Budgeting and Expenses

A comprehensive high school Business Math unit covering expense tracking, monthly averages, working backward from budget targets, income deductions, percentage-based allocations, and an applied real-world personal budgeting project.

MQMelanie Quick

Expenses and Expenditures

Students learn foundational expense tracking, distinguishing fixed vs. variable costs, calculating multi-month average expenditures, and working backward from quarterly and seasonal budget targets.

Budgeting Principles

Students explore budget structures, gross vs. net pay with a standard 25 percent tax deduction, needs vs. wants, and target percentage ranges for essential and flexible expenses.

Budget Project and Assessment

Students apply all unit principles to an authentic real-world financial simulation project, review core formulas, and demonstrate mastery on the unit summative test.

Budgeting and Expenses

MQMelanie Quick

Budgeting and Expenses • Sequence • Lenny.com

Budget Category	Target % Range	Target Dollar Range	Actual Planned Cost
1. Housing / Rent	25% – 35%	$ ________ – $ ________	$ ______________
2. Utilities & Bills (Move.org)	5% – 10%	$ ________ – $ ________	$ ______________
3. Car Loan ($\text{KBB} \div 60$) & Gas	10% – 15%	$ ________ – $ ________	$ ______________
4. Auto & Health Insurance	10% – 20%	$ ________ – $ ________	$ ______________
5. Groceries & Food	5% – 9%	$ ________ – $ ________	$ ______________
6. Recreation / Dining Out	5% – 10%	$ ________ – $ ________	$ ______________
7. Misc. & Emergency Fund	5% – 11%	$ ________ – $ ________	$ ______________
Total Monthly Expenditures Planned	$ ______________