Remember: An emergency fund is coins kept for surprises, often a few months of costs.
Read and answer
Read the story first, then answer.
Nico's jar for surprisesNico's flower shop cost twenty coins a month: flowers, ribbon and rent. Most months the coins that came in covered them. On a back shelf sat a jar for surprises. That jar was an emergency fund, coins kept for things nobody planned, and it held sixty coins, three months of costs. One night a big storm blew through Maple Hill. In the morning the shop window had a crack right across it. Sam said the repair would cost fifteen coins, which was a surprise. The storm also kept customers at home, so only twelve coins came in that month. Thirty-five coins went out and twelve came in, so Nico was twenty-three coins short. He opened the jar. Twenty-three coins covered the gap, and thirty-seven stayed in the jar. The window was fixed and the shop stayed open. How big should a fund be? Often it is a few months of costs. A surprise is still a surprise, but a jar makes it a smaller worry. A grown-up can help decide what counts as an emergency.
1
What is an emergency fund?
Coins kept for things nobody plannedCoins saved for a treatCoins that must be spent this week
2
Nico's costs are 20 coins a month. Three months of costs is coins.
3
Circle every surprise that a fund is for.
A storm cracks the windowA poster for the bedroom wallThe roof starts to leakA sale on sweetsA bike tire bursts
4
The storm month: the usual 20 coins plus a 15 coin repair makes costs of coins.
5
Costs are 35 coins and only 12 came in. Nico is 35 − 12 = coins short.
6
The jar held 60 and Nico used 23 to fill the gap. The jar still holds coins.
Order, match and fix
7
Put the storm month in order.
Nico opens the jar and covers the gap
Sam says the repair costs 15 coins
A storm cracks the shop window
Only 12 coins come in
8
Join each jar to the months of costs it holds (20 coins a month).
11 month
22 months
33 months
46 months
A20 coins
B120 coins
C40 coins
D60 coins
9
Everyone needs exactly three months of costs in their fund.
TrueFalse
10
A fund does not stop a surprise, but it makes it a smaller worry.
TrueFalse
11
Nico says: costs are 35 and I got 12, so I am 47 short. Fix the mistake. How short is he?
12 coins short47 coins short23 coins short
12
Stretch: after the repair the jar holds 37 coins. Costs are 20 a month. About how many months of costs is that?
About one monthAbout two monthsAbout three months
13
Draw Nico's jar for surprises. Write on it how many coins it held at the start.
14
Write one surprise a family might have. Ask a grown-up how they would cover it.
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Answer key · Set A
An emergency fund
1Coins kept for things nobody planned An emergency fund is coins kept for surprises.
260 20 + 20 + 20 = 60, the size of Nico's jar.
3A storm cracks the window, The roof starts to leak, A bike tire bursts Storms, leaks and bursts are surprises. A poster and a sale are wants.
435 20 + 15 = 35.
523 35 take away 12 leaves a gap of 23 coins.
637 60 take away 23 leaves 37.
74, 2, 1, 3 The storm came first, then the repair price, then the slow month, and last Nico used the jar.
81-A, 2-C, 3-D, 4-B Each month is 20 coins: 20, 40, 60 and, for six months, 120.
9False Often a fund is a few months of costs, but it is a guide, and a grown-up can help decide.
10True A surprise is still a surprise, but a jar makes it a smaller worry.
1123 coins short The gap is 35 take away 12, which is 23. Adding them makes 47, which is not a gap.
12About two months One month is 20 and two months is 40. The 37 coins are just under two months.
14Your own words: a grown-up reads it.
Mark each answer, count the right ones and write the score on the sheet.