"Making Ends Meet" Introduction (*see Financial Links and questions at bottom of page)
Welcome to this Life Skills WebQuest. It will probably be an eye opening experience for you. Hopefully, it will be fun to visit your future a bit too.
In many ways, you are still dependent on your parents, and you may wonder, "Why should I even think about this now?" BUT, in just 3-5 years, you will be a "legal adult". You will need money/job to support yourself. Are you developing the HABITS you need to be successful and marketable as an employee? You may already know a teen friend with a job, or have one yourself. What kind of job is it? Does it make enough money independently? Think over what jobs might appeal to you as a teenager, and compare them to careers you might choose to support yourself and/or a family. If you were the "wage earner" in your family, what would be a living wage for you? Let's practice....it might be nice to see how prepared you are...with the safety net of it just being "pretend" this time. :)
This webquest is your "practice budget": Let's pretend that you've just graduated from school. You are now a legal adult, and tax payers want you to take care of yourself. Don't count on government help. Your parents have told you to get a job and get out of their house. Welcome to the real world. In this WebQuest you will get a job, buy a car, find a place to live, and put together a monthly budget.
Everyone wants to have enough money to live the kind of life he/she has always dreamed of. Unfortunately, life does not always cooperate with one's hopes and dreams automatically. To achieve one's dreams it takes some careful planning, hard work, and preparation. (*Even then, there are no guarantees) One way to plan is to set up a budget. A budget is an organized way to show how one plans on spending one's money. A budget shows how much money one is making versus how much one is spending. Further, a budget provides a means of prioritizing one's spending and helps to illustrate the difference between what one wants versus what one needs. If you have a lot of WANTS, I hope you also have a lot of energy to work hard for them.
Your Task
1. Choose a career and determine your yearly salary
2. Use your yearly salary to figure a monthly NET pay
3. Choose a house/apartment that fits your budget
4. Choose a car that fits your budget
5. Use a checkbook to pay bills and keep track of your money.
6. Learn about Credit Cards, risk, and debt
7. As you go, you will be recording all your information into a PowerPoint that you will later turn in, and may present in class.
DON'T FORGET: PERSONAL FINANCE LINKS: YES! Here is that assignment again. I copied the sites here for your convenience. Just wanted to remind you. :)
1."Spent: On your Own": a simulation of trying to get by...can you last one month on your own? http://playspent.org/ (Question: Tell about some of the difficult decisions you had to make. Which decision was the hardest for you?)
2. "Living wage calculator": Check anywhere in the USA for how much money it will take to live there. (Question: List the Greenwood cost of living. List any other place's "standard of living". Compare the two. Where would you rather live?) http://livingwage.mit.edu/
3. "Reality Check" at Jumpstart: Read about all the items you will need to support the lifestyle you want, and answer the quiz questions. (Question: From the quiz results, what does it say about your idea of spending habits so far in your life?) http://www.jumpstart.org/reality-check.html
4. "Would you Rather"? These math lessons give you a choice of two things to buy, and you must decide which is the smarter purchase. (Question: Choose any problem that you understand. Explain your choice of what you'd rather have, and tell why.) http://wyrmath.wordpress.com/
5. "Worst Jobs in History": Ok, maybe not a job now, but a great reading comprehension game that focuses on "just what you might do for money". (Question: List the job you ended up with, and write your reading percent shown at the end.) http://www.activehistory.co.uk/Miscellaneous/free_stuff/worst_jobs_in_history/frameset.htm?yr7
In many ways, you are still dependent on your parents, and you may wonder, "Why should I even think about this now?" BUT, in just 3-5 years, you will be a "legal adult". You will need money/job to support yourself. Are you developing the HABITS you need to be successful and marketable as an employee? You may already know a teen friend with a job, or have one yourself. What kind of job is it? Does it make enough money independently? Think over what jobs might appeal to you as a teenager, and compare them to careers you might choose to support yourself and/or a family. If you were the "wage earner" in your family, what would be a living wage for you? Let's practice....it might be nice to see how prepared you are...with the safety net of it just being "pretend" this time. :)
This webquest is your "practice budget": Let's pretend that you've just graduated from school. You are now a legal adult, and tax payers want you to take care of yourself. Don't count on government help. Your parents have told you to get a job and get out of their house. Welcome to the real world. In this WebQuest you will get a job, buy a car, find a place to live, and put together a monthly budget.
Everyone wants to have enough money to live the kind of life he/she has always dreamed of. Unfortunately, life does not always cooperate with one's hopes and dreams automatically. To achieve one's dreams it takes some careful planning, hard work, and preparation. (*Even then, there are no guarantees) One way to plan is to set up a budget. A budget is an organized way to show how one plans on spending one's money. A budget shows how much money one is making versus how much one is spending. Further, a budget provides a means of prioritizing one's spending and helps to illustrate the difference between what one wants versus what one needs. If you have a lot of WANTS, I hope you also have a lot of energy to work hard for them.
Your Task
1. Choose a career and determine your yearly salary
2. Use your yearly salary to figure a monthly NET pay
3. Choose a house/apartment that fits your budget
4. Choose a car that fits your budget
5. Use a checkbook to pay bills and keep track of your money.
6. Learn about Credit Cards, risk, and debt
7. As you go, you will be recording all your information into a PowerPoint that you will later turn in, and may present in class.
DON'T FORGET: PERSONAL FINANCE LINKS: YES! Here is that assignment again. I copied the sites here for your convenience. Just wanted to remind you. :)
1."Spent: On your Own": a simulation of trying to get by...can you last one month on your own? http://playspent.org/ (Question: Tell about some of the difficult decisions you had to make. Which decision was the hardest for you?)
2. "Living wage calculator": Check anywhere in the USA for how much money it will take to live there. (Question: List the Greenwood cost of living. List any other place's "standard of living". Compare the two. Where would you rather live?) http://livingwage.mit.edu/
3. "Reality Check" at Jumpstart: Read about all the items you will need to support the lifestyle you want, and answer the quiz questions. (Question: From the quiz results, what does it say about your idea of spending habits so far in your life?) http://www.jumpstart.org/reality-check.html
4. "Would you Rather"? These math lessons give you a choice of two things to buy, and you must decide which is the smarter purchase. (Question: Choose any problem that you understand. Explain your choice of what you'd rather have, and tell why.) http://wyrmath.wordpress.com/
5. "Worst Jobs in History": Ok, maybe not a job now, but a great reading comprehension game that focuses on "just what you might do for money". (Question: List the job you ended up with, and write your reading percent shown at the end.) http://www.activehistory.co.uk/Miscellaneous/free_stuff/worst_jobs_in_history/frameset.htm?yr7