Abstract
Financial literacy is vital for managing personal finances especially among youth. Purchase frequency describes how often individuals make purchases or have shorter average gaps between transactions. Although many studies examine financial literacy in isolation its relationship with spending behavior remains underexplored. This study investigates whether financial literacy correlates with purchase frequency among senior high school students at NU MOA and aims to inform educational programs that enhance budgeting saving and spending habits. This quantitative correlational study involved 40 senior high students from the ABM HUMSS and STEM strands at NU MOA selected through stratified random sampling. Two instruments were administered via MS Forms in classroom sessions. The first was a validated 21 item financial literacy questionnaire rated on a five point Likert scale. The second was a 12 item purchase frequency questionnaire adapted from Kaila 2016 that asked how many times students made purchases over a two month period using three categories (1–3, 4–6, more than 6). Data analysis included descriptive statistics the Shapiro Wilk test for normality reliability analysis of both instruments Pearson correlation to assess relationships and linear regression to examine predictive capacity. The analysis showed a weak positive correlation (r=0.192) between financial literacy and purchase frequency with a p value of 0.235 indicating no significant relationship. Students reported making few non essential purchases over the two month period. Participants generally agreed they possessed financial knowledge but remained neutral about their spending and saving behaviors. Linear regression showed that financial literacy explained only 3.691 percent of the variance in purchase frequency. These findings indicate that financial literacy alone does not significantly influence how often students make non essential purchases. We recommend that students apply their financial knowledge through mindful spending practices and real life budgeting exercises. Future research should explore additional factors that may more strongly affect student spending habits to better inform financial education strategies.
