Introduction
Welcome to the Personal Budget WebQuest!
This webquest is designed to help you learn to set up a budget that would allow you to live the type of life you would like. In order to complete this webquest you will need to:
- Find a college and career you love.
- Find a place to live.
- Find a car.
- Develop a detailed realistic budget.
Completing this webquest will involve doing some calculations, but its main purpose is to allow you to have fun planning for the future while realizing the real cost of living on your own.
You will need to complete a Personal Monthly Budget WebQuest Worksheet and a Monthly Personal Financial Budget Worksheet.
I hope you have a great time!
Task
You will each of be required to set up a monthly budget. You will be required to write your budget on a provided worksheet, and get your information off the internet, noting the sites that you used.
The first step will be for you to find out what type of careers will provide you with the necessary income, and how much education is needed for these careers.
The next steps include finding a place to live, finding a vehicle and setting up a budget.
To complete the project, you will need to make revisions to your original budget, explaining your reasons for doing so.
If you need additional resources to complete the project, links are provided below.
Each part of the project is detailed below.
Process
PART 1: EDUCATION AFTER HIGH SCHOOL
As the first part of your webquest, you will need to choose a college or university to attend as well as a profession to pursue.
1. Log on to Naviance and generate your list of colleges and universities that, based on your current grades and test scores, you would be accepted into. Using that list, select a college that interests you. It doesn't have to be the one you actually plan to attend.
2. Once you have chosen your college, go to their website and find the "Undergraduate" page. Look through the available majors and choose the one that best interests you. Remember, it's important to choose a career you love as you will be doing it for a long time.
3. Determine the cost of getting your bachelor's degree at the university, including tuition, room, board and books. If your career requires a post-graduate degree, visit the "Graduate" page for basic tuition information.
4. Research shows that most people take around 10 years to pay off their student debt. To calcluate your monthly expense for student debt:
- Use this Loan Calculator
- Select "Stafford Loan" as the type (it's a 6.8% loan)
- Set the term of the loan at 15 years.
- Place this amount in your Budget Calculator in classroom under "Monthly Expenses"
- Be sure to record how much Interest you are paying during the lifetime of the loan.
- Take a look at how much you will pay for the loan at the end of the time.
PART 2: FINDING A CAREER
Once you have finished college, you will need to find a job. Let's assume you get the first job for which you apply (Congratulations!) and your new company pays the average salary for your career.
1. You need to determine the salary for your new career. Use one of the following websites to help you.
2. Place your salary in the Paycheck Calculator to see what you will be bringing home with each paycheck.
3. Place your paycheck total in the Budget Calculator under "Monthly Income"
PART 3: FINDING A PLACE TO LIVE
This is the second step of your webquest. Almost everyone has an idea of where they would like to live, and what type of residence they would like to own or rent. It's your job to use the links below to find and affordable residence. After you do so, make sure to note where the residence is located, and what the purchase/rental price is. Also make sure to note the URL that you used.
Calculate your monthly payment for your home:
- If you plan on owning a home, use the Mortgage Calculator to find your monthly mortgage payment.
- If you plan on renting an apartment, use the apartments.com website to determine your monthly rent. Be sure to check if that rent includes utilities and other items.
Once you have calculated your monthly housing expense, place it in your Budget Calculator under "Monthly Expenses"
PART 4: FINDING A VEHICLE
Most people also have ideas on what type of vehicle they would like to own. Make sure to note the price of the vehicle. Owning a vehicle also involves acquiring vehicle insurance. Use the links below to purchase a vehicle along with the insurance you will need to have for that vehicle. Make sure to note the URLs that you used.
Determine the monthly payment for your car as well as the monthly expense for insurance using the
Auto Calculator. Place them in your Budget Calculator under "Monthly Expenses"
PART 5: LIVING EXPENSES
Next, you will need to determine your monthly expenses (food, clothing, cell phone, etc.)
Here is a general guide to help you determine your monthly expenses. Take your regular monthly net pay (after taxes) and determine each expense based on the following.
10% Utilities and other housing expenditures (including renter's or home owner's insurance)
15% Food (at-home and away)
7% Debt repayment (student loans and credit cards)
5% Auto expenses (gas, repairs, etc.)
