Assignment #3 Monthly Budget Due Date:

You will have to create a budget that reflects your income and the expenses that you have in a month. Use the budget sheet provided as a guide. Add new categories if you need to. If one category does not apply to you, simply put a 0 beside it. This chart will be based on you having a part time job that pays you $400 per month after taxes and you are a full time student in university.

Approx. 13.5 hours/per week

At $7.15/hour

-Minimum wage for Nova Scotia

Chart on the back of sheet. Add new categories or drop ones that don’t apply to you. Under home costs for example, your budget items will be different if you pay room and board, or if you rent a flat.

Monthly Budget

Name:______

Monthly income $400

Monthly Expenses

Home Costs

Rent ______

Electricity ______

Heating ______

Phone ______

Cable T.V ______

Food

Groceries ______

Restaurants ______

Personal

Clothing ______

Bus Fare ______

Car (maintenance,

Insurance, gas) ______

Hair styling ______

Other (please list) ______

Leisure Time

Movies/videos ______

Sports ______

Magazines,newspapers ______

Music ______

Vacation ______

Other (please list) ______

Other

School costs ______

Childcare ______

Other (please list) ______

Total Monthly Income ______

Total Monthly Expenses ______

Balance ______

(total income less total expenses)


It’s A Matter of Interest

Businesses want you to buy the minute you see something. It’s called impulse buying. That’s why they give you so many different ways to pay: cash, cheque, direct debit, or credit card.

If you don’t have the cash, you can pay by credit card. You think to yourself, by the time the bill comes, I will have the money to pay it off. Then, something comes up and you spend the money there. By the time the credit card bill comes, you can’t pay the entire amount and you making a minimal payment. Then the credit card company starts charging you interest on the amount you owe. Over time the interest adds up so that you end up paying a lot for your impulse purchase. A smart consumer makes sure that he/she has the money to pay the entire balance off when the bills come.

Assignment #4 Due Date:

Look through the newspaper advertisements or stores catalogues, or visit different stores to find an expensive item you would like to have. Some examples include a mountain bike, stereo equipment, a musical instrument, or a computer.

1.  Name the item you have chosen and state the total cost of the item, including the taxes.

2.  What is the annual rate of interest you would pay if you used the following methods of payment:

a)  By credit card such as a Visa or MasterCard (20%)

b)  By borrowing from the bank or credit union (7.5%)

c)  By using credit plans offered by a store (23%)

3.  Which is the best option if you were to buy the item?

4.  What are some things you would do to lower the cost of buying the item?

Interesting Facts

·  The average Canadian wallet contains 2.6 credit cards

·  Canadians owe $17.4 billion on Mastercard and Visa alone

54% of Canadians pay off their Visa or Mastercard in full each month.