Blue Mountain Math

Making Math Fun with Engaging Activities

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Free
  • Videos
  • Links

Consumer Math/Personal Finance

I have taught Consumer Math at the high school level for several years now. 10 years ago I was at a different high school and when the district decided to implement a senior level course for math credit, I jumped at the chance to teach it. At that time, there were few materials for teachers and the curriculum was pieced together based on what several of us termed as “important” skills for soon-to-be adults to have.

Then I transferred to the middle school and Consumer Math was assigned to teachers who viewed it as a punishment. After all, most math teachers aspire to teach honors classes or Algebra 2 classes and not a lower level math class.

However, I always believed that of all the math classes taught, Consumer Math was the most needed by our young people to be successful adults. Subjects such as the difference between simple and compound interest, budgeting, investment and insurance options are vital for an informed public. I would like to see this class as required for all students—at least one semester. 

Resources for Teen Finance

When I returned to teaching at the high school I was assigned Consumer Math again.  I did not ask for it.  I was wise enough to know that people rarely receive what they ask for so I asked for something else. However, much has changed in the last 10 years.  Now there are a variety of resources online to support teaching personal finance to teens. Some of these resources are free while others have an annual fee.

Money Instructor

https://www.moneyinstructor.com/

$$ Lessons and worksheets on a variety of topics. You can customize the worksheets with names of students. This is especially fun with paycheck stubs.

Quia

https://www.quia.com/

$$ This site has a lot of useful online resources to help students on all subjects. There are quizzes, vocabulary options, puzzles and games. This site has been around for a long time and my first discovery of how using online resources can help students learn.

The beauty of this site is that you can make your own resources or search the shared resources that other teachers have made. You can usually find something to use or at least something to use as a starting point. The most popular type of activity is the game for 2 which is similar to “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”. Students want to know if they will get their million and I direct them to the principal.

Next Gen Personal Finance

https://www.ngpf.org/

FREE This is by far my favorite resource this year. The site has a pacing guide for semester and shorter terms and complete lesson plans with articles, videos, discussion questions and more. I copy the lesson plans for students to a google doc and assign through google classroom. Also available are posters, games (real arcade games) and additional topics to stimulate thinking.

The lesson plans vary from 45 minutes to 90 minutes. There are stimulating questions you can use in class. My school has an extra 20 minutes in one of the periods where teachers deliver additional lessons to extend learning. Several teachers are using these resources just for fun.

Consumer Math

https://www.basic-mathematics.com/consumer-math.html

FREE This is probably more suited to lower grades but it does have some good examples on the site as well as worksheets. Some concepts are more difficult for students and finding quality resources is a problem. Net Pay and Gross Pay are such subjects which this site has.

Consumer Math

$$ The units are well-arranged and could be assigned as they are. You can get a free trial and purchase software to keep track of scores. The material is also arranged by personal finance and business finance and enough material to teach 20 weeks of each area. I did try the site out free and found the materials worthwhile, but my school does not pay for memberships like this.

Practical Money Skills

https://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/teach/lesson_plans

FREE 22 Lessons with both a student guide and teachers guide. You can choose the grade level in case you incorporate lessons into middle school or elementary. Since many concepts in Consumer Math require percents and decimals, this makes interesting real-life examples for students of all ages.

Stock Market Game

In addition to these resources, my students play the stock market game in the spring. It is free to play, students are assigned to teams where they invest $100,000 in stocks and bonds.  Games have different periods of time to play. I like the spring game which starts in January and lasts until early April.

I alternate this with other activities in investments, savings, retirement and interest. Kids are used to playing video games where the action is quick and over in a few minutes. For many students, waiting for weeks to see stocks go up or down a few cents is painful. The site also has an option to participate in a essay contest.

https://www.stockmarketgame.org/

And of course I am creating some activities that will complement the concepts we study.  I like using Boom Cards in the classroom, so I have decks for net pay, gross pay and sales tax in my TPT store. I am working on several more for the coming weeks. Students also enjoy the paper chains which are self-checking and make great decorations in the classroom. If you want to be notified of new resources as they are created, click the link below and follow my store. This way you will stay up to date.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Sellers-Im-Following/Add/Blue-Mountain-Math

Please let me know if you have any other favorite resources for teaching personal finance to teens.  And if you have not tried some of these out, check them out and let me know how it goes. Drop a comment below of email me at [email protected].