10% Saving
5% Clothing
5% Entertainment
5% Cell phone (based on J.D. Power survey)
Once you have calculated these expenses, place them in your Budget Calculator under "Monthly Expenses"
ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED PARTS 1-5, YOU CAN MOVE ON TO BALANCING YOUR BUDGET.
PART 6: BALANCING MY BUDGET
There are many strategies to help you balance your budget. Here are a few websites to help you ...
FOUR STEPS TO A BALANCED BUDGET
These 4 Easy Steps Will Teach You How To Budget
Use one of these steps, or one of your own, to balance your budget so that you aren't spending more than you take in.
Be sure to reflect on the process of balancing your budget as this will be part of your final presentation.
Evaluation
COMPLETING THE PROJECT
To complete the project, make any changes to your budget THAT YOU CONSIDER NECESSARY (not necessarily the changes your partner recommended). Write a summary of the changes you made, and why you made them underneath the budget section above.
You will turn in:
1. A copy of your finished budget
2. A presentation (9 slides minimum) using some type of presentation software (Google Slides, Powtoon, Prezi, PowerPoint, Etc.) about your budget and lifestyle. Your presentation should have the following:
- Title Slide (You decide title of presentation)
- An opening slide which includes your name and the basics of your career (Name, 1 sentence description, education needed)
- a slide that shows the yearly income you earn and the various taxes you pay
- a slide that shows the chosen vehicle and specific information about your automobile (color, year, maker, radio, airbags, financing, etc.)
- a slide that has the information about your car (monthly payment and picture)
- a slide that shows all the details about house, where it is located, other miscellaneous information, etc (house info.)
- a slide that shows your house/apartment and where you obtained your mortgage, what interest you pay, number of months of loan, etc. (house payment)
- Your monthly budget, including all expenses balanced against your net pay (monthly budget)
- A description of how you balanced or changed your budget.
- A graph, created in Excel and exported to PowerPoint that helps explain outflows vs. inflows, with the money left over. Open Excel, search for personal budget. Click tabs at bottom of spreadsheet to adjust your graph.
- and lastly, a slide that explains what you learned in this project
Each slide need only be a brief synopsis of what you have in your report. Keep it simple yet informative.
Your project will be graded based on the follwoing
A+ (100), A (95), A- (92) - This is an excellent project that has all the necessary components, and stands out above the rest.
B+ (88), B (85), B- (82) - This is a solid, above average project that has all the necessary components.
C+ (78), C (75), C- (72) - This is a project whose explanations are satisfactory, and has all the necessary components.
D (65) - This is a project that is missing necessary components, or has a below average explanations.
F (50) - This is a completed project which has just been "thrown together."
F (0) - This is a project that was not completed or not turned in.
THIS PRESENTATION IS DUE THURSDAY MARCH 22 and is worth 100 points.
Conclusion
The act of completing a budget can be a very sobering experience for those who have not had to worry too much about how far their money will go. It also helps you recognize the difference between needs and wants. Housing, transportation, food, utilities are obvious necessities. There are some items that are luxuries to some people but necessities to others.
What are some things that you cannot live without? (IE. cable is a necessity for some but an extra to others.)
Does this experience make you think any differently about the job(s) you will consider after college?
After doing this budget, do you think your current plans for the future will enable you to have the kind of lifestyle you envision for yourself? How long will it take you to get there?
Credits
Teacher Page
LESSON OBJECTIVEThe purpose of this lesson is to have students set up a detailed realistic budget, and realize the the cost of their dreams and the education needed to achieve them. |
LEVELThis lesson is designed for high school students. |
PRIOR KNOWLEDGEIn order to complete this WebQuest, students will need to know how to work with basic percents, and also know how to use the internet. |
TIMELINEThis project was designed to be completed in two weeks, with three days of scheduled lab time to access the internet. It will be the student's responsibility to finish the project outside of class after the initial lab time. The project was designed with the assumption that students could access a computer lab on their own time if they needed to. The timeline may need to be adjusted depending on the age level and the technology available. |