Name:______
Budget For Life!
GOAL: To budget a given amount of money for all living expenses over 8 months while saving for a summer vacation.
Today you will draw a partner (roommate) to work on the budget project with. You and your partner will create a budget for the next 8 months (November-June) that must fit the jobs that you are assigned. You will need to have a place to live, at least one vehicle to drive, and all of the keys for survival (groceries for the month, gas for the car, etc). Talk to your parents about how expensive their bills are, look at old bills and see how they compare month to month. Go to the grocery store with your menu for the month and add up the cost, use coupons to help (write it down so you can create your receipt, attach all coupons). Remember that when you move into an apartment or home you not only have your rent or mortgage but also bills (electricity, gas, water, trash). You may also want to consider a security system, bug and pest control, lawn care, etc. Other luxuries are cell phones, cable, and internet. You will also need insurance (health, car, and homeowners). Keep in mind your goal is to save enough money to go on a vacation this summer. Spend some time looking into where you would like to go on vacation and what the cost will be. Be sure to do in depth, accurate research for each of the parts of your project. You will need to look up on the internet and make phone calls to apartment complexes, realtors, cable companies, car salesperson, insurance agents, etc. As you find the prices remember to include taxes and fees when necessary.
After working hard all week long to make your money, you might want to relax and enjoy yourself. Think about budgeting in “fun money” for things like going to the movies, eating out, joining a sports league, attending a concert, buying a new shirt, etc.
When you call businesses, be sure to be respectful and explain why you are calling. Say something like “Hello, my name is ______, and I am working on a project for my Algebra I class. Do you mind if I take just a few minutes of your time to ask you some questions please? This will help with the accuracy of my budgeting.” Have the questions written down and ready to go. Have a pen with you so that you can quickly write down the information that you get. Finish the conversation showing your appreciation. Say something like “Thank you so much for your time, I appreciate it!”
FINAL PRODUCT: Write an equation to show your monthly income. You will keep a “check book register” for 8 months of the year (November-June). You will choose 3 different months to graph the activity in your checking account. Choose 1 typical month and 2 months where you had special circumstances happen. Graph all three months on one coordinate plane and write a paragraph comparing and contrasting the graphs, explain the correlation the independent/dependent and give the domain and range for each line. Also, create a graph of your vacation savings over the 8 months. Explain similarities and differences in the domain and range for each line & why. Write an inequality that shows the amount of money you are able to spend each month. Create a poster, brochure, collage, or visual aid of your choice that displays the home/apartment you live in and monthly cost, the cars you drive and monthly cost, create a grocery receipt and menu for the month (coupons help!) and a gas receipt that includes the price of a gallon of gas, # of miles per gallon your car gets and how many miles you drive per month, and a rundown of the comparison of your monthly income vs. monthly expenses. Display your graph and information on your visual aid. Include your “birthday gift budget” and show the gifts you bought, the cost and how you found the total including tax. Also, include information and pictures of your vacation spot, the cost of the vacation and if you successfully saved enough money to go on the trip. Give information about your trip budget.
*Now that you realize how much work it is to budget your money, make your mom and dad a card thanking them for everything they do for you!! How hard they work to give you shelter, buy you food, pay for your cell phone, feed you, get you cute clothes and take you fun places!! : )
Budget Worksheet
Total Family Income: ______
Home Mortgage/Rent: ______
Electric Bill: ______
Gas Bill: ______
Water Bill: ______
Trash: ______
Cell Phone: ______
Cable/Internet: ______
Other:______
Car Payment: ______
Gas Money: ______
Grocery Money: ______
Homeowners/Renters Insurance: ______
Car Insurance: ______
Health Insurance: ______
Fun Money: ______
Other:______
SAVINGS: ______
Check Book Register
Date / Description / Deposit / Withdraw / BalanceBudget for Life Rubric (Test grade)
Equation & Inequality 10 pts
Checkbook Register (8 months) 10 pts
2 Graphs (3 months and vacation savings) 15 pts
Paragraph (correlation, domain/range, independent/dependent) 15 pts
Gas Receipt 5 pts
Grocery Receipt 5 pts
Menu 5 pts
Income vs. Expenses Rundown 15 pts
Birthday gift budget 5 pts
Vacation information and budget 15 pts (travel, hotels, food, excursions, activities, equipment, car rental, clothes to wear on trip, gas, souvenirs, gifts, etc.)
