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A BUDGET TO
A WebQuest for 8th Grade Technology Applications
Mrs.
Paula Pratt Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page It’s a
big, big world. And how exciting it
is! But there always seems to be
something new we have to face every day!
In this exciting world, you will have a career. And you might even be married! Or, just the opposite, you might be
single. There’s no telling how
many children you might have. Everyone has a
lot of needs to meet daily, and you are no exception. How will you be able to meet those needs
for you and your family? How will you
be able to live on your salary? What
kind of home will you have? What kind
of car will you drive? And, very
importantly, how do you know what you can afford? You will answer all these questions yourself by producing a budget to live by. In order to answer these questions, you will need to do some research, use your math skills, and use good decision making skills. By doing so you will have a better understanding of what it takes to live on a budget and enjoy your life. You may or may not (depending on your marital status) have a partner to complete this WebQuest. Essentially, each of you will be required to set up a monthly budget that you can live on in a month’s time. You must calculate your budget on the spreadsheet provided, and get information from the internet, noting the sites that you used. Preparing your budget will include providing food and clothing for your family, buying a home, buying/leasing a car, and meeting other budget requirements. You will complete worksheets throughout the process. Your final product will be a PowerPoint presentation. 1. First you will be assigned a career, marital status, and children. Record this information on the Marital Status, Occupation and Salary Information Sheet. Print this out and keep in your folder. 2. Next you will investigate your career. Using the U.S. Government's Occupational Outlook Handbook and other resources listed for occupations, learn about your career. 3. Then, you will write a short report about your job. Include information such as salaries, nature of the job, education, skills, future employment, and more. See the Report on Job for Budget Project for specific instructions. Print out your report and keep in your folder. 4.
The
next step is to set up your budget.
You must use the
Budget Project Spreadsheet
provided for you. Save the budget to
your folder. 5.
Enter
the information requested in Cell A2 and Cell A4. 6.
Enter
your monthly income that you calculated in Cell B2 and Cell B4. 7.
Find
the Federal Tax Withholding from the chart provided by your teacher. Enter the amounts in Cell B3 and Cell B5. 8. Next determine where you would like to live, and what type of home you would like to own and live in. It's your job to use the links given in the Resources section to find your dream house. Some budget experts recommend that a house payment should be no more than 28% of your gross monthly income. Calculate how much home you can afford on the Mortgage Payments form. 9. When you find the home you want to buy, use the Yahoo Mortgage calculator to figure your monthly mortgage. The Mortgage Payments form will give you specific instructions on how to do that. Complete the Mortgage Payments form and print out the calculation. 10. Print out the information from the web about your home/apartment and attach the printouts to the Mortgage Payments form. Keep this information in your folder. 11. Your monthly mortgage from the Mortgage Payment Calculator is the amount you will enter for Mortgage in Column B of the Budget Project Spreadsheet. 12. You must also include tax information and insurance information on your home in your budget. See the Tax Information and Insurance Information forms. Enter those amounts in the correct cells in Column B of the Budget Project Spreadsheet. 13.
Next,
look at the
Budget
Requirements. You must meet
all of these requirements. Look
carefully at the requirements because some of the requirements are based on
children and ages. 14.
Correctly
complete your Budget Project Spreadsheet according to the
Budget
Requirements. Set up your
budget according to your family income and situations. Try to save at least $50. Think about how your decisions will affect
you and your family and what you want to do about life insurance, medical,
etc. 15.
You
should now be able to see the amounts for your Total Income and Total
Expenditures. Subtract the Total Expenditures
from Total Income. This is the amount
that you can spend on car payments, gas, and car insurance. 16. Budget experts recommend that a car payment should be no more than 15% of your gross monthly income. Figure the amount you will need to spend on gas and insurance for your car(s). The amount you have left is the amount you can pay monthly for your cars. 17. Decide what type of car you would like to buy for you and your family. Use the links for autos listed in the resources to find your car. 18. When you find the car want to buy, use the Auto Rates form for instructions to figure your monthly car note. The Auto Rates form will give you specific instructions on how to do that. Print out the calculation. Be sure you can afford your car or cars. 19.
Print
out supporting information about your car and the loan calculation and attach
to the Auto
Rates form. 20.
Enter
the amounts for Car #1 Payment, Car #2 Payment, Gas/Maintenance, and Car
Insurance in Column B of the
Budget
Project Spreadsheet. 21.
Check
your spreadsheet. Your income and
expenses must now be equal. If your expenditures are more
than your income, you must reduce your savings, life or health insurance, and
any optional items such as cell phones.
If you income is more than your expenditures, put the amount over into
your savings. 22.
Complete
the spreadsheet and print it. This correctly completed spreadsheet is the most important part of your project because it tells you how you will spend your money and that, in turn, tells you how you will live. 23.
Finally
you (and your spouse if married) will create a PowerPoint presentation of
this life that you have made. You will
give information on your career, spouse and family, and your budget. Extension: To complete the project, you will need to make revisions to your original budget, explaining your reasons for doing so. Your budget must balance. Your income and expenses must be equal. Print your final budget spreadsheet.
ResourcesAutosBuying HomesYahoo! Real Estate - Finance Calculator SoutheastTexas.com - Real Estate REALTOR.com: Real Estate - Homes for sale OccupationsOccupational Outlook Handbook Index: A-B JobStar--Guides for Specific Careers Career Areas to Explore and the Jobs in Them Category Selection - Texas Workforce Commission Tracer Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2000-01 Edition A-Z index - careers and occupations Occupational Wages 1999-2000 - Colorado
The completed project should
contain the following:
The
project will be graded on how accurate your calculations are, how realistic
the budget is, how well thought out your budget is, the revisions made, with
explanation. If you are married you will also receive a separate
grade. That grade is shown below, called Marriage Participation.
Whew! You finally got a balanced budget. Along the way, you probably had to do some
negotiating with your spouse if you were married. You may have had to spend more money on
your children that you thought possible.
You observed how a good education helps you to earn more money and can
improve your lifestyle. Now
you’ve acquired some decision making skills and discovered that good
planning makes everything much easier. Yes it’s
an exciting world where circumstances can change daily. You had a limited amount of money and you
were able to make sound decisions on how to spend your money. It’s not always easy, but you
proved it can be done. Congratulations
and good luck in the future! Thanks to www.artie.com for the animated clip art. Last updated on |