Filed Under: activities, checks for understanding, consumer math 14 Comments

« Teaching Geometry Transformations
Angle Relationships »

Comments

  1. Nav says

    March 5, 2023 at 6:26 am

    Thanks so much for the review!! I wish schools would stop doing our kids a disservice require consumer math in school.

    Reply
  2. 2j bet says

    May 17, 2025 at 7:40 am

    I really enjoyed this post on Consumer Math! The practical examples you provided make it much easier to grasp how personal finance works. I especially appreciated the tips on budgeting and saving for future goals. Looking forward to seeing more content like this!

    Reply
  3. h89 SLOTS says

    July 16, 2025 at 5:46 pm

    I really enjoyed this post on consumer math! The practical tips on budgeting and managing expenses are incredibly helpful. It’s great to see such important topics being discussed in a relatable way. Looking forward to more insights!

    Reply
  4. Jalwa Lottery Login says

    July 27, 2025 at 8:19 am

    This post on consumer math and personal finance is incredibly insightful! I love how it breaks down complex concepts into easily digestible pieces. It’s so important for us to understand these principles to better manage our finances. Thanks for sharing these valuable tips!

    Reply
  5. big mumbai login says

    August 19, 2025 at 1:28 pm

    This post on Consumer Math and Personal Finance is incredibly helpful! I love how it breaks down complex concepts into understandable terms. The practical examples make it easier to apply these lessons to everyday life. Looking forward to more insights like this!

    Reply
  6. daman club says

    August 25, 2025 at 5:47 pm

    This blog post on Consumer Math and Personal Finance is incredibly insightful! I love how you break down complex topics into easily understandable concepts. The practical tips for budgeting and saving are especially helpful. Looking forward to more posts like this!

    Reply
  7. Slimjaro says

    August 29, 2025 at 3:26 pm

    I really enjoyed this post! The practical tips on consumer math and personal finance are so helpful for making everyday financial decisions. The examples you provided made the concepts easy to understand. Looking forward to more insightful content like this!

    Reply
  8. 71 lottery app says

    September 1, 2025 at 8:13 am

    I really enjoyed this post on Consumer Math! It’s so helpful to see practical examples of personal finance concepts. The tips on budgeting and saving are applicable to everyday life, and I appreciate the clear explanations. Looking forward to more posts like this!

    Reply
  9. Due win says

    September 2, 2025 at 6:17 pm

    I really enjoyed this post! It’s refreshing to see practical applications of consumer math laid out clearly. The budgeting tips and explanations of interest rates were especially helpful. Looking forward to more insights on managing personal finances!

    Reply
  10. GG789 says

    September 19, 2025 at 7:41 pm

    This post was incredibly insightful! The practical examples of consumer math made the concepts really relatable. I’m definitely going to apply some of these strategies to manage my personal finances better. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  11. 91 club says

    September 25, 2025 at 10:39 am

    Great insights on consumer math! The practical examples really helped me understand how to apply these concepts in real life. Looking forward to more posts like this!

    Reply
  12. Tubidy cool says

    September 26, 2025 at 7:54 pm

    This post on Consumer Math and Personal Finance is incredibly insightful! I appreciated the practical tips and examples you provided; they truly demystify complex concepts. It’s so important for us to understand how to manage our finances effectively. Thank you for making this accessible and engaging!

    Reply
  13. 51 club login says

    October 1, 2025 at 9:27 am

    Great insights on consumer math! I appreciate how you broke down the concepts in a relatable way. Understanding budgeting and personal finance is so crucial for everyone, and this post makes it accessible. Keep up the great work!

    Reply
  14. ri188 says

    October 1, 2025 at 8:45 pm

    Great insights on Consumer Math and Personal Finance! I love how you broke down complex topics into easily digestible pieces. This is definitely going to help me make more informed financial decisions. Looking forward to more posts like this!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search

Categories

Boom Learning

Teachers Pay Teachers

Amazon Disclosure

Blue Mountain Math is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. The links that are indicated as "affiliate links" mean I will be paid a small sum at no additional cost to you. Blue Mountain Math uses links to provide a service to the reader about products that have been used.

