7-10project-money

List Materials and Costs

Listing every material and its cost before starting a project gives the total cost upfront — which is what shows whether the project can make a profit before any money is spent.

In this lesson

List Materials and Costs is part of Planning a Small Money Project. This preview shows how project-money connects to everyday family decisions such as earning, saving, spending choices, goals, approvals, or parent-guided money conversations inside Progress Penguin.

Think about this money choice

Tunde is planning to make and sell bookmarks. He needs card, scissors, ribbon, and ink.

How it works

Before spending anything on a project, list every material you need and find out the exact cost of each one. This is your materials budget. Knowing the total cost before you start tells you whether the project is financially viable — and prevents running out of money halfway through.

Try a real-life example

Real-life money moment: Tunde needs card (400 in local currency), scissors (200 in local currency), ribbon (300 in local currency), and ink (150 in local currency) to make bookmarks. Total materials: 1050 in local currency. He has 800 in local currency. He is 250 in local currency short before he starts. Knowing this before buying — not after — means he can adjust: find cheaper card, borrow scissors, or delay until he has more.

Activity preview

Move the money slider

Use what you learned to complete this short challenge.

Build your own savings goal

Progress Penguin will guide you through the goal name, target amount, and deadline. When you finish, you will return to this exact lesson step.

Quiz preview

Listing Materials and Costs before starting a project means:

Only listing the single most expensive item to simplify planning

Writing down everything needed and the price of each item

Estimating a rough total without itemising individual expenses

Buying all supplies immediately before you work out if you can afford them

Your bracelet project needs thread (800 in local currency), beads (1200 in local currency), and packaging (400 in local currency). Your total cost is:

800 in local currency — only the most expensive item counts as a real cost

2000 in local currency — rounding up to the nearest thousand for safety

2400 in local currency — the exact startup cost before selling a single bracelet

1200 in local currency — the middle cost represents the average across all items