Do you know the real value of money?

Do you ever ask your parents to buy you something, and they say no? Probably! The chances are, your parents have a budget to stick to. 
 

 

What does an adult's budget look like?  

 

Your parents' budget needs to cover your family's basic needs. That means things like your:  

• Home  

• Transportation  

• Food 

• Clothes 

• And other things like medication, daycare, phone and internet. 

Your parents have to make sure they can pay for these essentials before they can spend on other things. 
 

 

Their budget depends on their salary 

 

Not everybody earns the same amount of money. Some people make minimum wage, which is $15.25 in Quebec and $16.55 in Ontario. Other people make more. 
 

 

What are income taxes?  

 

When adults get their paycheck, the amount is less than what they actually earned. Part of their salary goes to the provincial and federal governments. We call this income tax.  

 

It's money that gets used to pay for public services: schools, hospitals, roads and their upkeep, etc. Some of the income tax money goes toward helping people who earn less.  
 

 

What do you need to remember?  

 

All of this stuff may look complicated, so we've simplified it for you: Each family has a different budget based on what they need, the choices they make and how much money they have.  
 

 

Time for our quiz!  

 

Answer our quiz by using the example of Max, who works 40 hours a week and earns salary of $20 an hour.  

 

All the prices used include taxes. 

 

1. Which of the following can Max afford after 1 hour of work?  

 

A. Admission to a museum for $16.10

B. A winter hat for $21.15  

C. A restaurant meal (including tip) for $38.50.  

 

2. How many hours does Max need to work to buy a new gaming console for $750?  

 

A. About 16 hours (2 days of work)  

B. About 37 hours (a little more than 1 full week of work)

C. About 123 hours (about 1 month of work)  

  

3. Max wants to take his 2 kids to the movies and buy a big bag of popcorn. How much do you think it will cost? 

 

A. About $25 

B. About $45

C. About $15 

 

4. There are lots of kids in Max's extended family! To entertain them at parties, he'd like to rent a bouncy castle, but only if it doesn't cost more than 20 hours of work. Knowing that renting a bouncy castle costs about $460 per day, can Max afford it based on his budget?  

 

A. Yes!  

B. No.

 

5. Max's daughter Lilly dreams of going on vacation down south so she can swim in the sea. A trip like this can cost about $5,000 for a family of 4. How many weeks would Max have to work if he works 40 hours a week?  

 

A. About 3 weeks  

B. About 12 weeks (nearly 3 months) 

C. About 6 weeks (nearly 2 months)

 

6. How long does Max have to work to be able to buy an $8 book?   

 

A. About half an hour

B. About 1 hour  

C. About 2 hours  

 

7. Max's son Thomas is a babysitter. Parents pay him $10 an hour for his work. How long does Thomas have to work to be able to buy an $8 book?   

 

A. About half an hour  

B. About 1 hour 

C. About 2 hours  

 

Now, check your answers!

 

1 = A. Admission to a museum for $16.10  

 

He can buy one ticket for a museum! The hat is worth a little more than what he earns in an hour at his job, and the restaurant meal costs nearly 2 hours of work!  

 

2 = B. About 37 hours (a little more than 1 full week of work) 

 

The correct answer is 37 hours. A new gaming console by the most popular brand costs about $750 with tax.  
 

You can calculate the number of hours he needs to work by dividing the price by $20, which is how much Max earns in 1 hour. So $750 ÷ $20/hour = a little over 37 hours.  

 
If he finds it too expensive, Max can save up his money for longer, wait for a sale or try to find one second hand. 

 

3 = B. About $45 

 

A night at the movies with his kids will cost Max a little over $45! So Max has to work more than 2 hours to pay for their outing. 

 

You can calculate the number of hours he needs to work by dividing the price by $20, which is how much Max earns in 1 hour. So $45 ÷ $20/hour = 2.25 hours. That’s about 2 hours of work. 

 

4 = B. No 

 

Sadly, no. He would need to work 23 hours to pay for a bouncy castle. That's more than his maximum budget of 20 hours of work. However, there are other fun games that wouldn't cost as much. Water balloons battles are classic summertime fun and snow sculpture contests are great in the winter! 

 

You can calculate the number of hours he needs to work by dividing the price by $20, which is how much Max earns in 1 hour. So $460 ÷ $20/hour = 23 hours. When you round it off, that's about 23 hours of work. 

 

5 = C. About 6 weeks (nearly 2 months) 

 

This trip would cost Max 6 weeks of salary! First, we have to calculate how much Max earns in a 40-hour week: 40 hours/week x $20/hour = $800/week. Then, divide $5,000 by $800/week to find out the number of weeks: 6.25 weeks. That means Max has to work nearly 6 weeks to be able to pay for the trip! That's about 2 months!  

 

6 = A. About half an hour 

 

Max earns $20 an hour, so he'd need to work about half of that to earn $8.  

 

7 = B. About 1 hour 

 

Thomas has to work twice as long as his dad. Did you know that in Quebec, people pay less tax on books than on other items? There's only 5% tax on books, rather than 15%.  

 

How many correct answers did you get? Did you learn anything new?  

 

Produced in collaboration with Les as de l'info.