Renting an Apartment Project
Budgeting & Life Skills · Financial Literacy
- Grades
- Grades 9–12
- Formats
- Google Slides, PDF, PowerPoint
- Pages
- 30
- Answer keys
- Included
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Get students ready to move out with this renting an apartment project! High school students draw a life card with a first job and paycheck, shop six realistic apartment listings, apply the 30% rent guideline, estimate utilities, add up move-in costs, split rent with a roommate, read a one-page lease, learn renters' rights and responsibilities, furnish their place on a budget and defend their choice in a final recommendation.
What's included
- Teacher guide with 6-day pacing, materials and differentiation (support, on level, challenge)
- Standards page (Common Core math & ELA + Jump$tart personal finance) and contents
- Project overview with rules and a checklist
- 8 cut-apart life cards (job, gross and take-home pay, savings, car or bus, pets, student loans)
- Guided notes: Renting 101 (12 key terms) + smart renter moves and rental scam warning
- 6 detailed apartment listings (studio to 2-bedroom, pets, parking, utilities, transit) + warm-up
- The 30% rent guideline: practice for every card + gross vs. take-home comparison
- Utilities estimate with practice rates (kWh, therms, flat fees)
- Monthly cost comparison and move-in cost worksheets
- Splitting rent with a roommate: 3 fair-split methods using proportions + roommate agreement checklist
- A one-page sample lease + 12 lease questions that require citing sections
- Guided notes: renters' rights and responsibilities, wear and tear vs. damage
- Landlord or Tenant? 8 cut-apart scenario cards + sorting sheet
- Furnishing on a budget (new vs. used, sales tax) and a monthly budget check
- Final recommendation write-up and a 20-point rubric
- Complete answer keys, reference tables for every card and apartment, and a sample completed project
How to use it
Run it as a 6-day project in financial literacy, personal finance, consumer math, FACS, life skills or transition classes, or as an end-of-year capstone. Print and go: the only prep is cutting the life cards and the scenario cards.
Skills practiced
Budgetingpercentsproportionsunit ratesutilitiesreading a leaserenters' rightsdecision makingargument writing
