Description
This fun budgeting project for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade incorporates personal financial literacy and real-world math skills! Students will learn to create a realistic budget for their needs, wants, and savings, and will learn the real costs of everyday expenses.
Learn the importance of a balanced budget to avoid overspending
Students start the project by drawing three cards to determine their career and salary, their spouse’s career and salary (if they have one), and their number of children. They will set up a balanced budget aiming to spend 50% of their income on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on future savings. Emphasis is placed on the importance of saving to avoid future debt.
Hands-on experience learning to live within their means
They’ll learn to make financial decisions as they choose an apartment, a car, and all other living expenses that fit within their budget. Students will experience making sacrifices to stay within their budget!
Easy-to-follow student project packet
This project includes an 18-page student packet that walks students through setting up the budget step by step. The project is separated into six parts that can be assigned all at once or one at a time. The six parts include Income & Taxes, Savings, Needs, Wants, Balancing Your Budget, and an optional Surprise Expense activity.
Surprise students with unexpected expenses
At the end of the project, students will draw a ‘surprise expense’ card that will add an unexpected expense to their budget! They’ll learn how to adjust their budget to accommodate new expenses.
Prep-work for this project is simple!
Includes a set of Google Slides that introduces the project and provides instructions for each part of the project. The student project packet and salary/children cards are ready to print and go. Choice cards for apartments and cars can be printed and posted on a wall where students can ‘shop’ for the best choice for their budget.
This resource includes:
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Set of Google Slides with Project Instructions and Reminders
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17 Page Student Project Packet with step-by-step instructions and calculation worksheets for students
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Paper and Digital Versions of a Monthly Budget Summary
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32 Career and Salary Cards (Editable)
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32 Spouse Career and Salary Cards (Editable)
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32 Children Cards
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32 Scenario Cards with unexpected expenses (Editable)
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10 Apartment Choice Cards (Editable)
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12 Car Choice Cards (Editable)
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Sample Answer Key
Looking for a more challenging version of this project for older or high-achieving students? You can find the high school version of this project here.
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