Life & Work - Budget Assignment
Introduction: The following activities will guide you through the process of how to budget your
money responsibly. You will begin by deciding on a career of your choice, determining your monthly
income, and estimating your monthly expenses. You will be responsible for keeping track of money
earned as well as money spent. At the end of this lesson you will be able to: Apply math to real life
situations, develop a realistic view of the cost of living, differentiate between necessities and luxuries,
use technology as a resource.
The Process: How likely is it that you will become a professional athlete or other elite professional?
Your first task will be to decide on a "realistic" career that would be suitable for you in the future. You
are required to research the career that you have chosen.
Once you have chosen a career, you will use the Internet, family/household information, and
newspaper classifieds to find information about various wages and expenses, which will be used to
create a personal budget.
Part A – How much can I afford
Step 1 Find and choose a career of your own to use to create an actual budget.
What are the requirements of this job (educational/other)?
(Steps I need to take after high school)
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is the starting average salary as well as the top end salary?
Some resources you may utilize:
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm
http://www.payscale.com
http://kiplinger.salary.com/
http://jobcentral.salary.com/
http://www.themint.org/kids/starting-salaries.html
Life & Work - Budget Assignment
Part B - Creating a Budget
Okay...we're not going to bore you with a lot of details here. Simply put: we want you to imagine how
you want to live once you're on your own. What kind of car are you going to buy? Where are you
going to live? Do you love to go to the movies or to the clubs every weekend? Remember, it's your
life, you can do whatever you want...or can you?
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Step 1: After class discussion, answer the following questions.
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What is a budget?
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What does a balanced budget mean?
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What are regular expenses?
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What are discretionary expenses?
* Step 2: You are responsible for creating a monthly budget. Your budget must be realistic and you
must "live" within your means. Use the Internet, family/household information, and newspaper
classifieds to complete the budget worksheet on the back of this assignment. You must include
documentation to support all of your numbers, such as website address, copy of bill from home, copy
of classified ad, etc.
Convert yearly or weekly income/expenses to monthly amounts
i.e. $30000 yearly salary divided by 12 = $2500 income per month
i.e. $125 weekly groceries X 4 (roughly, number of weeks in month) = $500 per month
* Step 3: Recreate the budget worksheet as a spreadsheet. Your spreadsheet should contain
formulas in every instance where math was involved. (Hint - Starred cells on budget worksheet
should contain formulas on your spreadsheet!) Print two copies of your spreadsheet, one showing
answers and one showing formulas.
Monthly Budget Worksheet
Income
Monthly Income
- Deductions (monthly income X 25%)
= Net Monthly Income
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Monthly Expenses
Regular Expenses
Housing/Shelter
Garbage Pickup
Water
Parking Fees
Heating
Electricity
Phone
Renters'/Homeowners' Insurance
Auto Payment
Auto Insurance
Auto Maintenance (gas, oil, repairs, etc.)
Clothing
Food/Household (groceries, paper towels, cleaner,
etc.)
School Loans
Personal care (hair cuts, manicures, etc.)
Total Regular Expenses
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Discretionary Expenses
Internet
Cell Phone
Cable Television
Life Insurance
Health Care
Entertainment (movies, music, games, vacations)
Miscellaneous
Gifts
Savings
Total Discretionary Expenses
Total Monthly Expenses
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Balancing Budget
Net Monthly Income
Total Monthly Expenses
Balance
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