Idaho Social Studies 9-12.EC.23

Social StudiesGrades 9–12Economics

The Standard

Build a monthly budget for an individual or a family given their income, savings goals, taxes, and list of fixed and variable expenses.

Idaho Content Standards: K-12 Social Studies · Personal Finance

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Subtract taxes from monthly income to find take-home pay. Set a savings goal, list fixed and variable expenses, and adjust the plan to fit the money available.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student calculates take-home pay correctly and gives savings its own line. Their savings and expenses total no more than take-home pay, and they can explain any spending change they made.
Common Misconceptions: Students often budget from pay before taxes. They may call groceries a fixed expense because they buy them every month, or forget to include savings in the total.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Monthly pay is $3,000 before $400 in taxes. Savings are $300, fixed costs are $1,450, and variable costs are $900. Is the plan affordable? Show the math and change one cost if needed.

Lesson moves

Sort expense cards into fixed and variable piles, then use a sample pay stub to build a monthly budget on paper.
Ask: A renter is $75 short after setting aside savings. Which variable expense would you change, and by how much?
Play budget repair: draw a surprise expense card, then move amounts between spending lines until the budget balances.
Use a local apartment listing and grocery flyer to estimate rent and food costs for a first-job budget.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 9-12.EC.23, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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