Introduction

HOORAY!!! You are a new college graduate getting ready to live on your own for the first time! Fortunately you were able to work throughout college and were able to pay for your education, but now you have no savings. You need a job, a place to live, and transportation. You need a budget!

Process

Step One: Making Decisions

Choosing a career

You will be responsible for finding a realistic starting job as a recent college graduate. Using the survey results, narrow your focus and begin to research those career options at this website: CareerCruising.com. Follow the prompts and make your selections to record then calculate the necessary information to determine your monthly budget. Don't forget about paying taxes; 25% of your income will go to the government!

Finding a place to live

After finalizing your career choice and deciding what state to live in, you need to find a real place to live that is within your budget. You will need to know the zip code of the part of state you want to live in! To research the addresses and monthly rent of at least three locations, you need to collect information from this website: Apartments.com. Follow the prompts and make your selections to record the necessary information.

Buying a new or used vehicle

Because you need a mode of transportation, whether to take vacations or drive to and from work, your next goal is to purchase a car. Before making any final decisions, research new and used vehicles as well as varying loans. Find at least three options from this website: Cars.com. Follow the prompts and make your selections. Then to calculate costs, choose the Finance and Loan Calculator tab for used cars or the Auto Loan Calculator link for new cars.

Use the values and suggestions below to obtain accurate information:

· Down payment and trade-in value is $0.00

· Approximate 7.5% sales tax

· Adjust term

· Calculate payments

Step Two: Interviewing experienced adults

Before creating a budget of your own, you should research the type of bills you will need to pay. Interview a parent or another successful adult to help brainstorm areas that need to be included in a budget. Some suggestions may include electric bills, phone bills, groceries, savings, and pocket cash. After your discussion, describe the interview. Make sure to include a description of whom you interviewed (his/her name, job, and reason you chose this interview) as well as what you learned from your meeting.

Step Three: Creating a monthly budget

By this time you’ve decided on a career, a place to live, and a vehicle to drive; you’ve also gotten some advice. Now you need to take this information to build your monthly budget. You must list all the areas where your money will go (rent, car, savings etc.) within that month. This list must be correctly balanced and contain items and amounts that are realistic to your lifestyle. Don’t forget about student loans; if you continue schooling after earning a Bachelor’s Degree then 20% of your monthly income will pay off these loans.

Step Four: Displaying the budget

After you have itemized your budget, you will take this information and create a graph using Microsoft Excel. You will first type the list in an Excel spreadsheet and double-check your calculations. Then you will display this information in a pie chart to include in your final presentation. The breakdown of your budget needs to be clearly represented and the percentage of your budget for each category should be shown.

Step Five: Presenting your research

Finally, create a poster or PowerPoint to present your final budget to your classmates. Make sure to include valuable research from the four previous steps and be prepared to answer questions. Remember: Dress for success on the day of your presentation! Come to class wearing the style of clothing that someone of your career choice would wear on a daily basis.

Resources

Worksheets are available to guide your search for information and to help organize your research. Make sure to adhere to class due dates in order to complete the final project in a timely manner.

Choosing a Career

Finding a Place to Live

Buying a Car

Interviewing an Experienced Adult

Organizing your Budget

Presenting your Research

Evaluation

Make sure to review this Grading Rubric before finalizing your budget and presentation!

This project will be worth 200 total points:

50 pts. - Packet Completion

All research done in the computer lab must be completed as directed and turned in to your teacher in a timely manner. It can be hand written or typed.

50pts. - Budget Organization

Your budget needs to be organized into a spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel. It should be displayed as a list in currency format and correctly balanced with your monthly budget. This information should also be clearly represented in a pie chart.

50 pts. - Presentation Format

Develop a poster or PowerPoint to present your budget to the class. If you have another idea, talk to Mrs. Dawson for approval. Include a description of your career choice and income. Also share your research of apartments and cars. Clearly illustrate your budget (list and chart) in this presentation. Neatness counts! Make it colorful and creative!

50 pts. - Oral Presentation

Dress for success on the day of your presentation! Come to class in the style of clothing that someone of your career choice would wear on a daily basis. Speak loudly and clearly while making eye contact with the audience! Be familiar with your budget; don’t READ your poster or PowerPoint. Make it interesting!!!

Conclusion

Once you have completed all the research and developed your presentation, you should be more aware of your own interests and hopefully have a greater appreciation for members of your own household. Enjoy listening to the presentations of your classmates; perhaps you’ll discover another career that you might want to research!