First Apartment Budget

While you handle the household's own bills or budget, your teen builds a pretend monthly budget for living on their own: rent, groceries, utilities, phone, transport: sorting needs from wants to see what actually fits.

How to do it

1. Next time you sit down to pay bills or review the household budget, invite your teen to build a pretend budget alongside you (or another adult in the household) for living on their own.
2. Agree on a starting point together: a realistic entry-level income for the pretend budget, and the going rent for a small place in your area.
3. Have your teen list every regular cost of living alone they can think of: rent, utilities, groceries, phone, transport, and anything else.
4. Ask them to sort the list into needs and wants, then look up or estimate a real price for each item.
5. When the total goes over the pretend income, have them find trade-offs: a cheaper phone plan, cooking more, a smaller place: until the budget balances.
6. Let them walk you through the finished budget and explain the trade-offs they chose and why.

What you need

• Notebook
• Pen or calculator
• Device
• Reference bill

Make it yours

Younger end, 12 years: Shorten the list to four or five major categories and offer round-number estimates rather than having them research every price. Older or more ready, 14 years and up: Add a surprise cost partway through, such as a rent increase or a broken phone, and have them re-balance the budget. Siblings: Each teen builds their own budget for the same pretend income and city, then compares the choices they made.