FORD SCHOOL
LYNN, MA
Monday, April 6, 1998
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
This night has been made possible by a grant given to Salem State College by the Lynn Family Support Coalition.
| 7:00 – 7:30 | Welcome and Opening Activities |
| 7:30 – 7:45 | Station I |
| 7:45 – 8:00 | Station II |
| 8:00 – 8:15 | A Groups go to Station 3 |
| B Groups go to Refreshments and General Activities | |
| 8:15 – 8:30 | A Groups go to Refreshments and General Activities |
| B Groups go to Station 3 | |
| 8:30 – 8:45 | Station 4 |
| 8:45 – 9:00 | Station 5 |
| 9:00 | Pick up Family Math Packet and Good Night!!! |
| GENERAL ACTIVITIES | |
| Dice Role | ........................................................... |
| Perfect People | ........................................................... |
| Value of Words | ........................................................... |
| Number – Tac – Toe | ........................................................... |
| Balloon Ride | ........................................................... |
| Animal Crossing | ........................................................... |
| Sum What Dice | ........................................................... |
| Copy Me | ........................................................... |
Special thank you to all who helped plan and work to make this evening so much fun!!!
-
Pamela A. Halpern, Ph.D.
Salem State College
Department of Education
Family Literacy Night
Special performance by
Tony Toledo
Storyteller Extraordinaire
Fun Activities for Parents and Children
Make Your Own Book
Fast and Fun Literacy Games
Sign Up for Library Card
-
A Free Children's Book For Each Family!
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Ford School Auditorium
Math for Life:
A three-part workshop series for Ford School parents
Some of the GOALS for this workshop are:
- Share all of the good ways you use now to manage
- Learn some tips for saving money
- Become more savvy about banking and dealing with money
- Improve some everyday math skills
Have fun and learn from each other!
Here are some of the TOPICS we will cover:
At Work
Understanding your pay stub
Getting the least amount of taxes taken out of your check
Filling out tax forms
Getting extra money back with the Earned Income Credit
Banking
Check Cashing Store and Pawn Shop: Are they worth it?
How to establish and maintain a bank account
Good deals on free bank accounts in Lynn
Credit cards
Dealing with debts and overdue bills
At Home
Planning a budget and sticking to it
Saving money on your heating bill
Saving money on your electric bill
Saving money on your telephone bill
Shopping
How to shop smart
Circulars, coupons, unit pricing
Rent-to-Own stores: Are they worth it?
Lottery tickets: Where does the money go?
Community resources for low-cost shopping
First Week
Introductory Activities:
Stand up/sit down survey of the group.
What do you want to get out of this workshop?
FORMAT
Part I: At Work
Understanding a pay stub
Number of deductions
No tax Status - Presentation
Form 1040 & getting the EIC - Small groups: Fill out EIC form
Part II: A Household Budget
“Wants” versus “Needs”
Individualized budget plans
Sticking to a budget - Group brainstorm & discussion In pairs
Second Week
Part III: Banking
“Informal Banking” rip-offs:
Pawn shops, check cashing stores - Small group problems: calculate % fee on pawn, check cashing
How to establish & maintain bank accounts
Good deals on no-fee checking in Lynn
Avoiding credit problems
Pitfalls with credit cards
Dealing with creditors effectively
Dealing with existing debts
Math for Life - Guest from a bank Role plays
GOOD DEALS AT BANKS
Here are some questions to ask about a bank account. As examples, the Community Credit Union of Lynn and Eastern Bank answered them.
What is the...
Monthly fee?
Eastern Bank - $2.50
Community Credit Union - Free
Required minimum balance?
Eastern Bank - 0
Community Credit Union - 0
Fee for each check?
Eastern Bank - No fee for up to10 checks per month
Community Credit Union - Free
Fee to get an ATM card?
Eastern Bank - $1.00 per month
Community Credit Union - Free
Fee to use the ATM card
(and where can I use my card?
Eastern Bank - Free at Eastern Bank and “network” ATM’s. $1.25 at others. Community Credit Union - No fee for 4 ATM withdrawals per month at any ATM, then $1.00 each
Fee when a check bounces?
Eastern Bank - $20.00
Community Credit Union - $15.00
Joe’s Pawn Shop
Wallet empty?
Need cash?
Borrow $200 TODAY for only $6 a week!
Suppose; you take a watch to a pawn shop, and the owner agrees to loan you $200 for it. You must pay back the loan in four months (sixteen weeks) to get your watch back. At that time, you will have to pay the $200 you borrowed plus $6 for each week that you had the loan.
How much will you have to pay the pawn shop at the end of sixteen weeks to get your watch back?
Now, we can also figure out the INTEREST RATE the pawn shop is charging you.