Presentation (Quiz grade)
Job Cards- Each pair of students gets one card.
Nurse: $18 per hour, 25 hours a week, minus 15% taxMechanic: $12 per hour, 45 hours per week, minus 10.25% tax / UPS Driver: $16 per hour, 40 hours per week, minus 13.4% tax
Maid: $60 per home, 6 homes per week / Child Care Provider: $8 per hour, 45 hours per week, minus 9.75% tax
Firefighter: $25 per hour, 35 hours per week, minus 11% tax
Teacher: $19.25 per hour, 40 hours per week, minus 9.3% tax
Artist: $85 per piece sold, 5 pieces sold per week / Wedding Planner: $8 /hour plus $150 /wedding, 30 hours a week plus 2 events, minus 8.75% tax
Tutor: $1000 every 2 wks, minus 4.5% tax / Truck Driver: $5/ hour plus $300 /delivery, 60 hours/wk and 1 delivery, minus 5.4% tax
Nanny: $200 base plus $50 per child per week, 2 children
Store Manager: $13.75/hour, 58 hours per week, minus 9.34% tax
Dance Choreographer: $1500 per dance, 1.5 dances/month, minus $150 studio fee/ month / Police Officer: $200/shift, 7 shifts every 2 weeks, minus 13% tax
Photographer: $75/hr, 8 hrs/week, minus $100 developing fee / Musician: $150 per gig, 3 gigs per week
Body Shop Worker: $10 per hour, 45 hours/week, minus 8.6% tax
Massage Therapist: $80 per massage plus $10 tip per client, 7 clients per week
Wait Staff: $3.15/hour plus tips, 28 hours/week, $85 in tips, minus 6.2% tax / Health Club Manager: $18/ hour, 62 hours per week, minus 12% tax
Aerobics Instructor: $60 per class, 9 classes/week / Pedi-cab Driver: Average $12 per trip, 83 trips per week
Interior Decorator: $100 per staging plus $50 per completed job, 6 stagings and 3 completed jobs per week, minus 7% tax
Baker: $11 per hour, 40 hours per week, minus 9.1% tax
Probation Officer: $19/hour, 45 hours per week, minus 13% tax / Chef: $13 per hour, 20 hours per week, minus 15% tax
Lawyer: $19 per hour plus $500 per case, 40 hours/week, 1.5 cases closed per month / Dentist: $15/hour plus $20 per patient, 35 hours/ week, 6 patients/day, works 4 days/week
Dental Hygienist: $215 per day, 4 days per week, minus 9.2% tax
Special Circumstances: Each pair of students gets a card some time during class.
Ouch! You broke your arm when you tripped on a rug! $279 worth of medical bills. / You’re almost finished paying off your college loans. You owe $78 a month for the next 5 months. / You threw your back out lifting a bag of mulch during yard work. You will be fixed right up after 6 months of Chiropractor visits, co-pay $25/visit. 2 visits/ month.Crash! You rear ended another car! You owe $124 plus your auto insurance goes up $10 per month from now on. / You cracked a tooth eating a jaw breaker. Your dental bills total $98. / Hot water heater broke. Good thing it was under warranty! Bad news, it ruined your carpet and computer hard drive! $600 worth of damage, insurance covers 80%, you cover the rest.
Lightning strikes a tree outside of your home. It crashes through a window and causes $980 worth of damage. Insurance covers 62%, you cover the rest. / Your mortgage/rent was paid late and you are charged a $40 late fee. / Your Anniversary is here! You buy a $50 gift and spend $40 at dinner!
You have to throw a bridal shower for your best friend. After decorations, food, and a gift you spent $110.50. / You get very sick and are out of sick days at work. You miss 12 hours or 1.5 days of work and are docked the money for it. / Your car breaks down. The repair bills is $207.
Your air conditioner stops working. Fortunately it is just out of freon, unfortunately you are charged a $50 fee for the unit to be looked at, $65 serivce and labor fee, and $40 for freon. / Gross!!! Your toilet backs up and over flows! It’s clogged and you have to call the plumber. You are charged a $60 service fee and $30 for the repair. You have to replace your $19.99 bath rug! / You withdraw $200 from the bank. While at the store you lose $100 dollars cash!
Teacher Notes: In the middle of class make all electricity bills increase $25 for the month of June.
Announce that if you, your significant other, or your parents birthdays fall in one of these months you must budget for a gift. Include what you bought and how much it was. Show your work for figuring the total including tax.