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Page | 23 2.4.1.E3
© Take Charge Today – August 2013 – Choose to Save Funded by a grant from Take Charge America, Inc. to the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences Take Charge America Institute at The University of Arizona
The Roommates: Saving Script
Morgan and Hannah are roommates in their third year of college. They have a lot of fun together, but are
also very different. Hannah has a part time job at a women's clothing store in the mall. She regularly uses a
spending plan to manage her finances and pays all of her bills on time. When Hannah has leftover cash after
paying her bills, she stores it in a piggy bank to pay for unexpected expenses, like going out with friends,
traveling, and when there is a great sale at her job. Hannah is lucky to get a discount at work and takes
advantage of sales on clothing items.
Morgan is Hannah's roommate. She also works part time, but at an insurance office. Morgan takes a different
approach to saving money for unexpected expenses. Each time Morgan gets paid, she puts 20% of her
paycheck into a savings account. This habit has helped Morgan in the past, like the time her car needed
expensive repairs, and again when the landlord raised the price of her rent. Morgan was also really glad to
have established this habit when she lost her job last year. Because she made saving a habit, she was able to
have enough money to pay her bills even though she was out of work temporarily.
Hannah has now found herself in a similar type of emergency. Last month while playing softball, she broke
her ankle and she just received the bills from the hospital and doctor. Because she had health insurance,
Hannah was confident she would have no expenses from the injury, but since then she has learned
otherwise. While her insurance paid the majority of her expenses, after her deductible and co‐insurance,
Hannah was responsible for $1,750 in medical expenses. Unfortunately, she has only $530 in her piggy bank
to help with those expenses.
This problem has created stress for Hannah and has been negatively impacting her well‐being. She shared
her situation with Morgan.
Imagine that you are Morgan. What advice would you have for Hannah about saving for the future? Be sure
to include terms like tradeoffs, opportunity costs, SMART goals, and emergency funds in your conversation.