I stumbled across this interactive that displays over 150 of the Sketch Guy’s (aka Carl Richards) Personal Finance on a Napkin posts. I love the way he can take complex topics and break them down using simple drawings.

Here’s an example of one of his sketches that shows the relationship between your happiness when spending money on others:

You might ask your students to select 5 (or any other number you think is appropriate) of these sketches, read the blog post that accompanies the chart and answer the following questions:

• What personal finance concept is he explaining with his chart?
• Do you agree with him? Why or why not?
• Feeling creative? Draw your own napkin sketch that explains a personal finance concept that applies to you.

If you want to point students to specific sketches, here are a few that I thought might be most relevant:

• 3 Basics of A College Financial Plan
• The Struggle To Define What We Really Need
• Hope Is Not A Budgeting Strategy
• The Odds of Picking the Next Apple
• You Should Try a Multi-Day Spending Cleanse
• Why Your Family Should Talk About Money More Often
• The Right Way To Try To Buy Happiness
• Start Your College Value Conversation Now
• The New American Money Math

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.