Interest rates are for ONE YEAR, so we need to figure out how much interest you would pay over a full year at the pawn shop’s rate ($6 a week on a $200 loan), even though the pawn shop will actually let you keep the loan out for only four months.
At the same rate, how much interest would you pay on your $200 loan over one year? (HINT: one year = 52 weeks)
The INTEREST RATE is given by (INTEREST) divided by (PRINCIPAL).
Does the interest rate surprise you?
Tips for Keeping a
Trouble-Free Checking Account
(1) Use the bank’s automatic phone line to keep track of your current balance.
(2) Try to get DIRECT DEPOSIT for your paychecks and benefit checks. The money gets into your account faster.
(3) Don’t deposit checks that you are afraid might not be good. Instead, take them to the bank named on the check and cash them there.
(4) Use your ATM card at the grocery store, drug store, etc. It can’t bounce!
(5) If you don’t actually balance your checkbook every month, definitely look at the statement quickly to make sure the bank didn’t make any major mistakes.
(6) If you have a limited number of free ATM uses per month, get extra cash when you use your ATM card at the grocery store instead. That doesn’t count against your limit.
(7) Find out which ATM’s you can use for free and which you can’t. Those $1.00 and $1.50 charges add up! (Beware: BankBoston and Fleet now charge you to use their ATM’s even if your own bank doesn’t charge you for it.)
(8) Look in the coupon sections of the Sunday paper. You can often find companies you can order new checks from, cheaper than at the bank.
(9) Treat your checks and your ATM card like cash—keep them in a safe place and contact the bank right away if they get lost or stolen. Don’t tell anyone your PIN number ! Don’t write it down—memorize it!
(10) Never sign a check without filling in the rest of it.
(11) Try to have one person in your house keep the checkbook and write all the checks. It will be easier to keep track of the account that way.
(12) Don’t bounce checks on purpose. You’ll probably end up paying for it many times over. If you owe money, NEGOTIATE with them instead.
Earned Income Credit
Example #1 - EIC
Annie McEvoy lives in Lynn with her two children. She receives assistance from TANF (AFDC) and she also works part-time. Last year, she worked for five months, earning $180 a week.
Here is the W-2 that came in the mail in January:
To get her EIC (Earned Income Credit), she must send in TWO forms:
*the basic TAX Return -- Form 1040A
*the EIC form --- Schedule EIC
And to calculate the amount of her EIC, she needs to fill in the EIC Worksheet, which is in the instruction booklet for Form 1040A.
Fill out the Worksheet and Form 1040A and use the table to see how much money she would get from the EIC.
Example #2 - EIC
Maria and Joe Marquez live in Lynn with their three children. Joe works full time, year-round and earns $7 per hour. Maria works part-time at night. She also does some housecleaning during the day. Over the last year she earned about $450 cleaning houses.
Here are the W-2 forms Maria and Joe received in January:
Fill out the EIC Worksheet and Form 1040A to see how much money the Marquezes will get from the EIC.
Including the refund of taxes that were withheld from their paychecks all year, what is the TOTAL amount they should receive from the IRS?
Check Cashing Stores
ABCD CHECK CASHING COMPANY
| Schedule of Fees | ||
| Under $500 | Over $500 | |
| Payroll Check | ||
|
3% | 3.5% |
|
4% | 4.5% |
| Personal Check | 10% | 11% |
| Money Order | 4% | 4.5% |
Danielle cashes her weekly paycheck at ABCD. For the first 32 weeks of last year, January through August, her check was for $172.50. Starting in September, she got a raise. Her paychecks from then on were for $195.75.
What is the fee for cashing each of her $172.50 paychecks?
How much will she actually receive when she cashes each of these checks?
What is the fee for cashing each of her $195.75 paychecks?
How much will she actually receive when she cashes each of these checks?
Danielle’s grandmother gave her a check for her birthday for $35.00.
What fee will Danielle pay to cash this check at ABCD?
How much will Danielle actually receive from this check?
Calculating Percents
To find a percent of a number, you MULTIPLY:
Massachusetts has a 5% sales tax. What is the sales tax on a toy that costs $24.50?
$24.50 x 5% = 1.225
The Ford School has 900 students, and 12% of them play a musical instrument. How many students play an instrument?
900 x 12% = 108
Sometimes you don’t know the percentage – that’s what you’re looking for. In that case, you DIVIDE:
When Joe borrowed $125 at the pawnshop, he had to pay back that amount
plus $5 a week. What was the weekly interest rate that he was paying?
5 /. 125 = 0.04
Move the decimal point two places to the right to change the calculator
answer into a percentage 4%
Lydia and Sue put some money together to start a small shop. Lydia
put in $1,500 of the $2,500 that they used to start the shop. What
percent of the start-up money did Lydia provide?
1500 /. 2500 = 0.6
Move the decimal point: 60%
