Fourth Grade
Worksheets
Spending Freeze
"What do you mean we aren't going shopping today?" Janet said to her friend Mary. "Didn't we have this planned for a while?"
Mary sighed. "I'm so sorry, Janet. But this is going to have to be 'Buy Nothing Day' for me. It may have to be 'Buy Nothing Month!'"
Janet, who had been standing on the porch steps of Mary's house, sat down in one of Mary's comfortable porch chairs.
"What happened?" she said gently. She could tell her friend was a little upset.
"Bryce took a look at our budget," Mary said, joining her friend by sitting on the chair opposite the one in which Janet was sitting. "He said I have been shopping way too much, and we have to have a spending freeze."
Janet pursed her lips. She couldn't say much. She had to do that herself a year or so ago. Janet wasn't married, but she had noticed her money seeming to disappear every month. Now, she had a "shopping" category in her budget and put away a little each month toward it. She could then go on shopping trips guilt free. She had assumed Mary did the same thing.
"I told Bryce we had planned this shopping day for a long time," Mary said. "But he was firm and said we'd have to find something else to do. If we don't get better at watching our spending, we may not get to go on our Christmas vacation to Disney World."
"Well, I'm sure that is more important than a day of shopping," Janet said, hiding her disappointment. "We can still do something else together. What do you think?"
Mary brightened. She was delighted that her friend understood. She had worried that Janet would be mad.
