Budget Project
<p>This Budget Project walks students through the following areas of creating (and discovering) a budget and how much life beyond college will cost. The idea of this lesson is to let students budget $32,000 to simulate their first year out of college. I choose $32,000 because it is difficult to budget for. I usually explain to them that they could only find a part-time job. I also tell them that they may not a) live at their parents or have roommates b) use their current car and c) must buy everything they need, they will not be able to bring anything with them into this future life scenario.</p>
<p>Students walk through the following:<br />
1. Researching careers they are interested in to see the entry salary of that job.<br />
2. Pay Federal Taxes<br />
3. Pay off College Debt<br />
4. Research and Rent an Apartment<br />
5. Buy a Car<br />
6. Buy Gas for the Car<br />
7. Pay Insurance on the Car<br />
8. Buy a Cell Phone Plan<br />
9. Buy Groceries<br />
10. Make Other Choices such as TV, Internet, Fun Money, Clothing/Shoes, etc.</p>
<p>The Project also comes with a budgeting sheet and reflection questions.</p>