How To Budget Your Money

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec596/Units/Respon/Budgeting.html

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.

The Task

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

We will begin this lesson by discussing the probability of becoming a professional athlete or other elite professional. Based on these discussions, 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, (i.e. What are the requirements of this job (educational/other)? What skills do you need to have? What is the beginning average salary as well as the top end salary?). You must provide your teacher with a one page (minimum) summary of your findings. Is this still a career that you are interested in?

Once you have chosen a career, you may use the following resource to provide you with information about various job offerings and their requirements. As well, the second resource will help you to determine your projected monthly as well as yearly income. (You will find a list of average hourly wages from the resources listed below. You must estimate your yearly as well as monthly income from this figure).

The Job Listings for America's Employers will provide you with more detailed information about different job opportunities.
The Average Income Resource will provide you with an estimate of hourly wages for various jobs.

To determine monthly expenses, we will discuss in class the difference between luxuries and necessities. Based on this discussion, you will need to acquire the classified section of a newspaper of your choice. Determine the cost of buying/renting a home, utility expenses, as well as other expenses. You are required to provide a list of these projected expenses on the third day of class. Each week you will be responsible for keeping a mock monthly budget. You may also be given an unexpected expense which may include such things as buying a birthday gift, new clothes or even a new car. This must be figured into your monthly budget.

You may want to use the Rental Guide to help you to find an affordable home (Use this resource by selecting the area in which you would like to live and then give a maximum amount that you would like to spend each month. Start your search and see if there is anything available that meets your criteria).

Evaluation

Your grade for this week will be determined by the completion of the following items:

A one page research paper which describes in detail the career that you have chosen

The skills/requirements for this job
The beginning salary
Top end salary and,
An explanation of why you have chosen this career

An organized budget of monthly expenses which may include the following items:
1. Income
2. Food
3. Housing
4. Health Care
5. Utilities
6. Transportation
7. Miscellaneous
8. Savings
Conclusion
In becoming an adult, you must learn to budget your money responsibly. You will have achieved this by spending less money than you have earned. If your budget shows a negative income, you have spent too much money. Check your budget at the end of this first week. How did you do? If you were able to balance your budget, discuss on a separate sheet of paper the possibilities of what you may want to do with the extra cash. If you spent too much, discuss what you may be able to change in order to budget your money for the following month.
Last updated April 28, 1996. Return to the Responsibility Page

How To Budget Your Money

Introduction

The Task

The Process

Evaluation

Conclusion