This lesson teaches students how to calculate and estimate weekly payments for specific bills. These bills are paid weekly by the students. Students will be find different bills, calculate payments, and prepare to pay these bills on a weekly basis. Students will also continue looking for and interviewing for jobs.

Students will:

1. Calculate weekly rental rates.
2. Look up car loan payments from a table.
3. Look up estimated gas and maintenance costs from table.
4. Calculate a budgeted utility cost from an actual utility bill.

Math Skills Being Utilized

• Add, subtract, multiply, divide rational and decimal numbers.
• Unit Conversions
• Using look-up tables to get data.

Ideas for Teaching

• Invite a loan officer to talk to the class.
• Encourage students to talk with their parents about their family’s bills.
• Give plenty of time for students to find bills and then look for better bills.
• Students should make phone calls to landlords, apartments, or sales people to clarify questions such as “Are utilities included?”, or “What mileage does the car get?”

Students should be encouraged to find less expensive bills, but don’t discourage them from buying the car they really want. They will realize within a few weeks that they probably can’t afford certain luxuries on the salaries they qualify for right out of school, and personal experience is often the best teacher.

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