Your Personal Budget

 

Introduction:  Someday you will leave home and be on your own.  It's closer than you think!  Do you know what to plan for?  Here is a Web Quest designed to make that task a little easier.  Take a look and see!

 

The task: Planning for your future often involves leaving home.  Many young people are uncertain about what is involved. The purpose of this web quest is to help you understand the financial aspects of this type of decision.  You are going to write a budget based on the kind of job you think you might have and the kind of apartment you think you might have. 

 

The process: You are going to gather information to use in a budget calculator.  This calculator is very similar to a balance sheet because it subtracts your expenses from your income and assigns the remainder to savings.  Thus your expenses will equal your income.  This is designed to make the balance sheet more realistic for you.  You are going to gather the information, copy it down, and then use it in a budget calculator. 

 

Resources:

1. Before you can move out of your house, you need to have a source of steady income.  The first thing you will do is look at jobs.  You are going to pretend that you are on a job hunt. 
1. First, check out the Philadelphia Inquirer want ads to locate a job you can do.  Be as realistic as you can.  If you want to check out another source, try Philly Jobs.
2. Next you are going to look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics to take a closer look at this job. Before you decide on a job, it may be helpful to check out statistics on a job you are interested in. 

                                          i.    What do people in this job do?

                                        ii.    What are the working conditions for this job?

                                       iii.    What kind of training or qualifications does the job require?

                                       iv.    Is this a job that is growing or shrinking?  Is there a future in this field?

                                        v.    How much money can I make in this job? Write this information down.

                                       vi.    Are there related jobs you can check out?

3. This employment outlook for your occupation should help you determine if this is a job you can do and how much money you will make. So, now that you know how much you can make, how much are you likely to make in Philadelphia? ______
4. Next you are going to determine how much money you are going to make in a month.  Take the amount of money you make or the employment outlook
5. In the following worksheet enter the per-hour income or the yearly income to determine your take-home monthly salary. Instructions:  Enter your hourly or yearly income, then click to the left of the table, and then press the F9 key.

Per hour income	Multiply by 200	Minus Payroll Deductions	Total
$5.25	$ 850.00	$ 102.00	$748.00
Yearly Income	Divide by 12	Minus Payroll Deductions	Total
$10,200	$850.00	$102.00	$ 748.00

 

2. Now that you know your monthly income, now it is time to look at your monthly expenses. The biggest expense you will have every month is your rent.  Look at potential apartments.  Remember, a good rule of thumb is that you want to spend about 35% of your take-home salary on rent, which is _______. (What is your deposit?  ______) Here is the link: Find an apartment
3. Also talk to your parents about what groceries and clothes might cost you.  These are very individual expenses and information you find on the Internet may not be that helpful to you, personally. 

4. There are other things you might consider investigating.  What are the best local rates for the services you might want to use?  Go to Find the best prices for the following services you might want to use:
1. Local Telephone                  cost     ______           (Deposit ________.)
2. Long Distance                      cost     ______           (Deposit ________.)
3. Newspaper Delivery            cost     ______
4. Renters Insurance               cost     ______
5. Furniture Rental                  cost     ______
6. Appliance Rental                 cost     ______
7. Dial-Up Internet Service     cost     ______
5. Now that you know what some of your projected costs might be, let’s enter the information into the budget calculator.  Here is the link: The budget calculator.  If you still don’t know a cost, guess.  Also speculate on what you would like to spend when using the second set of numbers. 
6. Print out the charts.  What have you learned about what you can afford?  Were you able to save any money?

 

 

 

 

7. You can see how a budget calculator is similar to a balance sheet.  What have you learned about balance sheets?  How does a business benefit from using one?

 

 

8. For a bonus, here is a link that will help you plan a real move:  The link: The Moving Plan
9. Also, don’t get too involved with credit buying. 

 

10. Evaluation:

            The assignment: You will write down information that you find to use in a report about your budget.  Write down what you learned that you want to remember and any information that you find useful. Using this information, write a two page report about your budget and include the costs you have determined.  Your report will detail the budget you plan to use to keep your expenses in line when you leave home using the information you have researched in this web quest.

 

Conclusion: