Paying rent, bills and other expenses

This activity pack explores the different financial aspects involved in living independently, such as rent and bills, and how to prioritise payments to stay out of debt.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the lesson, participants will be able to:

• Explain the difference between renting, buying and taking shared ownership of a property
• Compare the costs and everyday expenses associated with renting and buying a property
• Understand the different support that may be available to them for financing their accommodation if they are on a low income, as well as how this varies depending on where they live
• Discuss which costs are unavoidable and which are optional when living independently
• Understand the implications of falling behind with bill payments
• Differentiate between the ways of paying rent and household bills, including direct debt from a bank account, bank transfer, over the phone, in cash at the post office, prepayment meters for gas and electricity, annual payment or monthly instalments

To access worksheets for all twelve activity packs in one place, use our ‘Setting yourself up for financial independence’ workbook.

Other LifeSkills lessons are also suitable for use with care leavers to support them on their employability journey, here are some to get started with:

• Aiming high (proactivity)
• Tailoring your CV using networks
• Interview success

If you want to increase your own confidence to teach young people about money, Young Money provide free e-learning training to teachers across Primary and Secondary education.  In addition, National Numeracy has a free website which helps you practise and refresh your everyday maths skills.