Latest on Pinterest

  • Practice finding perfect square roots in  a fun new way.  No PREP, NO PRINTING, NO LAMINATING. Just practice, feedback for students and auto grading for teachers. Great for differentiating and works well in centers, stations, as review or homework.  Print
  • Boom Cards™️ are a great way for students to practice every day skills like using percents. You can assess their understanding and students can play again to keep improving. This set uses a variety of word problems using percent. This set of Boom Cards features 40 different Digital Self-Checking Task Cards. (No printing, cutting, laminating, or grading!)
  • Boom Cards: Digital Task Cards are great alternatives to those printed, laminated task cards. Infuse your class with technology.  Students love these cards so much, they ask to use at home.  Use in math centers, as individual learning or assign for additi
  • Boom Cards™ are a great way for students to practice every day skills In this deck, students practice finding combination and permutations. This set of Boom Cards features 35 different Digital Self-Checking Task Cards. (No printing, cutting, laminating, or grading!)
  • Students practice using the distributive property, both in distributing and combining like terms, in these 2 puzzles in google slides. There are 2 puzzles--one in each simple level and challenging level. In the simpler level, the outside edges are blank, so if students are having difficulty, have them arrange the pieces so the blank sides are on the outside.
  • Sector Area in a Circle Paper Chain is a fun, engaging  activity that is self-checking, collaborative. Set of 15 problems that need to be cut apart, reassembled in the correct order and fastened together like a chain until the end is reached. Great worksh
  • Great practice, worksheet alternative, formative assessment for students that you can HEAR if they are successful.  No printing, no laminating.  A Lifetime tool for the classroom.
  • Boom Cards™️ are a great way for students to finding gross pay by pay periods. This deck has 40 cards for students to practice finding Gross Pay in a variety of ways. For example: Mary makes $400 per week, how much does she make annually or Joe makes $2000 per month, how much does he make weekly. This will help reinforce vocabulary of Gross Pay, Bi-weekly, Bi-Monthly, Semi-monthly, Weeky, Annually and Weekly. This is part of a life skills/ personal finance/ comsumer math curriculum.
  • This is a twisted trivia game where students (either in groups or playing individually with white boards) practice identifying solutions and writing inequalities from graphs. Check out the video preview to see the type of questions included.

Latest on Instagram

Bow Ties send a signal that you are smarter and mo Bow Ties send a signal that you are smarter and more tech savvy than people who wear neck ties.....just a thought..... #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
My cat is upset that dogs have a day until I expla My cat is upset that dogs have a day until I explained that National Cat Day is October 29. So Happy Dog Day to all your fur family. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
And for my southern relatives, have some fried chi And for my southern relatives, have some fried chicken with those waffles #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
AT last, a day for those of us who are over a cert AT last, a day for those of us who are over a certain age. Although, the picture does not reflect many of us. We are not sitting with our hands folder, we are still active and making a difference. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
I still love radio, mostly music. I used to listed I still love radio, mostly music. I used to listed to a lot of talk radio, but it got so negative that I noticed it was influencing my day. Are you a talk radio person and do you notice that? #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
Did you know that the Wright Brothers who are cred Did you know that the Wright Brothers who are credited with the first airplane flight were not funded by the government? The government had funded several others, who failed. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
Why can't we have a fajita day each week like Taco Why can't we have a fajita day each week like Taco Tuesday?  We could have Fajita Friday each week  So today enjoy the fajitas and think about having them weekly--like tacos. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
We have already used our colored markers and penci We have already used our colored markers and pencils.  Yeah, I love color. #teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt
Did you know that left handed people have brains t Did you know that left handed people have brains that work differently? Their brains communicates differently and have greater verbal skills....⁣
#teachersfollowteachers  #teachersofig #iteachtoo #iteachmath#mathteachers #mathteacher #iteachalgebra ⁣
#iteachgeometry #highschoolmathteacher ⁣
#highschoolteacher ⁣
#mathteachertribe#teachersofinstagram  #secondarymath #secondarymathteacher  #secondaryteacher⁣
#geometry⁣
#teachertribe⁣
#tpt ⁣
#teacherspayteachers #algebra #teachersoftpt

Latest on Facebook

This message is only visible to admins.
Problem displaying Facebook posts. Backup cache in use.
Click to show error
Error: Error validating access token: The session has been invalidated because the user changed their password or Facebook has changed the session for security reasons. Type: OAuthException
Copyright © 2025 · Website Design By Jumping Jax Designs

Insert/edit link

Enter the destination URL

Or link to existing content

    No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.