Teaching · Personal Finance
What Does Borrowing Really Cost?
Credit is one of the most powerful — and most misunderstood — tools in money. This print-and-do lesson set turns it into clear arithmetic: interest and APR, how a credit card charges you, why paying only the minimum is a trap, what a credit score is, and how to find the true cost of a loan.
How It Works
From “what’s interest?” to the true cost of a loan
Credit runs on one idea — interest, the price of borrowing. Students learn to compute it three ways, from a simple loan to a credit card to a car payment.
See what interest costs
Start with simple interest — principal × rate × time — and see how a higher rate or more time grows what you owe.
Follow a credit-card balance
Read a real statement, then track a balance month by month to see why paying only the minimum is a years-long trap.
Find the true cost of a loan
Total up what a car loan really costs, and compare two offers — the smaller monthly payment isn’t always the better deal.
What’s Inside
Everything you need to teach credit
- How Credit & Interest Work — principal, interest & APR, in student-friendly language
- Anatomy of a Credit Card Statement — a fully labeled sample students can point to
- Three leveled worksheets — simple interest (9–10), the minimum-payment trap (10–11), true cost of a loan (11–12)
- What Is a Credit Score? — a plain-English one-pager on the number lenders check
- Reflection + Take It Home — discussion questions and a real-statement hunt
- Full answer key — every interest, payment, total, and payoff figure, computed
- Credit Smart certificate — a printable award for finishing the packet
- Credit Calculator spreadsheet — Excel + Google Sheets (paid)
Get It
Try the free sample, or get the full packet
Free with a free account
Free sample
A real, runnable preview — how credit & interest work, the full labeled Anatomy of a Credit Card Statement page, and a Level 1 worksheet. Enough to teach a lesson today. Create a free Money Instructor account to download — already a member? Just log in.
Included with paid membership
Full packet
The complete 14-page packet — the credit-card-statement page, all three worksheet levels, the credit-score explainer, reflection and take-home pages, the full answer key, the Credit Smart certificate, and the teacher guide — plus the Credit Calculator spreadsheet. Free and logged-out visitors are prompted to create an account or upgrade.
Who It’s For
One packet, a whole range of learners
High school teachers
A no-prep personal-finance lesson with three built-in levels for grades 9–12.
CTE & career readiness
Exactly the adult-money skills students need: credit cards, credit scores, and loan costs.
Homeschool families
Walk a teen through a credit-card statement and a car loan before they sign for one.
Need a sub plan?
Print it and go — clear directions, an answer key, and zero devices required.
No Devices Required
Print it and go — or go digital
The whole packet works on paper: print the statement and worksheets, and students are computing interest in minutes. Want a digital version too? Money Instructor’s free interactive lessons True Cost of a Loan, Credit Card Basics, and Credit Scores teach the same ideas on a screen — a perfect companion or follow-up.
Try the free interactive lessons →Questions
Frequently asked questions
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Ready to Teach Credit?
Show students what borrowing really costs
Try the free sample, or get the full packet and teach interest, credit cards, and the true cost of a loan this week.