Making a Monthly Budget

Work the budget and interest examples together, then let students finish with the work boxes shown. For the credit card sheet, read the text as a class and discuss why the two payment plans end so differently.

Complete Jordan's fixed and variable budget, then work out how long saving for a helmet takes. The directions on the page read: Read the text and Jordan's list. Complete the budget: write fixed or variable for each expense, then fill in the three totals. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 6th Grade Economics and Money, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with personal finance. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

A fixed expense stays the same every month, like Jordan's $5 music streaming. A variable expense can change from month to month, like snacks after school. Students label each expense in Jordan's budget and find what is left to save.

Multiply the principal by the rate by the time in years, with the rate written as a decimal. The example on the sheet saves $200 at 4% for 2 years, which earns $16 in interest for a total of $216.

A small payment shrinks the balance slowly, so interest keeps adding up on what is still owed. The sample table shows a $500 balance at 18% yearly interest taking 24 months at $25 a month and 6 months at $100 a month.