Life Skills Math for High School: Percent, Interest and Business Math
For a high school life skills or consumer math elective, the Everyday & Financial Math Bundle supplies three printable units on discounts, sales tax, simple interest, the rule of three and proportional reasoning. It gives an elective teacher a solid money-math block to build around. The bundle costs $49.99, while the three units bought separately come to $69.97, and the files download as soon as you check out.
See the money-math bundle →For a life skills math elective, the Everyday & Financial Math Bundle from Teach Lessons ($49.99 instead of $69.97 for the separate parts) gives you three units written for Grades 7–12: percentages and interest (discounts, tax, simple interest), business math using the rule of three and percentages, and ratio, proportion and percentage. It is a strong money-math block for the elective, not a full-year course, so plan other topics such as budgeting projects yourself.
The resources
Everyday & Financial Math Bundle, Grades 7–12
Start with the first resource; the others are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
Everyday & Financial Math Bundle | Percentages, Interest, Ratio and Business Maths | 3 Units | Grades 7–12
Complete Algebra Bundle | All 10 Algebra Workbooks from Expressions to Function Transformations | Grades 5–12
Elementary Math Practice & Warm-Up Bundle | 7 Practice Packs + Warm-Up Bundle | Grades 1–4
Teach-Life-Balance: The Complete Time-Saving Course for Teachers (incl. Planner, Guides & Templates)
The real problem
What makes a life skills math elective hard to teach
Life skills math electives tend to collect a very mixed roster. Some students are there because they failed Algebra 1 and need a math credit, some chose it because it sounds useful, and a few are seniors filling a schedule gap. Engagement drops fast if the class feels like remedial drill with a new name. Students expect the course to be about real life, and they notice quickly when a worksheet about percent never mentions anything they would buy, earn or borrow. Teachers assigned to the elective often get little in the way of materials, because it sits outside the core sequence and rarely has an adopted textbook. So you end up stitching together a percent lesson from one place, a sales tax page from another, and an interest example you wrote the night before. The math underneath is not advanced, yet it has to be precise: a student who confuses a 20 percent discount with paying 20 percent of the price will make that mistake at a real checkout. You need structured practice that teaches the method properly and keeps the money context front and center.
Why it fits
Where the bundle fits your elective
The three units cover the calculation core of a consumer or life skills course, so you can spend your planning time on projects and discussion.
- Discount and sales tax practice answers the question students ask most: what will this actually cost me.
- Simple interest pages give a clear entry point before you discuss loans, credit cards or savings accounts.
- Rule of three problems in the business math unit mirror pricing, wages and unit cost decisions.
- Ratio and proportion practice supports later projects such as comparing unit prices or scaling a recipe.
- Three units at Grades 7–12 suit students who need a credit and students who chose the course.
- Printable files mean no account setup or app rollout before the first week of the elective.
Getting started
One way to run the money-math block
Treat this as a suggestion for sequencing the units inside your elective. The bundle itself does not include a pacing calendar.
- Week one: percent at the storeBegin with discounts and sales tax from the percentages and interest unit. Bring in a real flyer or online price and have students check whether a sale is as good as it looks.
- Week two: what borrowing costsTeach simple interest with the unit pages, then ask students to compare two small loans. Keep the discussion factual and centered on the arithmetic rather than lecturing about spending habits.
- Week three: ratio and unit priceUse the ratio, proportion and percentage unit to compare package sizes and unit prices. Students see that proportional reasoning is a shopping tool, not just a textbook chapter.
- Week four: business mathThe rule of three and percentages in the business math unit fit a short mini-project, for example pricing a product for a school event or estimating hourly earnings.
- Close with a mixed checkCombine items from all three units into a short assessment. Mixing topics shows whether students can choose the right method, the skill an elective like this should leave them with.
What to buy
What to buy for the elective
If your elective covers money math across several weeks, the Everyday & Financial Math Bundle at $49.99 is the sensible buy: the same three units cost $69.97 bought one by one. If the elective only touches percent for a short stretch, a single unit costs less. Students who need serious algebra support alongside the elective may be better served by the Complete Algebra Bundle ($129.99, parts $199.90), which collects all 10 algebra workbooks. Teach-Life-Balance ($89.90) is a separate course on saving prep time if you teach several preps. TEACHMORE15 does not apply to these bundles.
Honest limits
Limits to plan around
This bundle is a focused money-math block, not a complete life skills curriculum. It does not include units on budgeting, taxes on income, renting, insurance or credit scores, so you supply those parts of the elective yourself. Course requirements for consumer or applied math credits differ by school, so check the topics against your course description. The licence covers your own teaching; for use by a whole math department, message Teach Lessons first. If the bundle is not the right fit, you can exchange it within 7 days for store credit of the same value.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Does this bundle meet state requirements for a math credit?
No alignment, approval or credit claim is made. The units are written for Grades 7–12 and cover percent, interest, ratio and business math. Whether a life skills elective counts toward graduation is decided by your state and district, and course content is often set locally. Compare the unit topics with your approved course description before relying on them.
Is there enough here for a semester elective?
Not on its own. The three units give you a substantial block of money math, but a semester elective usually includes budgeting, banking, careers and project work as well. Most teachers use this bundle as the calculation backbone and add their own projects and discussions around it.
Can students who struggled in Algebra 1 handle it?
The topics sit at an accessible level, because percent, simple interest and ratio come before formal algebra. Students who struggled with abstract equations often do better when the numbers represent prices and wages. If a student lacks fraction and decimal basics, plan a short refresher first.
Does it cover compound interest or credit cards?
The interest content listed for this bundle is simple interest. Compound interest and credit card statements are not part of the described units, so plan those yourself. Simple interest is still a useful first step before those topics. Once students can calculate simple interest by hand, comparing it with a real loan offer becomes a strong class discussion.
Can I edit the files for my class?
The bundle is described as printable units with the topics listed on the product page. Check the product page for file formats before you buy. Either way, you can add your own local prices, store names or project prompts around the worksheets. Many elective teachers also attach a short reflection question to each worksheet about where the calculation shows up in daily life.
Our department wants to share it. Is that allowed?
The standard licence is for your own teaching. If several teachers in your department want to use the same purchase, send Teach Lessons a short message first and ask about team use. Posting files on a shared public site or reselling them is not permitted.
Give your elective a solid money-math core
See the three units and the bundle price on the product page.
See the money-math bundle →