Description
Most teens hear the word budget and tune out. In this class they live on one.
This live online personal finance class for high school is a semester-long simulation of adult life. Your student takes a career questionnaire and picks a job, then discovers what that paycheck actually covers. They build a monthly budget, wrestle with rent or a mortgage, a car payment, groceries, insurance, and the surprise expenses real life enjoys handing out.
They shop for a house and a car. They invest in the stock market and compete on a live leaderboard, which keeps the work honest and genuinely fun. Mistakes cost lessons, not dollars, and the semester ends with each student presenting a complete financial plan.
Woven through every unit is the conviction that money is a tool and not a master, and that what we earn, save, and give reflects what we believe.
Julia Jinks has guided more than a hundred students through Beyond Personal Finance, and she runs the simulation live every week, answering questions in real time in a small, discussion-friendly class. The course placed second in Financial Literacy and Personal Finance in the 2026 Practical Homeschooling i-Learn Awards, voted on by homeschooling families.
A former CBS news producer and HGTV writer, Julia Jinks teaches writing, literature, history and personal finance using the IEW method.
“I loved this class so much! It was one of my favorites all through high school. I’ve always been curious about how all of it works, and the resources all laid it out perfectly, and it was so simple and easy to understand, and yet didn’t feel child-like. I would recommend this class to all my high school friends struggling with understanding how to take care of their finances!”
— Abigail P.
A look inside this class
Class details
– Teacher: Julia Jinks
– Day and time: Tuesdays, 12:45-1:45 p.m. CST
– Term: fall semester 2027
– Grades: 10-12, recommended for ages 15 and up
– Credit: 0.5 high school elective credit
– Materials: Beyond Personal Finance student workbook only. Use Julia’s discount code for 20 percent off, and list the teacher’s name, Julia Jinks, on the order form
– Live, small-group class on Zoom
Practice adulting before it counts. Enroll today and we will handle the grading and the Cognia-accredited transcript credit.
LK | Homeschool Mom –
I really enjoyed the course! I think you have done a fantastic job!” LK
Abigail P. –
I loved this class so much! It was one of my favorites all through
high school. I’ve always been curious about how all of it works, and
the resources all laid it out perfectly, and it was so simple and easy
to understand, and yet didn’t feel child-like. I would recommend this
class to all my high school friends struggling with understanding how
to take care of their finances!
Lucas Dvoranchik –
Super fun class and really well taught, I really feel more confident about budgeting in the future and saving for all the things i will need to buy.
AB –
I think this class is great for learning how to budget and the basics of paying taxes. It’s sort of like you’re in a life simulation and it realistically depicts the expenses that would be on a person’s budget. It also teaches the importance of saving and investing. Overall, I’d say it was a pretty good class!
Juliet Gomes –
This class was absolutely amazing, especially for learning how to construct budgets and how the stock market works. Every teen should know or learn how to handle finances– in fact, it should be a practical skill taught in schools! It’s important to know how to buy a car and a house, along with paying taxes and debts. I definitely feel a lot more confident about handling money now, than before I took this class. Awesome class! Highly recommended
Lexie Mizzone –
This class helped me in so many ways, especially with saving money, and budgeting. Finance is a life skill that every person should learn, and this class was perfect for that. I will definitely recommend to my friends, and am so thankful I took it. Thank you for being such a kind and patient teacher, always ready to help us with whatever we were struggling with.
Anna Reese Crowe –
I enjoyed Personal Finance with Ms Jinks. Knowing how to budget your finances is a skill everyone can benefit from. I definitely recommend it for all students.
JM –
This was an awesome class! The assignments were easy to understand and complete. It was interesting to learn about how much everything is, and how we should budget and save for the future. Mrs. Jinks was very kind, and a great teacher! I think it is important for more teens to learn more about finance. This class was very helpful for me, it was one of my favorite classes this year! Definitely would recommend!
DM –
I really enjoyed this class! All the assignments were easy to understand and complete. I think it was really important to learn this, and it’s something everyone should understand. Mrs. Jinks also did a great job explaining everything clearly and making the material easy to follow.