 minutes
National Standards for Personal
Financial Education, 2021
Earning income: 12-2, 12-4, 12-5
Spending: 12-1
These standards are cumulative, and topics are not
repeated in each grade level. This activity may include
information students need to understand before
exploring this topic in more detail.
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Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau
To nd this and other activities, go to:
consumernance.gov/teach-activities
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Tracking income for a farming family
What students will do
§ Learn key terms related to income.
§ Use the “Tracking income for a farming family” worksheet to calculate weekly
a
nd monthly net income and to explore how net income changes as a result of
irregular income.
Preparing for this activity
□ While it’s not necessary, completing the “Analyzing budgets” activity rst may
make this one more meaningful.
□ Print copies of all student materials for each student, or prepare for students to
a
ccess them electronically.
What you’ll need
THIS TEACHER GUIDE
§ Tracking income for a farming family (guide)
cfpb_building_block_activities_tracking-income-farming-family_guide.pdf
STUDENT MATERIALS
§ Tracking income for a farming family (worksheet)
cfpb_building_block_activities_tracking-income-farming-family_worksheet.pdf
Exploring key nancial concepts
Having a clear picture of your total monthly income can help you
create and manage a budget.
Income is the money you earn through hourly wages, salaries,
tips, or commissions. It can also include money from qualied
government programs, dividends on investments, tax refunds,
gifts, and inheritances. Income can be regular (a set schedule
and amount) or irregular (inconsistent because the schedule or
amount varies). Sometimes income is seasonal, meaning you may
receive it for only some months out of the year. If your income
is irregular, it may be harder to cover your monthly expenses
TIP
Because nancial products,
terms, and laws change,
students should be encouraged
to always look for the most
up-to-date information.
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Tracking income for a farming family
because you can’t rely on a consistent amount. So, it can be helpful to save during
months that you earn more money so you have enough to pay for living expenses
when you earn less money.
Teaching this activity
Whole-class introduction
§ Ask students to share examples of different sources of income.
°
Exa
mples may include a weekly paycheck, a monthly Social Security check,
or money earned from seasonal work such as lawn care or from creative work
such as creating and selling artwork.
§ Read the “Exploring key nancial concepts” section to students to explain why
it’s helpful to understand the difference between regular and irregular income.
§ Be sure students understand key vocabulary:
°
Bu
d
get: A plan that outlines what money you expect to earn
or receive (your income) and how you will save it or spend
it (your expenses) for a given period of time; also called a
spending plan.
°
Inco
me: Money earned or received such as wages or
salaries, tips, commissions, contracted pay, government
transfer payments, dividends on investments, tax refunds,
gifts, and inheritances.
°
Irregular income: Inconsistent amounts of money you receive through work
o
r in
vestments; both the schedule and the amount may vary.
°
Net i
ncome: Amount of money you receive in your paycheck after taxes and
other deductions are taken out; also called take-home pay.
°
Regular income: A set amount of money you receive at the same time each
week or month.
Individual or group work
§ Tell students that they’ll look at the income of workers who don’t have regular,
full-time, year-round employment.
§ Distribute the “Tracking income for a farming family” worksheet, or have
st
udents access the worksheet electronically.
TIP
Visit CFPB’s nancial
education glossary at
consumernance.gov/
nancial-education-glossary/.
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Tracking income for a farming family
§ Have students work individually, in pairs, or in small groups to review the case
study about the Rodriguez family, a rural farming family.
°
Make sure students understand the details of the scenario. Help them
identify the key points.
§ Talk students through the required next steps for this activity. Be sure they
u
nderstand that their task is to gure out average weekly net income for the
months of February and July in the “Weekly earnings snapshot” section of
the worksheet.
§ Depending on the rules of your classroom, allow students to use calculators to
h
elp with the computations.
§ Students will use the “Income tracker” section of the worksheet to convert the
w
eekly net income into a monthly income statement.
§ Explain that while tips can be considered irregular income, the tip amounts in
t
he case study are averages and are counted as regular income for the purposes
of this activity.
§ Have students answer the reection questions to see how this couple’s weekly
e
arnings change when peach farming season is over.
°
Depending on the amount of time you have for this activity and your class
focus and goals, you may ask students to describe their ideas in writing or
provide evidence for the response with actual mathematical calculations.
Wrap-up
Ask students to share their answers to the reection questions.
Suggested next steps
Consider searching for other CFPB activities that address the topics of earning
(including becoming an entrepreneur, getting paid, or making money) and
spending (including budgeting). Suggested activities include “Tracking income”
and “Tracking income for an artist family”.
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Measuring student learning
Students’ answers on their worksheets and during discussion can give you a sense
of their understanding.
This answer guide provides possible answers for the “Tracking income for a
farming family” worksheet. Keep in mind that students’ answers may vary. The
important thing is for students to have reasonable justication for their answers.
Answer guide
WEEKLY EARNINGS SNAPSHOT
§ Calculate the average weekly earnings from each income source for February
and July.
§ Put a check mark next to regular income that the family can depend on
t
hroughout the year.
Note: While tips can be considered irregular income, the tip amounts in the case
study are averages and counted as regular income for the purposes of this activity.
Family
member
Source
Is this
regular
income?
Income calculation
Weekly income:
February
Weekly
income: July
Luisa Server
þ
Wages: $3/hour x 20
hours
Average tips: $40 + $90
+ $130
Deductions: $34.43 per
week
$60 wages + $260
tips = $320 minus
deductions of
$34.43 = $285.57
net income per
week
Stays the
same:
$285.57
Miguel
April –
October:
Peach farmer
o
Wages (before
deductions): $14.42/hour
x 40 hours per week
Deductions: $173.04 per
week
$0
$14.42 x 40
= $576.80 -
$173.04 in
deductions =
$403.76 net
income per
week
Miguel
November –
March:
Security
guard
o
Wages (before
deductions): $11/hour x
20 hours per week
Deductions: $66 per
week
$11 x 20 = $220
$220 - $66 in
deductions = $154
net income per
week
$0
This cell is empty. This cell is empty. This cell is empty.
Total weekly income $439.57 $689.33
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MONTHLY EARNINGS
In February, when Miguel works security, they bring home $439.57 per week, or
$1,758.28 monthly.
In July, when Miguel is farming, the couple makes $689.33 per week after taxes, or
$2,757.32 in net income per month. Their monthly net income from April through
October is $1,142.28 more per month than it is from November through March.
Miguel’s seasonal job provides steady income during the growing and harvesting
season, but this couple’s weekly income is less when Miguel isn’t farming. Working
as a security guard denitely helps out their cash ow, but saving money during
the farming months may help them to manage expenses during the winter months,
when they make less money.
Reection questions
Answers will vary.