Everyday Money Habits · Worksheet

Your first paycheck, line by line.

Grab a real pay stub. Copy each number into the blank next to it — no math required, just reading. Then look at how little of "gross pay" reaches your account, and decide where the take-home goes.

Teen
First job
Beginner

Name

Date

Audience: For a teen with their first job
Time: About 15 minutes
Materials: A recent pay stub · a pen

Objective

Read a real pay stub line by line, then split the take-home into today money and tomorrow money.

Use this when

A teen just got their first paycheck and wants to understand where the money went.

Gross vs. net — the two words to know

Gross payEverything you earned this period — before any taxes or deductions come out.

Net pay (take-home)What actually lands in your account after everything comes out. The only number you can spend.

A sample stub

Gross pay$500.00

− Taxes & deductions$58.00

Take-home pay$442.00

Sample only — yours will differ. Now fill in your real numbers below.

1 · Copy these off your pay stub

Gross paythe big number — what you earned before anything came out

Federal income taxusually the largest single deduction

Social Security + Medicareoften labeled FICA or OASDI/Med

State income taxblank in a few states — Texas is one

Other deductionshealth insurance, retirement, anything else

Take-home paywhat landed in your account

2 · Where does the take-home go?

Split the take-home pay from box 1 into three jobs. They should add back up to your take-home.

Today moneybills and things you need this month

Tomorrow moneysaved or invested before you can spend it

Flexible moneywants — yours to spend, guilt-free

3 · Reflection

One thing that surprised you about where the money went:

One thing you'll do differently with next paycheck:

Based on the First paycheck lesson.