Repair, Rent, Borrow, or Buy? The One-Need Decision Board

Smart choices are not always about buying the cheapest item. Compare four ways to meet one temporary need, weigh money alongside time and responsibility, then test whether your decision changes when one real-world constraint changes. 🌟 COMPETITION OVERVIEW Explore personal finance and sustainability by building a one-page decision board for a fictional person who needs one safe, ordinary item for a stated period. You will compare repairing an item already owned, renting, borrowing, and buying, then make two evidence-based recommendations under two versions of the same scenario. 🎯 THE MISSION • Choose one fictional person, one safe item, and one clear use period. • Compare exactly four access options: repair, rent, borrow, and buy. • Calculate the total out-of-pocket cost for each option using clearly labelled fictional figures or responsibly sourced public figures. • Recommend the best option for the original scenario. • Change exactly one constraint—such as urgency, length of use, available money today, or access to a lender—and decide whether the best option changes. 🔍 WHAT TO INCLUDE • A short fictional scenario naming the item and how long it is needed. • Four clearly separated option areas for repair, rent, borrow, and buy. • For every option: total cost, upfront cost, waiting time or convenience, and one responsibility or sustainability factor. • Transparent arithmetic and assumptions. • One evidence-based recommendation for the original scenario. • One changed constraint, at least two effects of that change, and a second recommendation. • Early learners may use whole-dollar option cards, drawings, and adult-written labels; older students should consider deposits, repeated fees, resale value, maintenance, uncertainty, and trade-offs where relevant. 📋 RULES • Use one fictional person and one safe, ordinary item. • Keep all numbers internally consistent and label invented figures as fictional. • Cite the source of any real public price or fee. • Do not include real account information, receipts, loyalty data, addresses, lender identities, brand promotions, or personal financial details. • Do not use dangerous, age-restricted, medical, weapon-related, or high-value items. • Use original wording and visuals or properly credited reusable elements. • Place the complete entry on one page and combine everything into exactly one file. • The work must be respectful, accessible, and suitable for a school audience. 📤 SUBMISSION • Upload exactly one single-page PDF, JPG, or PNG infographic. • The file must contain the scenario, all four options, calculations, both recommendations, and the changed-constraint analysis. • No paid software, specialized tools, purchases, or real transactions are required. 🏆 JUDGING CRITERIA • Quality of constraint-aware recommendations: 35% • Mathematical consistency and transparent assumptions: 25% • Insight shown by changing one constraint: 20% • Visual clarity and usability of the decision board: 10% • Privacy, sustainability awareness, accessibility, and rule-following: 10% 🎁 WHY PARTICIPATE? Real financial decisions involve more than sticker price. This challenge develops practical judgement, mathematical communication, sustainability awareness, and the ability to explain why a good choice for one situation may be a poor choice for another.