1.1.2 The life course game
Table 1 Monthly income and spending for the Penny family
| Total income | £2500 |
| Mortgage and bills | £1150 |
| Cars and other travel | £130 |
| Cinema, takeaways, fun! | £70 |
| Emergency fund saving | £200 |
| Food and household goods | £500 |
| Holidays | £150 |
| Home contents insurance | £0 |
| Life insurance | £0 |
| Pension saving | £0 |
| Total spending | £2200 |
| Budget surplus/shortfall | £300 |
Try to work out what could happen to the Pennys’ financial position in the scenarios given below. Avoid overcomplicating your analysis – just ascertain whether these would be good or bad financial events for Mr and Mrs Penny, and how important they would be.
- Mrs Penny becomes permanently disabled.
- Mr Penny is made redundant.
- The Pennys’ car breaks down.
- The Pennys’ children move out of the family home after they finish college.
Now look at the Pennys’ spending. In terms of covering the cost of life’s events, are they taking any risks? You might want to draw up a revised budget for them.
OpenLearn - Managing my money
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