Confident math skills make for confident personal finance decisions. Explore these activities that go back to the basics - the arithmetic and pre-algebra skills students will encounter regularly in the real world.

Life Skills Math

Practice percentages, calculations, and order of operations using real-world contexts that are relevant for high school students. 

The following personal finance activities incorporate those math fundamentals. They’re great for reinforcing math skills in a personal finance class or for a pre-algebra math class focused on life skills.

• CREATE: A Salary-Based Budget
• MOVE: Paycheck Scavenger Hunt
• CALCULATE: Reconcile Your Checkbook
• ANALYZE: Understanding Amortization
• CALCULATE: Shopping with Interest
• ANALYZE: Understanding Inflation
• PROJECT: Budgeting for Your Credit Card Payments
• CALCULATE: The Cost of Rent-to-Own
• ROLEPLAY: Sign Up for a 401(k) 
• COMPARE: Auto Loans
• CASE STUDY: Get Me Out of My Debt Dungeon!
• RESEARCH: Monthly Cost of Car Ownership
• MOVE: Using the Rule of 72
• COMPARE: Car Insurance Comparison Shopping

Reading a Graph

Teach data literacy with our library of 60+ Data Crunches and jumpstart discussion with these relevant and data-driven activities:

• CALCULATE: What is the Value of a College Education?
• ANALYZE: The Racialized Costs of Banking
• ANALYZE: The Wage Gap
• ANALYZE: Investing for Retirement
• ANALYZE: Inequalities in Investing

More Pre-Algebra

Looking for something a bit more math-centric? Check out the NGPF Math Activities page! There are some great pre-algebra activities under the topics Percents, Functions, and Expressions & Equations.

About the Author

Kathryn Dawson

Kathryn (she/her) is excited to join the NGPF team after 9 years of experience in education as a mentor, tutor, and special education teacher. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in policy analysis and management and has a master's degree in education from Brooklyn College. Kathryn is looking forward to bringing her passion for accessibility and educational justice into curriculum design at NGPF. During her free time, Kathryn loves embarking on cooking projects, walking around her Seattle neighborhood with her partner and dog, or lounging in a hammock with a book.