When he has their attention, McLaughlin helps the Scouts work through some calculations, figuring out what happens, for example, when someone only makes minimum payments or gets hit with a late charge or a higher interest rate-all concepts related to requirement 7. Then McLaughlin asks a simple question: “How many of you thought about how you were going to pay for that?” And as he reels off each card’s credit limit, the Scouts quickly spend that money in their heads-on Xbox 360s, iPods, cars, and other toys. “The moment you hand them a credit card, they come to life,” he says. But the Minneapolis Scouter knows just how to get the attention of a group of Scouts: hand them his credit cards. In the decade or so that he’s been teaching Personal Management merit badge, Ted McLaughlin has seen his share of glazed eyes and blank stares as he’s talked about terms such as compound interest, mutual funds, and return on investment. The Personal Management Merit Badge is the best lesson in what money can buy. “If they want to ask me questions about specific things, I will definitely give them the information, but I want them to figure out how they’re going to do it, using me as a resource or whatever resources they have.” “I want them to figure out how to manage themselves and figure out how to get the merit badge done,” he says. Pellegrino says that’s especially important with Personal Management. When a Scout is working on any merit badge, he’s supposed to take the initiative instead of relying on the counselor to tell him what to do next. “Since that’s going to take some time, they can do these other five (requirements 4 through 7) where we just sit together.” “I usually recommend that they work on one or two of those big requirements first and get that going,” he says. “Don’t just do these requirements as if they’re in a vacuum,” Pellegrino says.įinally, Pellegrino encourages Scouts to approach the badge as they would approach any time-management challenge. In the former case, he might just come out with a new flat-screen TV or family computer (items Scouts often research for that requirement). In the latter case, the Scout will come out with some valuable information he could use as he thinks about life after high school. In both cases, Pellegrino encourages Scouts to keep it real. The badge’s first requirement has the Scout write a plan for a proposed family expense the last requirement has the Scout research a career. “I want to make sure you didn’t do 13 weeks and then backfill the budget,” Pellegrino says. Years ago, one Scout didn’t do that because he didn’t understand that a budget is a planning document, not a money diary. Pellegrino also says it’s important for Scouts to turn in their proposed budgets before they start keeping records. “I want to make sure they have enough expenses and enough leeway and enough decision-making capability that they understand their choices are going to affect what may happen,” he says. In such cases - which seem to be becoming more frequent - Pellegrino encourages the parents to temporarily stop covering certain expenses, like school lunch fees, and instead to pay the Scout for doing his chores. Pellegrino says this requirement is essentially meaningless if the Scout doesn’t have a job and if his parents pay his way for everything. Requirement 2 has the Scout prepare a budget of expected income, expenses and savings, and then track those categories over a 13-week period. How effectively he does that could depend on what he learns from the Personal Management merit badge.įor tips on teaching this important badge, Scouting talked with Mark Pellegrino of Yardley, Pa., a CPA who’s been counseling the badge for 35 years. But he will undoubtedly need to manage his time and money. Discuss what you might do differently the next time.Īfter he leaves your troop, a Scout might never cook over a campfire, hike into the wilderness or use CPR to save a life. Schedule, and diary/journal to understand when your schedule worked and With your merit badge counselor, review your "to do" list, one-week Keep a daily diary or journal during each of the seven days of this week's activities, writing down when you completed each of the tasks on your "to do" list compared to when you scheduled them. Put in your set activities, such as school classes, sports practices or games, jobs or chores, and/or Scout or place of worship or club meetings, then plan when you will do all the tasks from your "to do" list between your set activities.įollow the one-week schedule you planned. List these in order of importance to you. Write a "to do" list of tasks or activities, such as homework assignments, chores, and personal projects, that must be done in the coming week. Demonstrate to your merit badge counselor your understanding of time management by doing the following:
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